See File and Item levels.

Administrative / biographical background
Clarkson Stanfield's father was James Field Stanfield, merchant seamen working in the slave trade, turned abolitionist, turned actor. His mother Mary Hood was an actress. Clarkson was the fifth and youngest child. He was named for the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson. In 1806 he was apprenticed to Edinburgh with a heraldic painter. In 1808 he went to sea in a collier and in 1812 he was a crew member on the brig ALEXANDER. In this year he was impressed into the Royal Navy and gave his name as Roderick Bland. He appears on the books under this name for the next four years. His painting talents were spotted by the captain. He sustained a leg injury and was discharged from service. In Mar 1815 he was in London and joined the crew of the WARLEY for Whampoa, China, using the voyage as an opportunity to sketch. On returning to England he obtained work as a scene-painter in the East London Theatre through connections made in the Navy. In 1818 he worked at the newly opened Royal Coburg Theatre and in 1819 he worked on the Christmas spectacular at Astleys Amphitheatre. In 1820 he worked at Pantheon with Astleys on tour in Edinburgh. He worked closely with David Roberts in 1821 as a scene painter at the Theatre Royal, a connection that would last throughout his career. At the same time he was working on sketches and exhibited three pictures at the Edinburgh Institution of Fine Arts exhibition. He returned to London and the Coburg theatre in 1821 becoming part of a circle of artists in Lambeth. After 1820 he contributed annually (with the exception of 1839) to London exhibitions and in this year he made his debut at the Royal Academy. Most of his work up until 1829 was exhibited at the British Institution, Pall Mall and the Society of British Artists. In 1823 he became a foundation member of the British Artists with John Wilson and Patrick Nasmyth. He was involved in this Society throughout his career alongside John Wilson, acting as President in 1829. He married the 19 year old actress Mary Hutchinson aged 25 in July 1821. Their first child Clarkson William was born in 1819. Mary died two years later in Nov 1821. In 1824 Clarkson’s father and step-sister were living with him in Lambeth. His step-brother William James became a minor theatre scene-painter under Clarkson’s tutelage. In May 1824 James Field Stanfield died and Clarkson became engaged to Rebecca Adcock the daughter of acting friends of his father’s from the North. A son Henry was born in 1826 and a second son George in 1828. The growing family moved over the river to the Strand. In 1823, Clarkson signed a three year contract to work at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane as a scene-painter and received much critical success. In 1825 he was president of the Society of British Artists and moved in artistic circles of engravers and watercolourists which included Turner and Constable. He made numerous travels both within England and on the continent. He was appointed Curator of the Greenwich Hospital collection in the Painted hall in the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in 1844 and held this position until 1865. During this period he organised substantial repairs and restoration to the paintings and the hall. He died aged 73 from a stomach haemorrhage in 1867.