Trewinnard, Joshua

Introduction:

London-born and based JOSHUA TREWINNARD (1761-1837) was initially, like 5 of his brothers, a watch and clock maker. However, from 1802 until the late 1820s income from his horological enterprise was, perhaps surprisingly, augmented by portrait miniature and profile taking.

Possibly tutored by wife Ann, a Royal Academy exhibitor (fl. 1797-1806), Trewinnard profiles are relatively rare, unsigned and vary in quality and style. And as 2 Trade-labelled 'studio' partnerships were established, first with his wife 1804-1806, then 1808-1818 with John Thomas Mitchell (1773-1844) attribution is problematic, for while both of Trewinnard's partners were portrait miniaturists, neither can be precluded from also painting silhouettes, so exactly whose hand crafted which work is impossible to gauge definitively. Interestingly, when Mitchell insured 40 Strand with Royal Sun Alliance 27th January 1812, the policy described Trewinnard as a 'Picture Dealer', a previously unknown aspect of his business ventures.

Initially appearing in HOLDEN's 1802 directory  as a 'miniature painter' of 49 Strand, 2 years later Joshua Trewinnard relocated to 40 Strand, residing there until 1829. His 2 trade labels bear this address. On both, the text reads in part "PROFILES of every description...Taken in the most correct manner on Ivory, Glass, Composition...[plaster]...on Card and cut-out by J. Trewinnard...".Below this either 'Mrs A.Trewinnard' (his wife) or 'J T Mitchell' offered 'Miniatures... from 3 to 5 Guineas'.

While works on glass and plaster are unknown, a single hollow-cut profile was sold by Phillips Auctions (London) 10th November 1998. A bronze-highlighted profile of Arctic explorer Sir John Ross (1777-1856) was sold Sothebys (London) 22nd February 1985 and noted in a private collection is a well-executed bronze-highlighted army officer. Other recorded profiles evidence black or grey body colour, grey detailing, and for deep shading, gum arabic. All extant silhouettes are bust sized, painted on card, with variable bustline terminations, and lack commonality of style.

Though unadvertised, Trewinnard's studio also reproduced other artists' work. Two competent copies of earlier originals almost certainly by John Miers (1758-1821) are recorded. The female sitter is illustrated in McKechnie, though with Miers' establishment a little further along the Strand, it's puzzling why the client employed Trewinnard. Perhaps he offered cheaper terms.

Also illustrated in McKechnie and patently copied from an original by John Buncombe (ca.1758-1837) is a 3/4 length coloured silhouette of Sir Narborough D'Aeth (1766-1808) in military uniform. The shading at the base of this work was a motif Buncombe himself applied, albeit rarely, to some of his profiles. Bearing  an 1808-1818 joint Trewinnard/J.T.Mitchell trade label, it's probable, as the sitter died in 1808, that the profile was commissioned as a 'memento mori'. McKechnie assessed, without evidence, that Mitchell painted it, but it may equally have come from Trewinnard's hand.

However it's unlikely Trewinnard's hand crafted any profile miniatures on ivory. Both trade labels described them painted "...in the most approved stile...the Features and Complexion are obtained as well as a correct Outline". Generally rendered over a deep umber ground, coloured and bust-sized, they are consistently accomplished. Seven were sold at Gorringes Auctions 24th November 2024, and one, signed Ann Trewinnard, is housed in the V&A Museum Collection. The fact that she and J.T.Mitchell were Royal Academy exhibitors and Joshua Trewinnard never was, suggests they, not Trewinnard, provided the proficiency for these works.

Though no independent trade label or dated work of this period has surfaced, between 1819-1825, Trewinnard seemingly worked alone, as evidenced by Kent's 1820 and Baines' 1822 directories which list him respectively 'Profilist' and 'Artist', while McKechnie states that 1826-1829 (unnamed) directories print a final partnership: 'Trewinnard and Smith'[sic]. Again, no trade labels are recorded.

