Skip to the content
Artist

John Church Dempsey

Illustration — Dempsey's painting 'The Singing Minstrel', depicting travelling singer Billy Button (1778–1838) John Church Dempsey (1802–1877) was an English artist specialising in portraiture. He operated a stationery shop in Bristol, but in 1845 he was declared bankrupt and his effects were seized. After this he became semi-itinerant, travelling as far afield as Norwich and Durham.

John Church Dempsey

Dempsey, John Church; 'The Singing Minstrel', Billy Button (b.c.1778-1838); Bristol Museums, Galleries Archives; http: www.artuk.org/artworks/the-singing-minstrel-billy-button-b-c-17781838-188446

John Church Dempsey · Public domain

Nationality
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Occupation
painter
Fields
portrait

VALÉORINE Encyclopedia

VALÉORINE documentary reading

Documentary summary

Illustration — Dempsey's painting 'The Singing Minstrel', depicting travelling singer Billy Button (1778–1838) John Church Dempsey (1802–1877) was an English artist specialising in portraiture. He operated a stationery shop in Bristol, but in 1845 he was declared bankrupt and his effects were seized. After this he became semi-itinerant, travelling as far afield as Norwich and Durham.

Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE

Reference Check

Propose documentary evidence for John Church Dempsey. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.

Sign in to contribute

Documentary evidence

Documentary basis

Authority files

wikidata · Q21460798 · wikipedia · John Church Dempsey

In this article

  1. 01Biography
  2. 02Notes, references and evidence

The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 25 August 2026.

Elsewhere in Paintings

For owners

Own a work by John Church Dempsey?

A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.