[1] [2] The sitter was born in 1768 as the illegitimate son of the Irish aristocrat George Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford and therefore had links to many of the Anglo-Irish elite.

He distinguished himself in the Peninsular War and was made Marshal of the Portuguese Army, serving under the Duke of Wellington.

Along with Thomas Lawrence and Martin Archer Shee, Beechey had emerged as one of Britain's leading portrait painters following the death of the President of the Royal Academy Joshua Reynolds.

Beresford sat for Beechey not long after the Treaty of Paris drove Napoleon into exile on Elba.

[5] A mezzotint print by Charles Turner based on Beechey's work is also in the Gallery's collection.