George Bridport was born in London on March 22, 1783, and baptized on April 20, 1793, at Saint Marylebone, Middlesex, London, the same church where his parents Mary Morgan and George Bridport were married in 1781. (1) Information about his early training is sketchy, as he was not registered as an apprentice in painting, decorative painting, glazing, or drafting, nor was he a member of any London guild company. (2) In 1806 he described himself as an architect when he submitted a now-lost “design for decorating ceilings” to the Royal Academy of Art. (3) Latrobe’s accounts for work he performed in London between 1792 and 1795 list the painters, glaziers, carvers, upholsterers, wallpaperers, ornamental plasterers, and other decorative craftsmen he employed, but do not mention any craftsmen with the surname Bridport, or any of the artists Latrobe later suggested as Bridport’s mentors. (4)

The earliest evidence of Bridport’s work as a decorative painter is his trade card (illustrated on p. 78), which was dated to 1807 by Sarah Sophia Banks (1744-1818), whose immense collection of trade cards at the British Museum offers considerable insight into the work of London artists and artisans contemporary with Bridport. The front of the card proudly announces Bridport’s residence on Cavendish Street, a posh area in northwest London near Saint Marylebone’s Church. The back of the card details the range of materials he decorated and styles in which he professed proficiency: “DRAWING ROOMS/Decorated in the French, Egyptian, Turkish,/Indian, Chinese & Gothic Styles./Transparent Window Blinds/in the above various ways./Ensuite with the Rooms./Temporary Rooms Painted/for Balls. HOUSE PAINTING.”

By 1808 Bridport had brought his talents to the United States. In February of that year Latrobe wrote from Washington, D. C., where he was working on the Capitol, to his brothers-in-law in Philadelphia: “Bridport, whom you sent me, and whom I employed for a month is lost…. Pray hunt him out for me.” (5) Latrobe had intended to have the ceiling of the Hall (or House) of Representatives painted by the fall of 1807, when the Congressional session opened in its new home, but he was unable to procure a suitable painter until he met Bridport and deemed him exactly the quality of painter required for the Michaelangelean job. According to Latrobe, Bridport worked on scaffolding in “equatorial weather,” and the sound of “his groans have reached me” in Philadelphia. (6) But the results were admired immediately. Latrobe commented that the House “Members will think [the ceiling in their chamber] too fine.” (7) In preparation for the work, he had introduced Bridport to Samuel Wetherill, Philadelphia’s premier paint supplier, stating, “I beg especially to introduce him to your attentions as the present transaction may probably be the commencement of considerable transactions with him in the line of your business.” (8)

In August 1808 Latrobe wrote to Bridport, “I want you to have done at Washington about the 1st of October, Mr. [William] Waln’s house [in Philadelphia] then wants you.” (9) In 1809 Bridport was again in Washington to paint the ceremonial oval drawing room for the President’s House and to outfit an elegant temporary Senate Chamber (see illustration on this page). Latrobe wrote in 1809 to Joseph Norris, the president of the Bank of Pennsylvania, about Bridport’s flair for painting the types of decorative work that Latrobe had designed for the ceiling of the bank: “Mr. Bridport … knows exactly what ought to be done. He understands his business well. [He] is a very excellent artist, by profession what is in England called, a decorative Architect and having been brought up under the famous Dixon … he is besides a sober reasonable man of business.” (10)

Latrobe’s reference to Dixon may suggest Bridport’s training, possibly referring to either Robert Dixon (1780-1815), a landscape painter and architectural draftsman, or to Cornelius Dixon (w. 1771-1794), a decorative painter who worked primarily in theatrical set design. (11)

Dorset, England: Parish and Probate Records

Dorset, England: Parish and Probate Records is a collection of historical parish and probate registers from the county of Dorset in the Country of England. The 136,400 records in this collection can range in date from the early 1500s to the mid- to late-1800s. Some non-parish records may be included from as early as the twelfth century. Parish records–primarily baptisms, marriages, and burials–provide the best source of vital record information in the centuries before civil registration. The records include baptisms/christenings, burials, marriages, tombstone inscriptions, obituaries, tax lists, wills, and other miscellaneous types of records. Also included are some records from non-conformist churches. All of the data was converted as it was originally presented in various published registers and books. For this reason, you will find interesting phonetic spellings and large descriptive tables of contents.

Dorset, England: Parish and Probate Records

A large number of parish records date from the sixteenth century, when a series of mandates required clergy to compile records of baptisms, marriages, and burials within the parish, and to send an annual copy to the Bishop. Essentially, there are two sets of records: the parish copy and the copy the clergyman sent to the Bishop each year, known as Bishops Transcripts. Many records were destroyed, lost, or simply not kept during the Civil War (1642-1660). Of the surviving records, many have since been transcribed and collected by genealogical societies. The records are a valuable resource for finding vital information of people of the time. The content of the records may vary between the two sets.

Civil registration of births, deaths, and marriage, often called General Registration, began in July of 1837. It provides a national vital records index that simplifies searches and includes people who may not have been associated with a church. The civil records are more readily available than parish records (parish records after 1837 often aren’t filmed) and are easier to use. But many births went unrecorded in the early years of civil registration, so parish records are still extremely valuable.

Dorset: Beer Hacket - Parish Register , 1549-1812
Dorset: Lydlinch - Parish Register, 1559-1812
Dorset: Tarrant Hinton - Parish Register, 1545-1812
Dorset: Almer - Parish Register, 1538-1812
Dorset: Swanage - Parish Register, 1563-1812
Dorset: - Wills and Administrations, 1568-1799
Dorset: - Parish Registers
Dorset: - Registers of Marriages, 1558-1812

Dorset, England: Parish and Probate Records