Sir John Gladstone (After Bradley)

This artwork has been identified as having links to a person connected with transatlantic slavery. This research is part of the Walker Art Gallery’s ongoing work to be more transparent about the collection’s relationship to Britain's colonial past. The subject of this portrait, John Gladstone (1764 - 1851), was one of the largest owners of enslaved African people in the Caribbean and was a highly influential figure in the West India lobby. He was involved in multiple claims for compensation totalling around £113,000 under the Slavery Abolition Act (1833). This print is after a painting of 1842 by the artist William Bradley (1801 - 1857). The engraver was Samuel William Reynolds (the Younger, 1795 1872), whose grandfather was born in the Caribbean, the son of a planter.