Thomas Sandby

[4] In 1743 Sandby was appointed private secretary and draughtsman to William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, and accompanied him in his campaigns in Flanders and Scotland (1743–1748).

Pasquin[4] says that he was appointed draughtsman to the chief engineer of Scotland, in which capacity he was at Fort William in the highlands when Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, landed and was the first person to convey intelligence of the event to the government in 1745.

Sandby accompanied Cumberland in his expeditions against the rebels, and made a sketch of the Battle of Culloden, together with three panoramic views of Fort Augustus and the surrounding scenery, showing the encampments, in 1746, and a drawing of the triumphal arch erected in St. James's Park to commemorate the victories.

Sandby again accompanied the duke to the Netherlands during the War of the Austrian Succession, and probably remained there till the conclusion of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in October 1748.

His time was now principally spent in extensive alterations of the park, and in the formation of the Virginia Water Lake, in which he was assisted by his younger brother, Paul, who came to live with him.

Although devoted to his work at Windsor and preferring a retired life, Sandby spent part of each year in London.

Sandby designed a carved oak altar-screen for St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, and a stone bridge over the Thames at Staines, opened in 1796, but removed a few years afterwards on account of its insecurity.

He built several houses in the neighbourhood of Windsor, including St Leonard's Hill[8] for the Duchess of Gloucester, and one for a Colonel Deacon, later known as "Holly Grove".

Though he was self-educated as an architect, and left few buildings by which his capacity can be tested, the Freemasons' Hall showed no ordinary taste, while of his skill as an engineer and landscape-gardener Windsor Great Park and Virginia Water are a permanent record.

He was an excellent and versatile draughtsman, and so skilful in the use of watercolour that his name deserves to be associated with that of his brother Paul in the history of that branch of art.