'The Portsmouth Captains', 1688 (c)

Line engraving by Robert White, 'Sold at his house in Bloomsbury Market 1688', 1688 (c).

Portraits of six of the 'Portsmouth Captains', named as: Colonel John Beaumont (1636 (c)-1701); Captain Thomas Paston (died 1691); Captain Simon Pack; Captain Thomas Orme; Captain John Port; Captain William Cook.

In 1688, King James II ordered the Duke of Berwick to introduce Irish recruits into his regiment at Portsmouth. The regiment's captains refused to receive them and were court-martialled. Their resistance reflected fears among English Protestant officers that James planned to replace them with Catholic Irishmen. The incident convinced many to subsequently support William of Orange's overthrow of James.