Matthew William Peters

Rev. Matthew William Peters was born in Freshwater, Isle of Wight, 1742 an died in Brasted Place, Kent, March 20, 1814.

Peters established his artistic reputation as a painter of portraits and slightly risqué fancy pictures. After studying with Robert West at the Society of Artists in Dublin, he went to London to study with Thomas Hudson in 1759. He gained a knowledge of Old Master paintings during a series of trips to the Continent beginning in 1762. Peters exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, where he was elected Academician in 1778, and was an important contributor to Josiah Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery. Following his ordination as a minister in 1783, Peters produced few paintings, mainly for friends and family.