Edward Smyth(ca. 1793-1854) initially traded at 40 Strand as a flute manufacturer. On 16th February 1831, giving his age as 38 and his occupation as 'Drawing and Miniature Painting', Smyth applied to join the Artists' Annuity and Benevolent Fund. However he appears in Robsons 1835 directory  still a' Flute maker' and his artistic endeavours are unknown, while his wife's bronze-highlighted profiles and her "Mrs. Edw. Smyth, Miniature painter & Profilist...40 Strand' " trade label are recorded. Given this, it's accepted she produced profiles in tandem with Trewinnard between 1826-1829 and is known to have worked indipendently at 40 Strand 1830-1837.

In addition, Robsons 1835 directory lists her as 'Jane Smyth, Artist ' who as Jane Cecilia Smith(1794-1838) married Edward Smyth at St. Martins-in-the-Fields in March 1817. Given her artistic ability, though unconfirmed, she may well have been the niece of Trewinnard's talented wife Ann Smith. While possibly coincidental, she also shares the name Cecillia with the Trewinnard's first-born. Trewinnard himself removed from 40 Strand in 1829, Robsons 1830 directory listing him a ' Chronometer maker' of Grange Road Bermondsey.

Regarding Trewinnard's family history, his Cornish-born grandfather, John Trewinnard (1692-1749) relocated to Bermondsey in the 1720s, establishing a brewery there. His son, Joshua Snr. (1738-1816) was apprenticed a joiner, and in May 1760 married Jane Stackhouse (1739-1819) at St. James' Clerkenwell. Jane bore 7 sons and 1 daughter between 1761-1781. Born 12th October 1761, the future watchmaking profilist Joshua Jnr was their eldest offspring. Five of his brothers also became horologists of some standing, being recorded in the Encyclopedia of Famous Clockmakers (2013).

On 23rd December 1784 Trewinnard married Ann Smith (dec. after 1806), who doubtless later became the catalyst for the portrait-taking enterprise. She bore 4 daughters: Cecilia (1785-after 1841), Ann Elizabeth (1788-1852), Charlotte (1790-N/K) and Amelia Sophia (1806-after 1881). With the birth of her last daughter in December 1806, Ann Trewinnard disappears from records, possibley dying from childbirth issues.

In 1809 Trewinnard, son-in-law Samuel James Blacklow (1786-1840) and upwards of 40 others were, according to BELL'S WEEKLY MESSENGER 15th October 1809 "...committed to prison for want of bail...[for promoting] ...a riot at Covent Garden Theatre with horns and whistles". Blacklow, an attorney, had married Trewinnard's daughter Ann Elizabeth a year earlier, fathering an illegitimate daughter in 1817. At some point his wife began evidencing mental health issues and was described as a 'lunatic' in his will. She died in the Strand's Union Workhouse in 1852.

On 10th July 1814 widower Trewinnard married Elizabeth Woodger (1777-after 1815), a haberdasher's widow, at St.Mary's Battersea. Her daughter from her first union, Ann Nugent Woodger(1801-1871) after a failed marriage, relocated to France as a Portrait Miniaturist, having possibly received a grounding in the art at Trewinnard's studio. Her mother bore Trewinnard a daughter and Emma Buckee (1815-1846) was baptised at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields in September 1815, after which Trewinnard's second wife, like his first, disappeared from records.

In September 1816, Trewinnard and year-old daughter Emma Buckee almost disappeared too - in a house fire. THE NEWS (LONDON) of 29th September related 3 successive fires were mysteriously laid at 40 Strand, the 2nd requiring Trewinnard to rescue his infant offspring. A teenage female servant, recently employed, confessed, stating she was "...advised by an old woman, a Fortune-teller...to set fire to the house". Though charged, the outcome of her case appears unrecorded.

In 1829, after nearly 30 years of diverse trading in the Strand, Joshua Trewinnard removed to Grange Road Bermondsey where 2 of his brothers resided. Dying there 8 years later aged 77, he was interred at St. Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey Street, 8th December 1837.

Revised 14 June 2025 (Brian Wellings)

 

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