THIS IS THE DIARY JUNCTION - DATA AND LINKS FOR OVER 500 HISTORICAL AND LITERARY DIARISTS
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT ALSO TO LOOK AT KIP FENN, A MAJOR NOVEL ABOUT THE 21st CENTURY
- freely available on this site
Haydon, Benjamin ___ 1786-1846 ___
British ___ painter
BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
Haydon's father was a printer and
publisher, and his mother was the daughter of a priest. He was born in Plymouth
and schooled locally, but then went to London to study at the Royal Academy
where, aged 21, he exhibited 'Joseph and Mary resting on the Road to Egypt'.
Later, he felt the Royal Academy did not give his picture 'Dentatus' sufficient
prominence and this resulted in a long dispute. Indeed, in 1820, he tried
to set up a school to rival the Royal Academy. Haydon, it seems, was always
quarrelling (not least with patrons), and he was always struggling to make
ends meet, especially after the annual income from his father was discontinued.
While working on another large historical work, the 'Resurrection of Lazarus',
he was arrested for debt but managed to avoid prison. In 1821, he married
Mrs Hyman, a young widow with children; two years later he was imprisoned
for debt. While inside, he petitioned Parliament to grant money for the
decoration of churches and public buildings with paintings. When not in
prison, he toured the country lecturing on painting and his ambition to
see important buildings decorated with historical representations of glory.
During a second imprisonment in 1827, he produced the picture 'Mock Election'
for which King George IV gave him £500. Haydon's financial difficulties
continued to beset his life, and, while still working on 'Alfred and the
Trial by Jury', he killed himself. Haydon was probably an overly ambitious
painter and a difficult person, but he was a good writer. He published a
highly regarded autobiography, and he kept a lively journal which gives
intimate glimpses of many prominent figures of the day.
One
biography link
DIARY DATES, CONTENT DESCRIPTORS
1808-1846 ___ art self family people
creativity prison
WEB TEXT LINKS
one
brief extract
ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT LINKS
Huntington
Library ___ possibly
SOME PUBLISHED TITLES
Life of Benjamin R. Haydon
The Diary of Benjamin Robert Haydon
May 2005
THIS IS THE DIARY JUNCTION - DATA AND LINKS FOR OVER 500 HISTORICAL AND LITERARY DIARISTS
Please
email if you have any corrections, additions or comments. |
IMPORTANT NOTES AND CAUTIONS:
1) The first line of basic information
may be incomplete in several ways: some historical figures have different
names (titles, pen-names); their birth and death dates may be unknown or
uncertain (g - guess, c - circa); similarly, their occupations may be unknown,
or they may have had other jobs; and, for early diarists, I've used 'British'
a bit too freely. 2) The biographical summary may not be accurate. It was
compiled quickly from various sources, mostly on the internet, and the facts
were not checked anywhere near as rigorously as they would have been if
they'd been intended for publication in a printed form. 3) The journal dates
and descriptors (which are in no particular order) must be treated with
caution: since I have not examined the diaries myself, the descriptors are
only guesses based on bibliographies, anthologies and internet biographies.
4) For the biography and etext links, I have ignored any sites with charges,
and I have avoided, wherever possible, those with pop-ups or too much advertising.
I have limited myself to providing three etext links where there is some
variety between them. 5) For the original manuscript links, I have limited
myself to providing a maximum of two (although, for a few diarists, their
original diaries are held in more than two places). 6) I have provided the
titles - chosen randomly - for up to three printed editions of the diaries. |