Famous 18th-Century English People Quiz

Answer: John Wesley

John Wesley, born in the north Lincolnshire town of Epworth, is credited with founding Methodism along with his brother, Charles, and Gloucestershire cleric George Whitefield. A graduate of Christ Church College, Oxford, Wesley later taught Greek and lectured on the Bible at Lincoln College, Oxford. More than 20 colleges and universities in the USA are today named after him, Wesleyan University in Connecticut (founded in 1831) being the oldest.

The Wesley brothers are commemorated in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's "Calendar of Saints" on March 2, by the Episcopal Church on March 3 and by Anglicans on May 24. John Wesley was ranked number 50 on the 2002 BBC poll of "100 Greatest Britons".

Answer: Samuel Johnson

Poet, essayist, critic, biographer and editor, it is as a lexicographer that Samuel Johnson is best remembered. Published in 1755, his "A Dictionary of the English Language" took nine years to compile and has been described as "one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship". It remained the definitive reference work on the English Language for more than a century and a half, until the first "Oxford English Dictionary" was published.

It is almost inconceivable that one man could be involved in two of the most astonishing and yet quite different literary works of all time, but that is precisely what happened to Johnson. James' Boswell's remarkable "Life of Samuel Johnson", published in 1791 (nearly seven years after Johnson's death), is perhaps one of the most accomplished biographies ever written.

Answer: Lancelot

He was born Lancelot Brown in the central Northumberland hamlet of Kirkharle. Brown designed the grounds of more than 170 of England's finest country estates, and much of his work survives today more than two centuries later. Brown's expertise can still be seen at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, historic home to the Duke of Marlborough and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Warwick Castle, built by William I and home to the Greville family since the reign of James I until sold to the Tussards Group in the 1970s, provides another example. Perhaps the most visited of Brown's creations is Longleat in Somerset, seat of the Marquesses of Bath and host of the world's first safari park outside of Africa.

Answer: David Garrick

David Garrick, born in Hereford and educated at the nearby King Edward VI Grammar School in Lichfield, became the most accomplished actor of the 18th century. He is perhaps best-known for his performances in the title role of Shakespeare's "Richard III", a role in which William Hogarth painted Garrick in a work that is today part of the collection at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. "King Lear" is another Shakespearean role for which Garrick is remembered.

Garrick took over as manager of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 1747. It was during this period that Garrick met German dancer Eva Marie Veigel. The pair married in 1749 and Hogarth painted then in our featured work of art, which today belongs to the Royal Collection. During Garrick's 19 years in charge, the Theatre Royal developed into one of Europe's most important theatres.

Garrick died at the age of 61 in 1779. He is buried in Poet's corner at Westminster Abbey.

Answer: Thomas Chippendale

Thomas Chippendale was the first writer to peoduce a handbook for cabinet-makers. His "The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director" was published in 1754 and had to be reprinted numerous times over the following decade as its popularity became evident. For many other furniture-makers of the era, Chippendale's book became their 'Bible' when it came to design.

Chippendale was more than a cabinet-maker, advising clients on all aspects of their homes he became the world's first 'interior designer' centuries before such a concept was taken seriously. Numerous examples of Chippendale's work still exist today: at Wilton House in Wiltshire, country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for more than four centuries; Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland, where most of the 18th-century furniture remains in situ; and the historic Paxton House in Berwickshire, Scotland.

Answer: Joshua Reynolds

Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA FRS FRSA, is one of the most important of all English artists. In 1784, following the death of Ramsay, Reynolds beat out the challenge of Thomas Gainsborough to become "Principal Painter in Ordinary" (the official court painter). Known primarily as a portraitist, his most famous works include paintings of numerous members of the aristocracy of the era.

