Hamlet, William, the Elder

Introduction:

In September 1785, advertising in ARIS' BIRMINGHAM GAZETTE, profilist WILLIAM HAMLET the ELDER (ca,1749-1822) enigmatically described himself "From Abroad, being the most singular artist in the Kingdom". Recent research suggests his singularity was likely due to his Afro-American or Afro-Caribbean origins.

Prolific, versatile, and best known as a Bath-based artist, Hamlet Snr crafted well-executed works on card, paper, flat and convex glass. His skills were best employed painting on glass, McKechnie rating his bust-sized works on convex glass of a "consistently high level", while full-length and conversation pieces on flat glass were judged "of fine quality". Of quality too were a great number of sitters, as royalty, nobility and gentry sat for him at various studio addresses between 1785-ca.1820.

Hamlet's ethnic roots (as evidenced by a direct descendant's DNA results) were in what is today the West African state of Togo, which in Hamlet's day formed part of what was then known solely as the 'Slave Coast'. Lucrative and long-established, the commerce in captives saw vast numbers of enslaved Africans transported from its ports to America and the West Indies.

Exactly where Hamlet or his forbears were shipped to is unknown, but linked with research laid out below, it's probable he was initially recorded as "William Hamlet, a Negro", baptised without parents or sponsors in Bath Abbey, 11th November 1772, when the yet-to-be profilist was in his early 20s.

Ten months later

 

In a chance discovery, the 28th  March 1829 issue of FREEDOM'S JOURNAL, the first Afro-American newspaper, described in an article how British subject George Hamlet, when travelling from his New York home, was imprisoned in Norfolk, Virginia as he lacked documentation proving him a free man in the slave-owning state. Revealingly, the article continues "...the father of the individual is Mr. William HAMLET...a man of colour who is profile painter to his Britannic Majesty and...Royal Family, and his mother is a white subject of the same government".

The temporarily gaoled George Hamlet therefore was the son of William Hamlet Jnr. He later appears in the Federal Census of 1850 recorded as 47-year-old English-born George Hamlet a 'musician' and  'mulatto' - i.e. mixed race - living in Urbana, Ohio, with an age corrresponding to the birth of William Hamlet Jnr's son George in Bath, in 1803.

On the 17th of April 1779 Hamlet married Salisbury-born Elizabeth Morgan (1761-1832) at St. Thomas' in the town. Evidenced by the register, she was illiterate. Thir first child, William Hamlet Jnr (1779-1815), was baptised in December, and like his namesake father, he too became a profilist. Between 1783-1792, four further offspring: Thomas, Elizabeth, George and Charles were baptised at St.Thomas'. Only Elizabeth is known to have reached adulthood. A lone record of her as a 'spinster' living with the family of a Salisbury stationer appears in the 1841 Census.

Regarding Hamlet Snr's career, McKechnie only attributed a single work to him from the period 1785 - ca.1805. The dearth of profiles or of early trade labels is puzzling, as recently sourced advertisements place him in that period working primarily in Salisbury, where in 1799 he claimed 30,000 likenesses to his name. In addition, a considerable body of work later painted in Bath ca. 1805-1820 is well-documented.

In an August 1788 issue of the SALISBURY and WINCHESTER JOURNAL, Hamlet proudly described himself "...a self-taught PAINTER". Three years earlier, in June 1785, with skills sufficiently honed, he placed an initial lengthy advertisement in JACKSON'S OXFORD JOURNAL. Terms were: 3s shaded; stained on glass 5s and Full-length 10s 6d.

Also offered at 5s was a hard-to-envisage "Methodical Model of an AMUSEMENT...[small enough to]...fit into a Pocket Book" and capable of taking 2 profiles in a minute. Displayed too was a "...new invented PROFILE REFLECTOR...[which had been lately exhibited in Bath] ...by the INVENTOR". The inventor was likely ABRAHAM JONES (fl. 1777-1809), an itinerant profilist and inventor of optical instruments. In 1781- 82, Jones was in Bath marketing his "PROFILE REFLECTOR MIRRORS" and "impression profile plates that..[could be]...put into small Pocket Books". As Hamlet's descriptions closely paralleled Jones' own, it's possible Hamlet purchased the instruments when Jones visited Bath.

