Woodforde was born at
Castle Cary,
Somerset. He was the second son of Heighes Woodforde, an accountant of
Ansford, and his wife Anne. He was a lineal descendant of the painter Samuel Woodford, and nephew of the diarist,
James Woodforde. He was supported by the banker
Henry Hoare of
Stourhead,
Wiltshire and his family. On 8 March 1782, he became a student at the
Royal Academy Schools and started exhibiting pictures in 1784. He contributed no less than 133 pictures to the Royal Academy and 39 at the
British Institution. Richard Hoare granted Woodforde £100 a year, which allowed him to travel to Italy in 1786. He spent most of his time in
Rome, studying the works of
Raphael,
Michelangelo, and
Paolo Veronese. He also visited
Venice and
Florence before returning to London in 1791. ==Notes==