Aldous, William Lens

Introduction:

Profiles by WILLIAM LENS ALDOUS (1792-1878) are extremely rare. Based at 30 Great Russell Street, London until rhe early 1830s, he was also a lithographer, engraver and portrait miniaturist. As far as known, only 2 bust-sized profiles are recorded. Both however were produced by employing very different techniques.

The first work, a male sitter painted on card and signed 'ALDOUS' below the bustline, also bore the Great Russell Street address. Housed in a 'wooden' frame, it sold as part of Lot 29 at Bonhams (London) on the 30th of June 1998. The second work, illustrated in McKechnie and inititally etched on stone, is a print of Frederick, Duke of York (1763-1827). The Duke's likeness and his Order of the Garter star are both accurately represented. Though undated, the work was doubtless engraved and printed for sale shortly after the Duke's death in January 1827 as a topical 'memento mori'.

In 1824 and 1825 he submitted 2 works, presumably miniatures, to the Royal Academy Exhibition and ROBSONS DIRECTORY of 1830 still records him a miniature painter. From 2 known lithographs in the NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY and profiles already mentioned, it appears his draughtsmanship was competent. However, commissions for portrait miniatures were likely meagre, as none, as far as known, have appeared on the market.

By the 1830s, his career took a notably different direction, as he began illustrating the early findings of microscopy. His hand-coloured lithograph of the head of a flea was used, after he presented it in 1838, by the ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY as a poster. He also became an early member of the ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY, founded in 1839 as a society of amateurs to promote "the advancement of microscopical science".

Unsourced in the 1841 Census, in 1851 he is recorded as a "Microscopic Artist", while the 1861 Census lists him a "Microscopic Draughtsman". The 1871 Census locates him, aged 79, in Hastings. Listed a "Lithographic Artist", at the time he was visiting James Bowerbank, a retired London distiller and original member of the ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY.

Born to Jonathan and Mary Aldous of 'Hoxton Fields', he was baptised at St. Leonards, Shoreditch, in London in August 1792. He wed 4 times. In 1818 he married Mary Ann Dixon. Two sons born in 1820 and 1822 appear to have died young, and in 1825 his wife also died. In 1826 he married Matilda Collins (1800-1831) in Woodbridge, Suffolk. She died in childbirth in London in February 1831. Ten months later he wed Frances Catherine Draper (1811-1872), who bore a daughter and 2 sons between 1834 and 1845. Their eldest son, Lens Aldous, died aged 2 in 1844. Finally, aged 79, he married 4th wife Julia Cooper (1827-1893) in Hastings, Sussex in 1873.

His obituary appears in the MORNING POST of the 23rd of November 1878 "on the 19th inst., at St. Leonards-on-Sea, W. Lens Aldous, aged 86 years ".

Revised 1 March 2023 (Brian Wellings)