Encampment at Newport, Isle of Wight, 1740

To the Right Hon:ble Charles Lord Cathcart, This VIEW of the Camp, in the Isle of Wight / is most humbly Dedicated by his Lordships most Humble and...

A view of the encampment near Newport on the Isle of Wight in 1740. Published on the same day as a companion print to the plan of the encampment (RCIN 728030), this view shows the leisurely social scene which was the daily fare of summer encampments. Gentlefolk sit eating picnics in the foreground, overlooking the tents of the encampment. By reference to the plan, it is possible to identify the various sections of the camp, including the small groups of the advanced guard in the middle ground, and the small huts which were the ‘Officers Convenient House’ below the onlookers. The location of the camp is not identified, but the topography, together with the castle in the background, suggest that it is in the vicinity of Carisbrooke Castle.

Although the date of publication of this print is March 1741, it is more likely that the scene represents the encampment near Newport which took place in the summer of 1740. The young thirteen-year-old James Wolfe (later General and victor of Quebec in 1759) was present with his father Edward at this camp from which he wrote home to his mother on 6 August, describing the embarkation of troops for Carthagena (letter printed in Wood, (1915), p.5).

Another state of this print, lacking the title and dedication and coat of arms, is recorded at Donald A. Heald Rare Books (last accessed 30 June 2016).

The Lord Cathcart to whom this print is dedicated, is probably the eighth Lord Cathcart (1685/6-1740). Promoted to Brigadier-General in 1735, he was made Commander-in-Chief of the forces which were sent to the West Indies in 1740, where he died of dysentery.

The coat of arms, with two parrots as supporters, which are engraved in the bottom margin, apparently belongs to the branch of the Cathcart family which quarters the arms of Sir Reynold de Kethcart and the coat of Sir William Wallace, to whom the Cathcarts were related by marriage (last accessed 30 June 2016).

For further reading, see:
H.M. Scott, ‘Cathcart, Charles Schaw, ninth Lord Cathcart (1721–1776)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008.

Condition: flat; no fold lines. Verso: very slight surface dirt on verso.