Captain Thomas Baillie, c. 1725-1802<br><p>A three-quarter-length seated portrait very slightly to right, showing Baillie wearing captain's full-dress uniform, 1774-87 and a grey tie wig. His sword hangs above his head in the top left of the painting. He became Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital in 1774, having been a captain in the Hospital since 1761, and his right hand points to his report on administrative abuses at the Hospital which is open to reveal the words 'Greenwich Hospital'. On the table to the left are two ink-wells and a pen, and a piece of paper with the inscription, 'Lt Govn Baillie'. His left hand gestures in an explanatory manner, acknowledging to the viewer that the purpose of the portrait is to commemorate his lieutenant-governorship. This was short and stormy. On gaining the post, but with longstanding knowledge of the Hospital already, he took action against what he saw as a catalogue of abuses, notably by Lord Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty who was one of the Directors. His report on these, shown here on the table, was only privately circulated but led to his dismissal and trial for libel, from which he was exonerated in 1778 by the brilliant defence of a young lawyer, Thomas Erskine - later an eminent Lord Chancellor. This portrait and James Watson's mezzotint derived from it (which bears an anti-Sandwich inscription, see PAG6442) mark his vindication.<br></p>
Captain Thomas Baillie (d.1802)
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Nathaniel_Hone_the_Elder" class="extiw" title="w:en:Nathaniel Hone the Elder"><span title="Irish artist">Nathaniel Hone the Elder</span></a>
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1779<div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1779-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
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