“ NORTHCOTE, JAMES (1746-1831) , English painter, was born at Plymouth on the 22nd of October 1746. He was apprenticed to his father, a poor watchmaker of the town, and during his spare hours was diligent with brush and pencil. In 1769 he left his father and started as a portrait-painter. Four years later he went to London and was admitted as a pupil into the studio and house of Reynolds. At the same time he attended the Academy schools. In 1775 he left Reynolds, and about two years later, having acquired the requisite funds by portrait-painting in Devonshire, he went to study in Italy. ”