- 'Cursory Remarks upon the Arrangement of the Plays of Shakespear, occasioned by reading Mr. Malone's Essay on the Chronological Order of those celebrated pieces' 1792. In this work Hurdis shows a very slender knowledge of the subject, and Malone has added the following note to his copy now preserved in the Bodleian: 'It is difficult to say whether he or his friend William Cowper the poet, who writes to him on the subject of this pamphlet, were most ignorant of the matter here discussed.' As a specimen of Hurdis's criticism it may be mentioned that, judging from internal evidence, he thinks the 'Two Gentlemen of Verona' one of the latest of Shakespeare's plays, and the 'Winter's Tale' one of the earliest.
- 'Lectures showing the several Sources of that Pleasure which the Human Mind receives from Poetry,' Bishopstone, at the author's own press, 1797.
- 'A word or two in Vindication of the University of Oxford, and of Magdalene College in particular, from the posthumous aspersions of Mr. Gibbon,' anonymous, without place or date, but certainly printed at Bishopstone. This is not a very successful performance, as the writer, while heaping plenty of abuse upon Gibbon, is obliged to acknowledge the truth of most of his strictures. The professors come out badly, and Hurdis makes some strange admissions amidst a good deal of shuffling.
1790.
[Life of Hurdis, prefixed to the Village Curate and other Poems, London, 1810; Bloxam's Reg. of Magd. Coll. vii. 65-76; Johnson's Memoirs of Wm. Hayley; Cowper's Letters, ed. Johnson.]
HURDIS, JAMES HENRY (1800–1857), amateur artist, was the elder son of James Hurdis [q. v.] When he was a year old his father died (1801), and, his mother marrying soon after a physician at Southampton, he was educated there, and afterwards spent a few years in France. He was then articled to Charles Heath [q.v.], the engraver, by whom he was instructed in drawing and etching. Though working only as an amateur, Hurdis was very industrious, and he excelled in humorous subjects in the style of George Cruikshank, whose acquaintance he formed at an early period. He resided chiefly at Newick, near Lewes, and etched a large number of portraits of local notabilities, and views of buildings in Sussex. Some of these appeared in the early volumes of the collections of the Sussex Archæological Society, of which he was a member. Among his more important plates were the portraits of Sir George Shiffner, bart., and Mr. Partington of Oflham, a view of the fête at Lewes to celebrate the coronation of Queen Victoria, and the 'Burning of Richard Woodman at Lewes,' from a picture by F. Colvin. Towards the end of his life Hurdis removed to Southampton, where he died on 30 Nov. 1857. [ Gent. Mag. 1858, p. 109; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Sussex Archæological Collections.]
HURLESTON, RICHARD (fl. 1764–1780), painter, whose father lived in Carey Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, obtained in 1764 a premium from the Society of Arts. He principally painted portraits, and exhibited a few at the Royal Academy. In 1773 he accompanied his intimate friend, Joseph Wright, A.R.A. [q. v.], of Derby, to Italy. He returned to England about 1780. In that year he exhibited a picture of 'Maria' from Sterne's 'Sentimental Journey,' which was engraved in mezzotint by W. Pether, and painted a portrait of Edward Easton, mayor of Salisbury, which was engraved in mezzotint by J. Dean. Shortly afterwards he was killed by lightning while riding over Salisbury Plain during a storm. He was great-uncle to Frederick Yeates Hurlstone [q.v.]
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Bemrose's Life of Joseph Wright of Derby; Chaloner Smith's British Mezzotinto Portraits; Royal Academy Catalogue.]
HURLSTONE, FREDERICK YEATES (1800–1869), portrait and historical painter, born in London in 1800, was the eldest son by his second marriage of Thomas Y. Hurlstone, one of the proprietors of the 'Morning Chronicle.' He began life in the office of that journal, but while still very young became a pupil of Sir William Beechey, and afterwards studied under Sir Thomas Lawrence, and also, it is said, under Haydon. His first original work was an altar-piece, painted in 1816, for which he received 20l. In 1820 he was admitted a student of the Royal Academy, where in 1822 he gained the silver medal for the best copy made in the school of painting, and in 1823 the gold medal for historical painting, the subject being 'The Contention between the Archangel Michael and Satan for the Body of Moses.' He first exhibited in 1821, sending to the Royal Academy 'Le Malade Imaginaire' and to the British Institution a 'View near Windsor.' These were followed at the Academy in 1822 by 'The Return of the Prodigal Son' and a portrait, in 1823 by five portraits, and in 1824 by his 'Archangel Michael' and some more portraits. One of his best early works was 'A Venetian Page with a Parrot,' exhibited at the British Institution in 1824, and now in the gallery of
