. John Opie. Portrait of the artist's father-in-law James Alderson.
James Alderson: In 1742 he was born to J Alderson. In October 1825 he died.
On 16th May 1761 John Opie was born.
On 4th December 1782 John Opie [aged 21] and Mary Bunn were married at St Martin in the Fields Church [Map].
Dictionary of National Biography: Opie's first cares in his new prosperity were to surround his mother with comfort, and to provide himself with a wife. On 4 December 1782 he married Mary Bunn at the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. She was a daughter of Benjamin Bunn of St. Botolpn's, Aldgate, who combined the business of a solicitor with that of a money-lender. The match was unhappy. In 1795 the lady eloped with one John Edwards, and in the following year Opie obtained a divorce.
1785. John Opie [aged 23]. Self-portrait.
1787. John Opie [aged 25]. "The Murder of Rizzio".
Around 1790. John Opie [aged 28]. Portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft [aged 30].
1794. John Opie [aged 32]. Portrait of Henry Fuseli [aged 52].
In 1796 John Opie [aged 34] and Mary Bunn were divorced.
Around 1797. John Opie [aged 35]. Portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft [aged 37].
Jean de Waurin's Chronicle of England Volume 6 Books 3-6: The Wars of the Roses
Jean de Waurin was a French Chronicler, from the Artois region, who was born around 1400, and died around 1474. Waurin’s Chronicle of England, Volume 6, covering the period 1450 to 1471, from which we have selected and translated Chapters relating to the Wars of the Roses, provides a vivid, original, contemporary description of key events some of which he witnessed first-hand, some of which he was told by the key people involved with whom Waurin had a personal relationship.
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1798. John Opie [aged 36]. Portrait of the artist's wife Amelia Alderson [aged 28].
Amelia Alderson: On 12th November 1769 she was born to James Alderson and Amelia Briggs. On 2nd December 1853 she died at midnight. She was buried in the same grave as her father, in the Friends* burying-ground at Norwich.
After 1798. John Opie [aged 36]. Portrait of the artist's wife Amelia Alderson [aged 28].
On 8th May 1798 John Opie [aged 36] and Amelia Alderson [aged 28] were married at St Marylebone Church.
Dictionary of National Biography: Meanwhile he had married again, and this time his choice was very fortunate. It was at an evening party at Norwich that he first met Amelia Alderson, the daughter of a doctor of that town, and cousin of Baron Alderson [aged 10]. He fell in love at first sight. They were married at Marylebone Church on 8 May 1798, and lived till his death at 8 Berners Street, whither he had moved in 1791. They were thoroughly suited to each other; she appreciated liis genius and character. A grace was afterwards observed in his works, especially his female portraits, which they had lacked before. At first fortune did not seem to favour them, and there was a short period at the end of 1801 and the beginning of 1802 when he was wholly without employment; Mrs. Opie considered these ' three alarming months ' as the severest trial in her married life. Then a ' torrent of business ' came, and never ceased to flow till the day of his death.
Around 1804. John Opie [aged 42]. Self-Portrait.
Around 1804. John Opie [aged 42]. Portrait of William Henry Hanover 1st Duke Gloucester and Edinburgh [aged 60].
. 1805. John Opie [aged 43]. Portrait of Robert Southey [aged 30].
. 1805. John Opie [aged 43]. Portrait of Edward Boscawen [aged 17].
1805. John Opie [aged 43]. Self-portrait.
1805. John Opie [aged 43]. Portrait of Bishop Shute Barrington [aged 70].
On 9th April 1817 John Opie [aged 55] died. He was buried at St Paul's Cathedral [Map].
Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
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On 2nd December 1853 [his former wife] Amelia Alderson [aged 84] died at midnight. She was buried in the same grave as her father, in the Friends* burying-ground at Norwich.