Charles Rogers 1711 - 1784
Charles Rogers , of 3 Laurence Pulteney Lane and of Richmond, Surrey. a high official in the London Custom House. Rogers was also a collector and Fellow of the Royal Society. Visitors to his house included Horace Walpole, Romney and Sir Joshua Reynolds. He worked under William Townson (aka Tonson) of the Custom House, London "Society of Antiquaries of London MANUSCRIPTS IN THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF LONDON Catalogue Ref. SAL/MS Creator(s): Society of Antiquaries of London 1707- [Note] Compiled by Pamela J. Willetts FSA FILE - SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. Suggestions for the Society's seal. - ref. SAL/MS/266* - date: 1751-1752 [from Scope and Content] Letters and sketches submitted, in response to the President's request for advice on a device for the Society's seal, by Fellows including Charles Rogers (fol. 1), T. M. (Dr Thomas Morell; fols. 2-3), Cromwell Mortimer, 18 Dec. 1751 (d. Jan. 1752; fols. 4-5), Sir Henry Cheere (fol. 6), and unattributed; 1751-2. See Evans (1956), 106. See also Proc., 2nd ser., 9 (1881-3), 277-80, for Dr Stukeley's submission (two leaves), exhibited and presented by John Eliot Hodgkin, FSA, 5 Apr. 1883; now preserved in Ants. Corr." " Oil Paintings > Portrait of Charles Rogers FRS FSA (1711-1784) Ã: Cottonian Collection Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA (1723-1792) Portrait of Charles Rogers FRS FSA (1711-1784) oil on canvas: painted in 1777 76 x 63.5cm/30 x 25ins Ref No: CO17 This portrait was commissioned from Reynolds by Charles Rogers in 1777. It was engraved the following year by William Ryland (1733-1783) and appeared in both volumes of Rogers work Imitation of Drawings published in 1778. Rogers had some reservations about the portrait and he later wrote to Walpole that he thought it made him look too young. Walpole responded that 'posterity will not know at what age the Likeness was taken'. The portrait is one of many links between Rogers and the Cottonian Collection, with Reynolds and Plymouth. "Eighteenth-century British draftsmen abroad Magazine Antiques, June, 2001, by Scott Wilcox When Charles Rogers (1711-1784), a connoisseur and collector, published A Collection of Prints in Imitation of Drawings in 1778, he stated that "it must be unquestionably allowed that Drawing is the Fountain from which all the imitative Arts have issued." (1) Rogers was more interested in the drawings of the old masters than those of his contemporaries, but drawing played a fundamental role in the attempts of British artists of the eighteenth century to establish a national school of art and to take their rightful place alongside the old masters. Drawing was at the heart of an artist's training, central to his practice, and, as the status of the artist increased, it was valued increasingly as the purest expression of his genius." "Charles Rogers FRS FSA (1711-1784) Charles Rogers was not born into a family of great privilege, but acquired his knowledge and wealth through study and good fortune. He was born on 2 August, 1711 to parents William and Isabella, in the district of Soho, London. As a young man he was befriended by William Townson (1682-1740) and his sisters, who also knew Rogers sister and mother. He was a likeable young man and soon absorbed into the Townson household. Townson held the post of Clerk of the Certificates at the Custom House in London and later managed to secure a junior post there for Rogers which he took up in 1731. Though Rogers had attended school, he later made frequent references to the inadequacy of his early education and it is probable that he was partly self-taught. Certainly Rogers was successful in his career, later succeeding Townson to the position of Clerk in 1746, a post he held until his retirement in 1780, only a few years before his death. The friendship between the Rogers and Townson families brought Charles considerable fortune. He inherited the estates firstly of William in 1740, and then his spinster sisters, in 1742 and 1755. The inheritance included large houses at Laurence Pountney Lane, off Cannon Street and in Richmond, Surrey. Many influential people worked at the Customs House, a number of whom were interested in the arts. Several were fellows of the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Antiquaries - Rogers himself became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries in 1756. He started collecting as early as 1737. It was through the contacts made in the Long Room at the Customs House that enabled Rogers to pursue his passion for collecting. Associates and friends such as Charles Townley and Arthur Pond purchased prints and drawings for Rogers on their travels to the Continent. Rogers never travelled abroad, but remained in the capital all his life. The core of Rogers collection were the prints and drawings and the accompanying library from Townson. However, to this he added extensively over the following 40 or so years gaining a considerable reputation amongst his contemporaries. Over the years his wide circle of friends included many art lovers and benefactors such as Horace Walpole, Reynolds, Paul Sandby and Romney. This social circle, the substantial inheritance coupled with his own fascination and interest in the pursuit of knowledge provided the basis on which he amassed an enormous collection of prints, drawings and library. Rogers died on 2 January, 1784, a batchelor, leaving his collection to his brother-in-law William Cotton, the first of three by that name through whose hands the collection passed from Rogers to Plymouth. "
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| Born: Soho, London, , , England 2nd Aug 1711 | Baptised:
| | Died: 2nd Jan 1784 | Buried: London, , , England Jan 1784
| | Family: Rogers |
Timeline
| 2nd Aug 1711 | Born (birth) London, England | | 13th Dec 1783 | Made a will (will) | | 2nd Jan 1784 | Died (death) | | 2nd Jan 1784 | UNMAR/ROLE INDI | | Jan 1784 | Buried (burial) London, England |
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