- William Gifford Palgrave
- from the album Mrs. Cameron’s Photographs from the Life
Sheet: 13 9/16 × 10 3/8 in. (34.5 × 26.3 cm)
Mount: 18 1/8 × 12 3/8 in. (46 × 31.5 cm)
Explore Further
Among the more colorful and adventurous figures of his day, Oxford-educated William Gifford Palgrave (1826–1888) joined the British colonial army in India, converted to Roman Catholicism, and served as a Jesuit priest in India, Rome, and Syria. In 1862 and 1863, he traveled through Central and Eastern Arabia
as a spy, disguised as a Muslim physician from Syria, a journey he later detailed in a best-selling narrative. After renouncing his vocation as a Jesuit priest in 1865, he joined the British foreign service, serving in Türkiye, St. Thomas and St. Croix, Manila, Bulgaria, Bangkok, and Uruguay in subsequent years.
ProvenanceGiven by the artist to her daughter Julia and son-in-law Charles Norman; by descent to his son Archibald Cameron Norman; by descent to his son Charles Lloyd Norman; by descent to his son Charles Wake Norman; by descent to his son to William Norman; by descent to his son Stephen Norman; [consigned to Hans P. Kraus, New York, 2012]; purchased by MFAH, 2021.
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