William Quiller Orchardson - Later Life

Later Life

The period between 1862 and 1880 was one of quiet ambitions, of a characteristic insouciance, of life accepted as a thing of many-balanced interests rather than as a matter of sturm und drang. In 1865 Pettie married, and the Fitzroy Square ménage was broken up. In 1868 Orchardson was elected A.R.A. (Associate of the Royal Academy). In 1870 he spent the summer in Venice, travelling home in the early autumn through a France overrun by the German armies. His marriage to Helen Moxon occurred on April 6, 1873, and in 1877 he was elected to the full membership of the Royal Academy. In this same year he finished building Ivyside, a house at Westgate-on-Sea with an open tennis-court and a studio in the garden. William Quiller Orchardson died in London two-and-a-half weeks after his 78th birthday, having been knighted less than three years previously.

There is a memorial which mentions William Quiller Orchardson within Margate Cemetery, Kent UK. Sadly now fallen over, the inscription reads: In memory of William Quiller Orchardson (Knight) R.A., H.R.S.A, D.C.L, and Officer of the Legion of Honour. Born March 27, 1833, died April 13, 1920. Ellen Orchardson his wife born May 5, 1853, died May 13, 1917. Capt. Charles Moxon Quiller Orchardson born December 24, 1873, died of wounds in Egypt April 26, 1917. Celeste Orchardson born December 24, 1876, died August 30, 1877.

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