Henry Pelham was an American painter, engraver, and cartographer.
Background
Henry Pelham was born circa February 14, 1748 or 1749 in Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, where his father, Peter Pelham, limner, engraver, and schoolmaster, had married Mary (Singleton) Copley, widow of Richard Copley and mother of John Singleton Copley. His father died in 1751, and Henry witnessed in childhood the efforts of his mother at her little tobacco shop to keep the family together until her gifted son Copley brought prosperity to them all through his portrait painting. The home was in Lindall Street, where Exchange Place and Congress Street now meet.
Education
Henry Pelham attended the Boston Latin School. Drawing and painting he is assumed to have studied with his half-brother. It was a likeness of Henry Pelham, then aged ten or eleven, which with the title "The Boy with the Squirrel" was exhibited at London in 1766 and brought Copley his first fame abroad. Henry Pelham's many letters reveal a naïve, boyish young man, devoted to his mother and half-brother, an efficient assistant to the latter in practical affairs. He himself painted miniatures at this time, several of which are preserved. They reveal admirable workmanship. A much more violent Loyalist than Copley, he expressed himself vigorously against his neighbors whom he held misguided and rebellious.
Career
In the winter of 1775, while making a journey on horseback to Philadelphia, Henry Pelham was mobbed at Springfield, Massachussets, as one of "a damn'd pack of Torys. " His sketch of the redoubts on Bunker Hill is reproduced with the Copley-Pelham letters. His "Plan of Boston" was engraved in aquatint at London in 1777. No historian of the American Revolution can ignore his illuminating letters. With other Loyalists Pelham left Boston in August 1776. Arrived at London, where the Copleys were settled, he supported himself by teaching drawing, perspective, geography, and astronomy. In 1777 he contributed to the Royal Academy "The Finding of Moses, " which was engraved by W. Ward in 1787.
In 1788 Henry Pelham exhibited some enamels and miniatures. After marriage Pelham went to Ireland. He returned with children to London. He and Copley shared in the estate of their mother, who died at Boston April 29, 1789. Soon after this Pelham was named agent for Lord Lansdowne's Irish estates, a work which he followed with energy and ability. He was a civil engineer and cartographer, and his county and baronial maps are important documents of Irish history. Henry Pelham was drowned from a boat in 1806, while superintending the erection of a martello tower in the River Kenmare.
Achievements
Henry Pelham became famous thanks to his paintings and engravings.
Connections
Henry Pelham was married to Catherine Butler, daughter of William Butler of Castle Crine, County Clare, Ireland. His wife, however, died while bearing twin sons, Peter and William.
