Captain Philip Durell, 1746

Artist: Hudson, Thomas (1701-1779)

Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 90.5 x 70 cm

Bequest of J.H.P. Daman, 1979

National Archives of Canada, negative no. C-117939

Captain Philip Durell ( 1701-1779 ) assisted in the capture of the strategic French fortress at Louisbourg ( Nova Scotia ) in 1745 during the war of Austrian Succession which pitted the English against the French in North America. Upon returning to England, Captain Durell commemorated his victory by commissioning Thomas Hudson to paint his portrait. In it, Captain Durell is shown holding a plan of Louisbourg harbour. His conquest was short-lived, however. Louisbourg was returned to the French in 1748 under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.

This portrait and that of Durell's wife, also by Hudson, were a bequest to the National Archives of Canada by J.H.P. Daman, Durell's descendant.