On this day in 1933, Elizabeth Thompson, the renowned military painter who married Major William Francis Butler of Golden, Co. Tipperary, died at the age of 86.
Thompson was born in Switzerland to English parents in 1846. Her early sketches show an enthusiasm for historical and military matters. It was Thompson’s second exhibit at the Royal Academy (RA), known as “The Roll Call” that established her name. It was phenomenally successful; crowds came to see the painting and it had to be protected by policemen. It was eventually purchased by Queen Victoria and added to the royal collection. It was one of the most popular RA exhibits of the 19th century.
While Thompson intended the painting as an archetypal image of the Crimean War (1854-6), it was generally assumed that the scene represented the aftermath of the Battle of Inkerman, which took place on the 5th November 1854. The painting's focus on the endurance and bravery of ordinary soldiers without reference to the commanders of the army accorded with the mood of the times and the increasing awareness of the need for social and military reforms.
Elizabeth Thompson was a convert to Catholicism in 1873. In June 1877, she married the catholic Major William Francis Butler of Golden, Co. Tipperary and she became known as Lady Butler. This led to her taking an interest in Irish affairs and influenced her paintings. “Evicted”, painted after she had witnessed an eviction in Co. Wicklow, was an overtly political work. It was seen as a criticism of empire and was consequently met with disapproval in London. The establishment did not appreciate criticism, especially from one of their own.
During their marriage, Lady Butler accompanied her husband on several of his campaigns in Africa, the Middle East and Canada, which provided material for her “Letters from the Holy Land” and “From sketchbook and diary”.
The couple moved into Bansha Castle upon the Major’s retirement from the army in 1905. After her husband’s death in 1910, Lady Butler stayed on in the castle until it was requisitioned by republicans during the civil war. Lady Butler died at her daughter’s home at Gormanston Castle, Co. Meath on this day in 1933.
Sources:
https://www.rct.uk/collection/405915/the-roll-call
https://www.dib.ie/biography/butler-thompson-elizabeth-a1246