Reynolds painted numerous self portraits, amongst the earliest a black and white chalk drawing when he was just 17 and an oil painted in 1748 which now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London. A 1776 Reynolds self-portrait hangs in the famous Uffizi Gallery in Florence, whilst our featured 1780 work is part of the collection at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Answer: George Stubbs

Born in Liverpool, George Stubbs followed worked in his father's leather processing business before moving to York, where he studied human anatomy. In his 30s, he moved to Lincolnshire where he spent more than a year dissecting horses and, in 1766, he published his first book, "The Anatomy of the Horse". He illustrated the book himself and the original drawings are now part of the collection at the Royal Academy.

Many of Stubbs' paintings feature horses, and today he is acknowledged as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) artist ever to have depicted horses. His best-known works include "A Lion Attacking a Horse", now part of the collection at the Yale University Art Gallery, "Whistlejacket", a famous painting of a prancing stallion that can be seen at the National Gallery, "Mares and Foals in a Landscape" (Tate Britain) and "Soldiers of the 10th Dragoon Regiment" (Royal Collection).

Horses are not the only animal painted by Stubbs: his beautiful "Leopard" is on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC whilst his "A portrait of the Kongouro (Kangaroo) from New Holland" is one of the earliest painting by a European artist of that animal.

Answer: James Cook

Captain James Cook, FRS, RN is remembered today as one of Great Britain's greatest explorers. He was also a noted cartographer, and the primary aim of one of his early voyages was to map the east coast of Canada, particularly Newfoundland.

Cook made three voyages to the Pacific Ocean. In the antipodes, he made the first recorded complete trip around New Zealand, and he became the first European known to sight the east coast of Australia. Further north, he became the first European to make contact with the natives in the Hawaiian Islands, although this particular encounter ended with fatal consequences for Cook himself.

In 1928, the US government issued a commemorative half dollar coin carrying Cook's portrait to recognize the 150th anniversary of his arrival in Hawaii. in 1874, 95 years after his death, a memorial was erected on the Hawaiian beach where he died. A nearby town is named "Captain Cook". Two of the US Space Shuttles have been named after Cook's ships, Discovery and Endeavor. In Australia, there is a James Cook University in the city of Townsville in Queensland, whilst the highest mountain in New Zealand, Mount Cook, carries his name.

Answer: Lord Frederick North

Frederick North was born in Piccadilly in central London. His godfather was Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of King George II and father of George III. He was also related to both the diarist Samuel Pepys and to John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, who was Prime Minister in the 1760s.

Educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Oxford, North was first elected as the Tory MP for Banbury in 1754 at the age of just 21, a seat he would hold for the next 36 years.

North became Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1767 during the Premiership of the Duke of Grafton, a position he retained through the whole of his own 12-year period as Prime Minister. In 1770, North became Prime Minister just in time to narrowly avert a war with Spain over the Falkland Islands. Although North managed to oversee the catastrophic loss of America, which declared independence in 1776, he did at least manage to retain the British colonies in the West Indies, which were under attack from the combined forces of France and Spain.

The comprehensive defeat to George Washington's forces at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, which effectively ended the American War of Independence, eventually led to a motion of 'no confidence in the government' in the House of Commons. When North was defeated in this vote, he resigned from office. He was subsequently appointed as Home Minister in 1783 during the administration of The Duke of Portland.

The pictured portrait of a young Lord North, painted in 1753, is by the Italian artist Pompeo Batoni.

Answer: Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine was born in the southern Norfolk market town of Thetford, where the pictured statue in his honour stands today.

Paine only arrived in the U.S. in 1774, sponsored by Benjamin Franklin, just in time to participate in the Revolution. Nevertheless, he managed in that short time to write the two most influential pamphlets published to inspire the rebels. Second President John Adams summed up Paine's importance when he said, "Without the pen of the author of 'Common Sense', the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain."

Not content with being deeply involved with one revolution, Paine moved to France in 1790, just in time for the start of hostilities there. His 1791 pamphlet "Rights of Man" was a defense of the revolutionaries and he was elected to the French National Convention in 1792 even though he could not speak French.