Portrait of George Monk, Duke of Albemarle, 1816

A rectangular black and white engraving shows a middle-aged white male dressed in robes of the Garter and finery. He is posed facing out to the right, while his hand points outwards to the bottom left. The portrait is framed by a simple line border and underneath text reads ‘George Monk, Duke of Alermale,’ followed by an italic scroll ‘From the original of Sir Peter Lely in The Town Hall, Exeter. Drawn by H. Crease, & Engraved (with Permission) by W. J. Fry. London, Published Feb. 1. 1816, by Lackington, Allen & Co. and Longman Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown.’

George Monk (or Monck) was born on the 6th December 1608 in Potheridge, Devon, and was the second son to Sir Thomas Monk and Elizabeth Smith, whose father, Sir George Smith, was three times Mayor of Exeter and reputably the richest man in Exeter. The Monks were relatively poor in comparison, and after Elizabeth’s father failed to pay her dowry, George’s father, Thomas, died in debtor’s prison (George stabbed the Under-Sherriff for Devon after he arrested his father and escaped prosecution for murder by fleeing to the continent.)
Monk began his military career in 1625 at the age of sixteen, rising through the ranks over the years and becoming so crucial to the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 that he was rewarded with the title of Duke of Albemarle, Lord Lieutenant of Devon, and for a short while was elected Member of Parliament for Devon. His lands were managed by Sir William Morice, who became his ‘greatest confidant’ with Monk requesting that Morice was made Governor of Plymouth.
He was buried in Westminster Abbey following his death in 1670, where his funeral effigy is on public display, along with a marble monument in the north aisle of Lady Chapel.

The engraver of this piece, William Thomas Fry (1789-1843) was one of the first to experiment with steel plates, while Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), a Dutch artist, was appointed Principal Painter to Charles II. The original painting is mentioned in Horace Walpole’s Anecdotes of Painting in England (1876) and The Route Book of Devon: A Guide for the Stranger and Tourist by Henry Besley (1850 – held at DEI AD 02 BES). H. Crease refers to Harold Crease, a miniaturist based in London. The print was commissioned for inclusion in one volume of Edmund Lodge’s Portraits of Illustrious Personages of Great Britain, Engraved from Authentic Pictures.

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