The summer of 1788 likely saw a manifold increase in Hamlet's commissions. August and September editions of the SALISBURY and WINCHESTER JOURNAL record he "...had the honour to present the King" a full-length profile of him taken at Cheltenham Spa. With Hamlet's work positively received, the King "...made him a very handsome present...[leading to orders]...from a great number of Nobility and Gentry" who Hamlet was ready to receive "at his home in New Street, Salisbury".

In November 1789 "Encouraged by their MAJESTIES...and several of the first Personages in the KINGDOM", Hamlet advertised in the OXFORD JOURNAL both as Profilist and Artist, offering for the only time lessons in drawing "...taught after a new Method".

Ten years later, now relocated to Salisbury's Catherine St., Hamlet for the first time advertises likenesses for jewellery settings and offers "...Ladies and Gentlemen of the YEOMANRY and ASSOCIATIONS Likenesses in the BEST STYLE". A mounted trooper of Volunteers painted on card ca.1800 was sold at CLEVEDON SALEROOMS 7th December 2023. Though described as 'in the manner of Rosenberg', it was undoubtedly a work by Hamlet Snr.

From ca.1805 Hamlet's 'Best Style' was put to profitable use in Bath, where he worked in tandem with his son until ca.1814. Hamlet Jnr appeared already settled in Bath, as evidenced by his marriage there to his Salisbury-born spouse in 1801, and their offspring's baptisms in Bath between 1802-16.

Both Hamlets shared addresses recorded on 2 printed trade labels. Between ca. 1805-10, both worked from 17 Union Passage, and ca. 1810-14 from 12 Union Street. With shared addresses, attributing works can be problematic as Hamlet Jnr developed a style closely resembling his father's. However only Hamlet Jnr painted coloured profile miniatures, drew profiles en grisaille, or used ivory.

Hamlet Snr's skills were best employed painting on glass. McKechnie rated his bust-sized work on convex glass of a "consistently high level", while full-length and conversation pieces on flat glass were "of fine quality". Of quality too were a great number of sitters, as royalty, nobility and gentry in profusion sat for him in Bath and in Weymouth, which he visited in 1806-07 and again in 1814.

Hamlet's last brush with royalty and his penultimate work record appears on January 9th 1815 in the SALISBURY and WINCHESTER JOURNAL. Claiming to be "Profile Painter to...Princess Charlotte of Wales...", Hamlet advertised a subscription for an engraving of "...an exact likeness of her ROYAL HIGHNESS taken at the KING's LODGE WEYMOUTH on Friday Nov. 25..." Terms to subscribers were "...framed and glazed one guinea...plain half-a-guinea...". Subscriptions were to be forwarded to Hamlet Jnr in Bath or Hamlet Snr in Salisbury.

This suggests Hamlet Snr maintained his abode in Salisbury's Catherine Street and, arguably, only worked in Bath during 'the season'. Augmenting the theory, in July 1812 the SALISBURY and WINCHESTER JOURNAL advertises Hamlet Jnr working for a short time in Catherine Street; several of Hamlet Snr's handwritten trade labels record him "...of Bath and Salisbury" and when his wife Elizabeth is buried in Salisbury in May 1832, her abode is given as Catherine Street.

Hamlet Snr last appears in print in the 1816 BATH GUIDE. The listing, which would have been placed with the printers in the latter half of 1815, records him a Profile Painter of 12 Union Street. However, with the death of 36-year-old William Hamlet Jnr in November 1815, it was assumed that grief over his son's demise explained the absence of datable profiles painted by William Hamlet Snr between 1816 and his own death 6 years later. However, a group of trade labelled works by Hamlet Snr all bearing the date 'July 1820' in a contemporary hand were sold by LYON & TURNBULL 15th November 2023, suggesting Hamlet Snr was still actively employed at that date.

How Hamlet Snr spent his remaining days is unknown. Buried aged 73 at Walcot St. Swithin's, Bath on the 19th of September 1822, his abode was given as 79 Avon Street. Notorious at the time for densely populated, cheap lodging houses, brothels and multiple public houses, contemporary burial records for Avon Street show depressingly high mortality rates, suggesting Hamlet was in straitened circumstances at the time of his death.

Revised 28 June 2023 (Brian Wellings, with research assistance from Cynthia McKinley)

 

 

 

 

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