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Maker(s):Brown, Mather
Culture:English (1761-1831)
Title:Frederick W. Geyer
Date Made:circa 1789
Type:Painting
Materials:oil, canvas, wood, gilding
Place Made:United Kingdom; England; London
Measurements:overall: 30 x 25 in.; 76.2 x 63.5 cm
Accession Number:  HD 58.039
Credit Line:Gift of Edward B. Belcher
Museum Collection:  Historic Deerfield

Description:
Framed oil on canvas portrait of Frederick William Geyer (d. 1821) probably by Mather Brown (1761-1831), a Boston-born artist who moved to London in 1781. Brown first painted Geyer in 1784 and probably painted this copy in 1789, which descended in the Belcher family to Edward Brymer Belcher (1887-1961) of Kenya (9th generation) who gave it to the Heritage Foundation (now Historic Deerfield) in 1957. Frederick William Geyer was a prominent merchant and loyalist who fled Boston to England during the revolution, but returned to Boston after the war, and his citizenship was restored in 1789. In 1792, Geyer's daughter's, Marianne (1773-1839), married Andrew Belcher (1763-1841), grandson of Jonathan Belcher (1682-1757), Governor of Massachusetts from 1729/30 to 1741 and New Jersey from 1747-1757, and son of Jonathan Belcher, Jr. (1710-1776), the first Chief Justice and a Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (1760-1764). Born in London, Andrew was attending school in Halifax when his father died in 1776; he went into business in Halifax under the name of Belcher and Wright. Belcher became a prominent member of the Legislature, was promoted to His Majesty's Council in 1801, made director of the Fire Assurance Association of Halifax in 1809, and was a member of the Marine Humane Society. According to tradition, Andrew Belcher made and lost three fortunes, and spent in England what he had made in Halifax, returning twice to Halifax to rebuild his fortune. Their son, Admiral Sir Edward Belcher (1799-1877) of the British Royal Navy, was a war hero, explorer, scientist, and writer whose Arctic expedition played a significant role in demonstrating the existence of the Northwest Passage; several places are named for him, such as Belcher Point (Alaska), Belcher Islands (Hudson Bay), and Belcher Channel (in the Arctic). See also HD 70.181, HD 70.182, HD 58.040, and HD 58.041 for portraits of Marianna Geyer Belcher, Andrew Belcher, and another portrait of Frederick William Geyer. See also HD F.734, F.735, F.737, and F.739 for other material from the Edward Brymer Belcher family.

Tags:
portraits

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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+58.039

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