's 1778 painting
The Battle of La Hogue Woollett was born on 15 August 1735 in
Maidstone,
Kent to a family had originally emigrated to England from the
Dutch Republic. He was apprenticed to
John Tinney, an engraver in
Fleet Street, London, and studied in the
St Martin's Lane academy. His first important plate was from
The Destruction of the Children of Niobe of
Richard Wilson, published by Boydell in 1761, which was followed in 1763 by a companion engraving from the "Phaethon" of the same painter. He engraved several
Benjamin West paintings, including
The Death of General Wolfe in 1776 and
The Battle of La Hogue in 1781, the former of which is usually considered Woollett's masterpiece. In 1775 he was appointed engraver-in-ordinary to
George III; and he was a member of the
Incorporated Society of Artists, of which for several years he acted as secretary. He died in London; his is one of the many graves in
Old St. Pancras Churchyard. He is not listed on the memorial to important lost graves erected in the 19th century. ==Memorials==