Item Details: Framed miniature of Lieutenant Edward Christian, 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot, painted by Nicholas Condy
About the Item
This miniature portrait of Lieutenant Edward Christian in the uniform of the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot is in a small, square frame behind glass.
Portrait miniatures were often fitted into lockets, watch-covers, or pieces of jewellery to be carried about.
About Lieutenant Edward Christian
Edward Christian was probably born around 1784. While little is known about his parents, it’s certain that he was the nephew of Vicar-General Evan Christian of Kirk Patrick, Isle of Man.
About 1799, he entered the office of a Mr. Jackson in Liverpool, but he left in 1802 owing to ill health. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant into the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot in 1804, in 1807 was at Copenhagen, and in 1809 at Corunna.
A collection of his letters was published in 1898, which provide a fascinating insight into his life and career. The last letter in the collection is dated 29th January 1809 after his return to England, and military records indicate that he died in February 1809.
About Nicholas Condy
Nicholas Condy was born in 1793 in Cornwall. In 1814 he married Ann Trevanion Pyle in Plymouth.
In 1911 he was gazetted to the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot on May 9th 1811 from the Royal Cornwall Militia. In February 1813, he became a Lieutenant. In 1818, he was placed on half-pay, and devoted his attention instead to his art, becoming a professional painter at Plymouth. His paintings were exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and at Suffolk Street Gallery. He died in Plymouth in 1858, aged 64.
Condy and Eyre’s service in the 43rd does not appear to have overlapped at all, and may be entirely coincidental.
