William Stanley Goddard (1757-1845) was a Quirister and then Scholar of Winchester College, 1771-76, and Commoner of Merton College, Oxford. He returned to Winchester as Commoner Tutor, 1781-84; Second Master, 1784-93; Headmaster, 1793-1809. In 1814 he was made a prebendary of St Paul’s and in 1829 a canon of Salisbury. He also held the living of Wherwell, near Andover, for a number of years. The Goddard Scholarship was founded in his memory, and the Goddard Society for major donors is named after him.

According to an account in Henry Adams’ Wykehamica (1878), this portrait was presented to Goddard by his former pupils ‘on his retirement from office.’ It is clear, however, that the work dates from the early 1830s, long after Goddard’s departure from Winchester in 1809.

This is one of two full-length portraits of Goddard at Winchester, the other (Ao118) commissioned by the College from Henry William Pickersgill in 1836. Over time the two portraits, which are of almost identical dimensions, have become confused. This painting was published as by Pickersgill in the ODNB article on Goddard and several times catalogued as his work. Meanwhile, the label on the frame of Ao118 carries an erroneous attribution to Lucas.

The style of this painting supports an attribution to Lucas rather than to Pickersgill, but confirmation is provided by a print, published in 1832 with a dedication by Lucas, of a smaller version of the present work (or perhaps a preparatory head study for it). The original painting on which that print is based was purchased by the College in 1927 (Ao73).

 

Literature: H.C. Adams, Wykehamica: a history of Winchester College and Commoners (Oxford, 1878), pp. 170-71; T.F. Kirby, Annals of Winchester College (London, 1892), p. 419; R.D.H. Custance, ‘Goddard, William Stanley(1757–1845)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004)

Provenance: Unknown, at Winchester College in the late 19^th century

Location: College Hall