Collections

John C.Guy in his "Edinburgh Engravers" in The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, Ninth Volume, 1916, pp.79-113 provides the fullest (but far from complete) account of Thomas Hodgetts (pp.108-109);

"Thomas Hodgetts and R.M.Hodgetts were father and son. Little seems to be known concerning them. R.M.Hodgetts appears in Gray's Annual Directory and Edinburgh Almanack for 1837-38 as a historical and portrait engraver at Canonmills Cottage. About this time father and son were engraving together under the firm name of Thomas Hodgetts & Son. In 1833 as a firm they engraved a mezzotint portrait of "Robert Johnson, Esq., Edinburgh," after a panting by William Smellie Watson, RSA, and another mezzotint of excellent quality of "Francis, Lord Gray, aet.42," was engraved by the firm from the original picture by Sir Henry Raeburn. This engraving bears no date. Thomas Hodgetts was engraving as early as 1808, when he engraved the portrait of Captain Charles Morris, the song writer, after Oliver, and he engraved a portrait of Lord Nelson, after Sir William Beechey, as late as 1840. Between these dates he produced some work of a very high quality, as for example the portrait of General Sir David Baird, Bart., with horse, and Colonel Ranaldson Macdonell of Glengarry, both after Raeburn; John Hunter, LL.D, Professor of Humanity in St Andrews from 1775 to 1827, after Watson Gordon. He also executed a mezzotint portrait of George IV, which was published by David Hatton, Printseller to His Majesty, 98 Princes Street, Edinburgh. It bears to be after a painting by Raeburn; but no such painting is known to have been done by Raeburn; but no such painting is known to have been done by Raeburn, and it is believed that hodgetts adapted the portrait of Professor George Joseph Bell for the mezzotint of the King. He also engraved a descent from the the Cross after the picture painted by David Scott for the Church of St Patrick in Edinburgh [sic - see 1836 press announcement re this work below which suggests it to be the work of R.M.Hodgetts]. R.M.Hodgetts produced some mezzotints which bear his name alone. One of these is of Sir William Macleod Bannatyne, one of the retired senators of the College of Justice, after the portrait by George Watson, PSA. As Lord Ballantyne retired from the Bench in 1823, and in the same year received the honour of knighthood, and died in 1833, this engraving must have been published between these two years. As a mezzotint it has good qualities; so has that of Sir Thomas Burnett of Leys, Baronet, after Firth, but R.M.Hodgetts was inferior to his father as a mezzotinter."

As Guy states, Thomas was the father of R.M.Hodgetts whose birth and death details are equally elusive. R.M.Hodgetts was an exhibitor at the RSA in 1827, 1833, 1837 and 1838 from addresses in Edinburgh. He is also probably the Robert Hodgetts, Engraver, aged 30, recorded at a property in Broad Street, East Parish, Aberdeen at he 1841 Census, alongside his wife{?} Mary aged 25. Despite Guy's assertion above which credits Thomas with the following, it appears from the context that it was R.M.Hodgetts who was charged with engraving David Scott's "The Deposition of the Cross" as the subscribers' print for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in Scotland in 1837. The Caledonian Mercury 1836-04-16 states of this; "Mr Hodgetts, a youth of talent, has undertaken the work at a price barely remunerative, aware that if he does his task well his reputation is established."

It would not be improbable that Robert learnt his trade from his father.