Major Christopher Hodgson, Bombay Artillery, 1814

Oil on canvas by Sir William Newton (1785-1869) 1814.

In 1814, whilst on furlough in England, Captain Hodgson was promoted brevet-major and sat for this portrait to the fashionable artist William Newton RA. Primarily a miniaturist, Newton was to be appointed miniature painter in ordinary to the King and Queen in 1833; he was knighted in 1837.

Hodgson saw field service at Kathiawar (Kattywar), taking the fortress of Sunkheira in July 1802 for which he received the thanks of the Government, and at Gujarat (Guzerat) during the 2nd Maratha War (1803-1805). He was Aide-de-Camp to the Governor from 1815, Officer Commanding Artillery for the Poona Division from 3 November 1825, Commandant of Artillery from 10 December 1825 to 19 April 1826, and rose to the rank of major-general in 1838.