Charles de Lacy Biography

Charles John de Lacy (1856-1929) was one of the foremost British marine artists of his period. He was especially known for his warship imagery and was regularly commissioned by Elswick, Tyne and Wear shipbuilder W. G. Armstrong Whitworth.

Son of Robert de Lacy, a professor of music, and his wife Eliza, Charles de Lacy was born in 1856 in Sunderland, County Durham, and grew up in the Bishopwearmouth area of the city. Although he would do much work in that area, by 1870 his family had relocated from the North East of England to Lambeth in London. While in Lambeth, he married Alice Harriet Hill in 1880 and they had two daughters, Constance Rosamond De Lacy (b.1881) and Irene Valerie Cristoforo De Lacy (b.1901). 

He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1889, having undertaken training at The National Gallery. Magazines such as The Illustrated London News were among early patrons.

Notable works include The Battle Against the Spanish Armada, The Kinfauns Castle as a Troopship (National Maritime Museum), HMS Vindictive Storming Zeebrugge Mole (during the Zeebrugge Raid) (Britannia Royal Naval College), The Sinking of the Lusitania and The Funeral of Queen Victoria, Portsmouth 1st February 1901.

Much of his work was done as book illustration or as commercial art for shipbuilders. Amongst major publishing names who used his material were Frederick Warne & Co, Thomas Nelson, Cassell, Methuen Publishing and S.P.C.K.

1936 is often cited as his death date, however this is incorrect. He died in Cheam, Surrey.