Marsingall, Samuel

Introduction:

Neatly painted on card, recorded profiles by SAMUEL MARSINGALL (1786-1859) are extremely rare, with only 4 signed and dated works to his name. While little evidence exists to plot his career as a silhouettist, ample documentation, recently sourced, shows perhaps surprisingly that his initial career is recorded as a decorated officer serving in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.

Marsingall's earliest known profiles, a named family trio, are signed and dated November 1820 on the reverse of each work. Chinese white and black highlights are applied over dark grey body colour, while the bust lines of all 3 sitters vary considerably. The 4th work, once owned by Leonard Morgan May, but not offered in the sale of his collection at Sothebys in 1985, was described as being painted on card with gum arabic highlights. Dated 1823, it bore an "S. MARSINGALL" stencil stamp. A stencil stamp might indicate an expectation of a reasonable flow of custom; however no handbills or newspaper advertisements have surfaced to trace the extent and duration of his time as a profilist.

Samuel was the eldest of 3 children born to Hannah Elizabeth née Hall (1762-1835) and Taunton mercer and draper Anthony Marsingall (1747-1813). A published engraving of Taunton's St. Mary Magdalene church and a profile miniature of son Samuel, painted as a Royal Navy lieutenant in 1812, shows Anthony Marsingall possessed a modicum of artistry himself.

In August 2023 BELLMANS AUCTIONEERS sold a previously unrecorded profile of a named Yeomanry officer, signed "A. Marsingall 1804". The sitter's uniform was coloured and his face painted black. The quality of Marsingall's draughtsmanship was somewhat wayward. Whatever artistry Samuel Marsingall inherited travelled with him when, aged 11 1/2, he entered the Royal Navy as a '1st Class Volunteer' in January 1798. Rated a Midshipman the following year, by 1803 he was serving in the East Indies.

The East Indies was a 'sickly station' notorious for high mortality rates. Lucky to survive, Marsingall's luck also held when on the 14th of February 1805, his ship the frigate SAN FIORENZO and French frigate PSYCHE bombarded each other to a bloody standstill in the Bay of Bengal.

Wounded during the French ship's capture, Midshipman Marsingall was rewarded a PATRIOTIC SOCIETY gratuity and when the Naval General Service Medal was issued in 1847, he was one of only 3 surviving claimants to be awarded the "SAN FIORENZO" clasp.

Nominated a Lieutenant in 1806 aboard the flagship of Sir Edward Pellew, the rank was confirmed when Marsingall returned to England the following year. In 1808 he served under Nelson's former Captain T.M.Hardy in the Channel Fleet and on another flagship in 1809.

Doubtless he was recommended for flagship service as available openings on them were rare and keenly sought by junior officers hoping to advance their career. Though well-placed to be 'noticed', Marsingall's hopes to advance his own seagoing career ended when he was invalided home in March 1810. Presumably healed, he wed Sarah Buller (1789-1835) in her home village of Nettlecombe, Somerset, in July 1812. She bore 2 children, Anthony (1815-1888) and Sarah Elizabeth (1827-1877).

Apart from drawing a lieutenant's half-pay, collecting £50 per year as a Greenwich Hospital Out-Pensioner, and a likely short-lived occupation as a profilist, it's unknown how he generated an income for the next 4 decades. The only reference to an occupation of sorts appears in 4 newspapers between 1818 and 1835, which record him perfoming patriot sea songs at various events.

The TAUNTON COURIER of the 4th of June 1818 relates at a hospital benefit "...our townsman Mr. Marsingall...sang in the most captivating style...[and his]...sojourn in London affected a great improvement in his vocal abilities". Whatever the sojoun entailed, lack of evidence suggests he never sang professionally.

The DORSET COUNTY CHRONICLE of the 27th of November 1828 noted at the reopening of Taunton's St.Mary Magdalene's organ "...the Tenor Solo 'It is the Lord that Ruleth the Sea' sung by Mr.Marsingall was well performed except in...the high notes where he appeared to be labouring under the imfluence of a cold".

His final reported vocal outing was more positive. At the Dibdinian Festival at Warrens Hotel, Covent Garden, London, the NAVAL AND MILITARY GAZETTE of October 1835 reported Captain Marsingall RN sang 'Here's a Health to Honest John Bull' in a "bold and animated manner". Two months later, the health of Marsingall's wife saw her buried in Avranches, Normandy.

The French Channel coast was a popular, relatively cheap, location for British expatriates and it's possible reduced circumstances had dictated the Marsingalls' move there. Five years later his circumstances contracted further, as the 1841 Census located him gaoled in Guernsey's small St.Peter Port prison. The cause and duration of his incarceration eluded research.

Promoted Commander in November 1843, Marsingall then officially retired from the Navy. The 1851 Census located him in Somerset, and on the 27th of April 1859 the TAUNTON COURIER printed his obituary -"April 24th at Curry Rivel...Captain Samuel Marsingall RN...in his 74th year.

Revised 12 June 2023 (Brian Wellings)