Sir Richard Westmacott, 1775 - 1856 Captain, Later Lt Colonel John Guise 1813-1890 of the 24th N.i , H.e.i.c.s of the Bengal Army

Sir Richard Westmacott, 1775 - 1856

Captain, Later Lt Colonel John Guise 1813-1890 of the 24th N.I , H.E.I.C.S of the Bengal Army

Signed/Inscribed:

inscribed on a label on the reverse, "Captain, Later Lt Colonel John Guise Painted by his cousin Sir Richard Westmacott./ Exhibited Royal Academy 1841 (sic) / S Richard Westmacott Pinxt. / Feb 1847"

oil on board

25.40 x 20.32 cm. (10 x 8 in.)

Exhibited : Royal Academy, 1847--

Worth's Art Gallery, Exeter

Sir Richard Westmacott 1775-1856 was a cousin of Lt Col John Guise

From Hodson Index are the following notes :

Lieut. Colenel, 24th N.I.

B. London 8 Mar 1813. cadet 1828. arrived in india 22 sept 1829.

ensign 5th June 1829. Lieut 1 jan 1838. capt 20. sept 1845. bt Major

28 nov 1854. retired 31 dec 1856. hon Lt. Col 31 dec 1856. d. 27 Jan 1890. Bapt. Marlebone 30 mar 1813. Son of John Guise and Maria his wife. Married Elizabeth (1823-1899) before 1855.

Services : Ensign d.d. 27th N.I. 2 Nov 1829. posted as Ensign to 12th N.I. 2 Aug 1832. transfd to 24th N.I. 24 June 1833. (Rising in Cuttack 1836; ensign 24th N.I.) Actg. Adjt. Left Wing Dec. 1842.

Disturbances in Bundelkhand 1842-3; lieut. 24th N.I. O Fur 1846-8.

Refs:(? N. & Q 12s.1.46.) (O Punchamuggur, 1842)

All the HEIC Native Infantry officers wore a unifoirm that was essentially the same as British Line Infantry officers uniforms at this period, with distinctions on the buttons, shoulder belt and shako plates. The 24th Foot wore green facings, and had very different shoulder belt plate. The Bengal Native Infantry was part of the organisation of the East India Company's Bengal Army before the Indian rebellion of 1857.The infantry regiments underwent frequent changes of numbering during their period of existence. The traditional formation of British and Presidency armies' regiments was by a hierarchy in which the "1st Regiment" was the oldest and the highest number was given to the youngest. In 1764, the Bengal Native Infantry regiments were renumbered in the order of the seniority of their captain. The vast majority of the Bengal Native Infantry regiments rebelled in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

The regiment was raised at Nowshera on 1 August 1857 by Lieutenant Charles Henry Brownlow from drafts provided by 4th and 5th Punjab Infantry on the orders of John Lawrence, the British High Commissioner of the Punjab. It was one of several battalions raised by Lawrence to suppress the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857. Brownlow, who became their first commanding officer, remained associated with the regiment for more than half a century; becoming their Honorary Colonel in 1904. He was made a Field Marshal in 1908. The regiment's first overseas service came during the Second Opium War against China. Soon after landing there, it took part in the successful assault on Taku Forts on 21 August 1860. The regiment then advanced with the rest of the British force, arriving at Peking (Beijing) in late September, which was captured on 6 October. In 1861, the regiment was brought into the line as the 24th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry, replacing the previous 24th which had mutinied in 1857. It was renumbered as the 20th Regiment later in the year.

Artist Biography

Westmacott, Sir Richard (1775–1856), sculptor, was born in Grosvenor Square, Westminster, London, on 15 July 1775, the eldest of the thirteen children of the sculptor Richard Westmacott (bap. 1746, d. 1808) and Sarah Vardy (1750–1826), daughter of the furniture carver Thomas Vardy. The journalist and writer Charles Molloy Westmacott (1787/8–1868) was his half-brother. The elder Westmacott worked primarily as a sculptor of chimney-pieces and in 1777 published a series of twenty chimney-piece designs. He also executed about fifty-five church monuments, the best-known examples of which are those to Jane and James