A View of Newmarket-Heath, Taken from Davis's Straits
This is one of several portrait caricatures etched by Gillray late in his career based on drawings by the amateur caricaturist, RF (Sir Robert Frankland). The others include: Mother-Goose, from Oxford (May 12, 1807) and Billy the Gamekeeper. W.S. (April 23, 1810).
© Trustees of the British Museum
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Like many portrait caricatures, it is a full length profile of a man, not directly identified, but hinted at in the title and details of the design. From that title and the unusually developed background, we can surmise that his name is Davis, and that he is a follower of one of the four major racing events held at Newmarket Heath in the 1807 season. From the pen and paper in his hands and the concerned look on his face, he appears to be hoping that the bet he has made ('2/1 on Th . . . ') will be successful and relieve him from whatever "straits" he is in.
The consensus among the commentaries on this print suggests that the grossly fat man is Goose Davis, "so called from being transported to Australia, and there passed from one master to another in exchange for a goose." On his return to England, he apparently became rich and reckless enough to bet on the horses on a regular basis. But I have been unable to find any reference to him in the newspapers of the day to corroborate the identification.
Sir Robert Frankland seems to have been a fan of both caricature and Gillray. There are are portrait caricatures of his dating from as early as 1802 when he was still a teenager. And earlier in 1807 when he was just 23, he must have approached Gillray about etching his drawing of Mother Goose. Later, in 1811, Frankland's series of six "Indispensable Accomplishments" featuring the challenges and risks of horsemanship owes an equal debt to Bunbury's prints about horseback riding and Gillray's series of four prints beginning with Hounds Finding (1800).
Sources and Reading
- Commentary from the British Museum on A View of Newmarket-Heath.
- "Sir Robert Frankland-Russell, 7th Baronet," Wikipedia
- "Newmarket Racecourse," Wikipedia
- Thomas Wright and R.H. Evans, Historical and Descriptive Account of the Caricatures of James Gillray #563.
- Thomas Wright and Joseph Grego, The Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist; With the History of His Life and Times, p. 352.
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