(1748 - 1828), antiquary and amateur artist, s. of Samuel Kerrich DD; Magd. Camb. 1767; Camb.U. lib. 1797; FSA 1797; m. Sophia Hales; beneficiary from Nollekens's will 1823.
1772 - 4 Turin (1772 - ), Florence (by 31 Jan. 1774), Turin, Milan, Rome (Apr. - Oct. 1774) [England 1775]
On graduating in 1771 Kerrich was awarded one of the Worts travelling scholarships from Cambridge University (£;100 per annum for three years abroad, requiring monthly letters in Latin to the Vice-Chancellor with the traveller's observations).
He travelled with a friend, Daniel Pettiward of Fairfax House, Putney, and they had spent some months in Antwerp and Paris before coming to Italy. Kerrich met Thomas William Coke at Turin in 1772, and saw him frequently in Italy thereafter (as he described in letters partially published in 1908).1 He wrote from Florence on 31 January 1774 'in the height of ye Carnival, indeed it is so much, it would begin to grow tiresome if it continued much longer'; the Gallery [Uffizi] was open free for '5 or 6 hours together' and for less than sixpence one might attend the theatre and a Ball in the evening. Kerrich also described Horace Mann as 'one of ye most benevolent, friendly men I have ever met with.' Soon after, Kerrich was in Turin and Milan with Coke, their itinerary including a visit to the Borromean Islands.
It appears that they then returned to Rome. At some stage Kerrich sat to Batoni for an undated portrait (Clark/Bowron 379; priv. coll.), and in April 1774 Kerrich and Coke were in a party on a three-day excursion from Rome to Tivoli. They also shared an audience with the Pope, apparently at this time. In October 1774 Kerrich wrote from Rome to Coke (then back in England), describing at length the death and sympathetic character of Pope Clement XIV.
Kerrich had returned home by 1775, when he proceeded MA. A Self-portrait, 'drawn abroad by T. Kerrich 1774' (Christie's, 21 Mar. 1989), suggests that he knew the work of the Fuseli circle in Rome. In 1778 William Cole described Kerrich as 'a most ingenious painter' who 'was at Rome four years on a travelling fellowship'.2
1. Stirling, Coke of Norfolk, 1:104, 110 - 14, 118, 121 - 5. 2. Wal.Corr., 2:83.