Beachy, Richard Bridges

Born into the family of the artist Sir Henry William Beachy , a member of the Royal Academy of Arts .

According to family tradition, at the age of fourteen he joined the Royal Navy, graduated from the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth . He served on the ship HMS "Blossom" under the command of his brother Frederick Wilhelm Beachy . Together with him he made a number of voyages; on the research vessel Blossom he undertook an expedition from 1825 to 1828 to the Pacific Ocean , the Bering Strait and Arctic North America.

He participated in a voyage to Kotzebue Bay to meet John Franklin, an expedition moving from the east by land. At the same time, he reached only Cape Barrow in the very north of Alaska . Since the meeting did not take place, he returned with the ship’s crew in October 1828 to Woolwich in England.

In 1828 he was appointed lieutenant . He then served in the Mediterranean . In 1835 he was sent for research service in Ireland . He carried out surveys at the mouth of Shannon and on the west coast of Ireland. His name is marked on many maps of the Irish coast.

In 1851 he became captain. He retired in 1864.

Over time, he rose to the rank of vice admiral (1879). Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Hibernian since 1868.

Like his father and two brothers Henry William Beachy (1789–1862) and George Duncan Beachy (1798–1852), Richard became a famous artist, author of paintings with views of various marine objects, naval battle scenes. He created many drawings depicting places and scenes from his travels, including in the Arctic and southern seas.

R. Beechey was a regular participant in art exhibitions. From 1832 to 1877 exhibited nineteen works at the Royal Academy, from 1833 to 1859 - thirteen paintings - at the British Institute, and seven - at the Society of British Artists (1834-1835).

• Richard Brydges Beechey