- Philip Thicknesse
Captain Philip Thicknesse (1719 – 23 November 1792) was a British author, eccentric and friend of the artist
Thomas Gainsborough .Philip Thicknesse was born in
Staffordshire ,England and lived inFarthinghoe ,Northamptonshire . He also lived in Bath. Thicknesse obtained a commission as aCaptain of an independent company inJamaica after 1737, but transferred to a marine regiment as aCaptain-Lieutenant in 1740. He wasLieutenant-Governor ofLandguard Fort ,Suffolk (1753–1766).He was a friend of the society artist
Thomas Gainsborough and also his less well-known brother, the inventorHumphrey Gainsborough . He was an author and wrote for "The Gentleman's Magazine ". He also published "The Speaking Figure and the Automaton Chess Player, Exposed and Detected", a not entirely accurate exposé of the chess playing machineThe Turk .Thicknesse married Lady Elizabeth Tuchet, daughter of
James Tuchet, 6th Earl of Castlehaven and Hon. Elizabeth Arundell, on10 May 1749 . His second wife was Ann Touchet, daughter of Baron Audley. His third wife wasAnne Ford , daughter of Thomas Ford, who he married on27 September 1762 .He died near Boulogne,
Pas-de-Calais ,France , and was buried in this town.Books
* "A Year's Journey through France and Part of Spain", Volume I.
* "A Year's Journey through France and Part of Spain", Volume II.External links
*
* [http://www.landguard.com/thicknes.htm Biography]
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp04463 Pictures] in the National Portrait Gallery,London
* [http://manybooks.net/authors/thicknessep.html Manybooks.net entry]
*ODNB article by Katherine Turner, ‘Thicknesse, Philip (1719–1792)’, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27181] , (accessed 12 Jan 2008).
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