Frederic Villiers: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=AugustSeptember 20122020}}

| birth_date = {{Birthbirth date|df=yes|1851|04|23|df=y}}

| birth_place = [[London]], [[England]]

| death_date = {{Deathdeath date and age|df=yes|1922|04|05|1851|04|23|df=y}}

| occupation = [[warWar artist]] and, [[war correspondent]]

'''Frederic Villiers''' (23 April 1851 &nbsp;– 5 April 1922), was a British [[war artist]] and [[war correspondent]].<ref name=obit/><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Villiers, Frederic|magazine=Who's Who|year=1907|volume= 59|pages=1803–1804|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEcuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1803}}</ref><ref>{{cite journalbook |author=Roth, Mitchel P. |chaptersection=Villiers, Frederic |title=Historical Dictionary of War Journalism |pages=327–328 |year=1997 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, CT |isbn=0-313-29171-3 |section-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Og8-5_oqumYC&pg=PA327}}</ref> Along with [[William Simpson (Scottish artist)|William Simpson]] and [[Melton Prior]], Villiers was one of the most notable 'special' artists of the later 19th century. He may have been the model for the [[Rudyard Kipling|Kipling]] war-artist character, Dick Heldar in ''[[The Light that Failed]].''

Having reported on the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War]] in 1877 and witnessed the events at the [[Battle of Plevna]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Forbes |first=Archibald |author-link= Archibald Forbes |title= Memories and Studies of War and Peace |publisher= Cassell and Company Limited |place= London, Paris & Melbourne |url=https://archive.org/stream/memoriesstudieso01forb#page/17/mode/1up |year=1895 |edition=2nd |pages= 17, 21, 25, 188, 275|access-date= 27 July 2018 |via= Internet Archive}}</ref> he traveled to [[Afghanistan]] to cover the [[Second Afghan War]] that had broken out in 1878. Here he befriended [[Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari]] who gave the artist the pens that were used to sign the [[Treaty of Gandamak]]. A world cruise followed in which he visited [[British India]] where he dined with the [[Governor-General of India |Viceroy]], [[Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton |Lord Lytton]] at [[Shimla|Simla]], travelling on to [[Sydney]], [[Tasmania]], [[Auckland]], [[Honolulu]] and [[San Francisco]], and in 1882 was in Egypt to cover the [[Anglo-Egyptian War (1882)|Anglo-Egyptian War]]; he was present at [[Battle of Tel-el-Kebir]]. TheIn followingJuly year saw him in [[Russia]] to cover the coronation of [[Alexander III of Russia|Tsar Alexander III]] but1882 he was soona backguest inalongside Northrival Africa, this time to provide sketches of the fighting in thejournalist [[SudanMoberly Bell]] duringon theboard [[GeneralHMS CharlesCondor Gordon(1876)|GordonHMS relief expeditionCondor]]. Hewhen coveredits thecommander [[Serbo-BulgarianLord WarCharles Beresford]] inattacked 1886,Fort Marabut during the [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]]Bombardment of 1887,Alexandria the(1882)|Bombardment [[Firstof Sino-Japanese WarAlexandria]].<ref>Famous Fighters of 1894-95, and the [[Greco-TurkishFleet, WarEdward (1897)|Greco-TurkishFraser, War]] of1904, 1897p.300</ref>

During the [[Russo-Japanese War]], Villiers was embedded with Japanese troops at the [[Battle of Port Arthur]] as a reporter for ''[[The Illustrated London News]]''. Few other illustrators or cameramen were willing to approach the front lines as closely as Villiers, and many of his sketches were published in various newspapers and books during and after the war.<ref name= Kowner >Kowner, '' Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War'', p. 409.</ref> However, during [[First World War]], Villiers was particularly frustrated during the opening months for not being allowed to go near the front

Villiers worked primarily for ''[[The Graphic]]'' but also supplied illustrations to [[Black and White (magazine) |''Black and White'']] as well as serving as a special correspondent of [[London Evening Standard|''The Standard'']]; he also contributed illustrations to the ''[[English Illustrated Magazine]]'' and [[The Idler (1892–1911)|''The Idler'']]. He counted among his friends, [[Archibald Forbes]] and [[List of journalists killed during the Mahdist War#1885|John Alexander Cameron]], who was killed in the Gordon Relief Expedition; he was also a friend of the [[Edward VII |Prince of Wales]] and was invited on at least one occasion to go hunting with the Prince in [[Scotland]]. Villiers exhibited two paintings at the [[Royal Academy]], the first in 1882 entitled 'The road home; the return of an Imperial brigade from Afghanistan', and in the following year 'Fighting Arabi with his own weapons; an incident of the Battle of Tel el-Kebir'.

Villiers gave frequent illustrated lectures and published several autobiographical works describing his experiences at the front.

He died on 35 April 1922.<ref name=obit>{{cite newspapernews|title=Villiers Is Dead. Writer Ofof War |date=6 April 1922|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00D16F63D5D1A7A93C4A9178FD85F468285F9}}</ref>

* "{{cite journal |title= The Truth about Port Arthur," ''|journal= North American Review'', Vol.|volume= 160, |date= March 1895, pp. |pages= 325–330. |jstor= 25103490|last1= Villiers |first1= Frederic |issue= 460 }}

* [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006573915{{cite book ''|title=Port Arthur, three months with the besiegers; a diurnal of occurrents'']. |place= London; and New York: |publisher= Longmans, Green, and Co. |year= 1905 |url=https://archive.org/details/portarthurthree00vill |access-date= 29 July 2018|via=Internet Archive}}

* [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000403385{{cite ''book |title=Days of glory; the sketch book of a veteran correspondent at the front'']; with an introduction by [[Philip Gibbs]]. |place= New York: |publisher= George H. Doran, c1920|year= 1920 |url= https://archive.org/stream/daysofglorysketc00villuoft#page/n8/mode/1up |access-date= 29 July 2018 |via= Internet Archive}}

* ''{{cite book |title= Villiers: His Five Decades of Adventure''. |place= New York and London: |publisher= Harper & Brothers, |year= 1920. [|volume= 1 |url= https://books.googlearchive.comorg/booksdetails/about/Villiers.html?idvilliershisfived01vill |access-date=nRdFAQAAIAAJ vol.29 1]July 2018 |via=Internet Archive}}; [ {{cite book |title= Villiers: His Five Decades of Adventure |place= New York and London |publisher= Harper & Brothers |year= 1920 |volume= 2 |url= https://booksarchive.google.comorg/books?iddetails/villiershisfived02vill |access-date=6xdFAQAAIAAJ vol.29 2]July 2018 |via=Internet Archive}}

[[Category:PeopleArtists from London]]