Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 58.djvu/445

 WAINEWRIGHT, THOMAS GRIFFITHS (1794–1862), poisoner and art critic, son of Thomas Wainewright of Chelsea, by his wife Ann (1773-1794), was born at Chiswick in October 1794. His mother was the daughter of Dr. [q. v.], publisher of the 'Monthly Review,' to whom he owed his second name. Having lost both his parents in infancy, Wainewright was adopted by his grandfather, and brought up at Linden House, Turnham Green (cf., Chiswick, 1845, p. 466; the house was pulled down in 1878, see 's Chiswick, pp. 246-8). Dr. Griffiths had not altogether approved of his daughter's marriage in 1793, and on his death in September 1803 he was careful to deduct the amount of his daughter Ann's portion from the sum in the new four per cent, annuities which he bequeathed in trust to his grandson, Thomas Griffiths. The latter went to school at the well-known academy of Charles Burney, where he evinced remarkable skill as a draughtsman. On leaving school his position at Linden House served him as an introduction to literary and artistic circles; he met and, and he adopted the affected tone of a youthful dilettante. It seems probable that he worked for some months during 1814 in the studio of Thomas Phillips, and there is a tradition that while the academician was engaged upon the well-known portrait of Byron, Wainewright executed a less flattering likeness of the poet on his own account (see Notes and Queries, 8th ser. i. 455; Allahabad Morning Post 26 March 1892). Finding his apprenticeship irksome, he is said to have entered first the guards and then a yeomanry regiment; but after a brief experience of the army, in the course of which he imbibed a taste for whisky punch, he sold his commission and turned to art-journalism as a more congenial profession. A severe illness, accompanied by hypochondria and neurotic symptoms, may have contributed to this change of plan. Under the pseudonyms of Egomet Bonmot and Janus Weathercock he was a fairly frequent contributor to the 'London Magazine' from 1820 to 1823. (1783-1821) [q.v.], the editor, knew something of Wainewright, and secured his services from the outset: and he wrote with a fluency that is often fulsome on such topics as 'Sentimentalities on the Fine Arts' and 'Dogmas for Dilettantes.' His connection with the periodical brought him into contact with Hood, Allan Cunningham, Hazlitt, De Quincey, and Charles Lamb, who spoke of 'kind, light-hearted Wainewright as the magazine's best stay. Such a description is a testimony to his insinuating manner. De Quincey says that there seemed a tone of sincerity and native sensibility about Wainewright's judgments upon Da Vinci, Titian, and others of the great masters, 'as in one who spoke for himself and was not merely a copier from books.' De Quincey was interested in him for this reason, and hence also came a claim upon the attention of Lamb. The verdict of other contemporaries describes him at about this time as an over-dressed young man, 'his white hands bespangled with regal ring's, with an undress military air and the conversation of a smart, lively, heartless, voluptuous coxcomb.' Procter mentions among his attributes an effeminate manner, thick, sensual lips, and wavering voice, scarcely above a whisper. More singular than the verdict of Charles Lamb is the indulgent eye with which so acute a critic as Hazlitt regarded Wainewright's prose, especially when one remembers the acrimony with which he attacked the 'florid euphemisms' of 'Vivian Grey' in his essay on the 'Dandy School.' The real apostle of this school was Wainewright.

Soon after he began writing for the 'London' Wainewright became an exhibitor at the Royal Academy, his pictures there comprising 'A Romance from Undine' (1821), 'Paris in the Chamber of Helen' (1822), 'The Milkmaid's Song' (1824), 'Scene from "Der Freischutz" (1826), 'Sketch from La Gerusalemme Liberata' (1825). He excelled, it is said, not in oils, but in water-colour and monochrome sketches and in crayon drawings. The British Museum print-room possesses a sepia drawing by him, coarse and indelicate both in subject and treatment, but by no means devoid of technical skill (it is officially entitled 'a lady passing two lovers who are seated on a bank embracing,' purchased from Mr. Phillips in 1885).

By means of occasional work with his pen and pencil, and by now and again a smart bit of cozening in the capacity of art dealer, Wainewright endeavoured to eke out the scanty annuity of 200l. or thereabouts which he derived from the legacy of his grandfather. His normal expenses were enhanced in 1821, for in that year he married Frances Ward, the daughter by her first husband of Mrs. Abercromby, a widow residing at Mortlake. The married couple lived at Twickenham, and then in Great Marlborough Street, and we hear of Wilkie, Macready, Lamb, Talfourd, and other persons of distinction dining at their house. Wainewright had no reason to be ashamed of his cellar; he exhibited to his guests the paces of his fine horse Contributor. His inherent