(Updated, February 2021) This painting was probably inspired by Clarkson Stanfield's of the same subject, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1853, and shows the 'Victory' towed into Gibraltar by the 'Neptune' on 3 November 1805 following the Battle of Trafalgar - though in fact, the tow was dropped entering the narrows and the 'Victory' made her own way in under jury rig. It has been the subject of much confusion as to artist and from the 1960s was, in effect, 'mislaid' (for reasons no longer clear) on long loan to official Royal Naval quarters at Gibraltar until fortuitously seen there again in 2000 by a member of Museum staff and subsequently retrieved.

It appears to be the first individual oil painting that the NMM's founding benefactor, Sir James Caird, bought for it in 1928 (from the Parker Gallery, London). It was painted by William Stuart in 1855, purchased by Admiral Tryon and later passed to his daughter. In 1891 it was exhibited at the Royal Naval Exhibition, Chelsea, as no. 1341 in its catalogue, with the title (slightly erroneous on date) 'The Victory being towed into Gibraltar the morning after Trafalgar.' The lender was then given as General Viscount Bridport KCB.

William Stuart, born at Woolwich in 1798, was the father of an artistic household probably including his wife Amelia, nee McGuire (1802-82, m. All Saints, Poplar, 13 June 1826). The others - all painters - were a son, William Evans Dutton Stuart (1827-73); a daughter, Teresa (b. 1828); and another son, Charles (1838-1907). The last painted fruit and flower subjects to 1871 and landscapes thereafter. In about 1862/3 he married a painter of genre subjects, Jane Maria Bowkett (1837-91), who exhibited from 1860 under her own name but as Mrs Charles Stuart after marriage. The identiry of a Miss G.E. Stuart exhibiting from the same address is more problematic, possibly a naming error.

From at least 1841, and their earliest overall exhibiting appearance at the Royal Academy and British Institution (1846), that address was the Manor House, Stepney, also numbered as 22 Stepney Causeway. That was the version consistently used by William junior in the RA catalogues (only) until he moved to Arbour Square, Stepney, from 1856 to 1858, which was his final appearance at the RA, BI and Society of British Artists. He too was a fruit-and-flower specialist but also painted a few marines and other subjects, including after settling in Bendigo, Australia, where he emigrated over the winter of 1858-9 and continued painting after being briefly a digger in the Australian gold rush. William senior continued exhibiting into the 1860s to at least the last BI show in 1867.

In the 1851 census, both the Williams are listed as 'School Teacher', but William senior as 'Artist' in those of 1841 and 1861. By 1871 he had moved to Gravesend and largely retired. He was almost totally a marine and military subject painter but also did a few still-life subjects. The present 'Victory' picture and one of George I's voyage to England in 1714 (exh. BI, 1854), now in the Ulster Museum, Belfast, are the only two fairly firmly identified by him in UK public collections.

William junior's marine style applears to have been similar, much less polished than his fruit subjects, and it is still easy to confuse the two hands in this area. William senior's date of death is unclear but probably either 1874 in London or 1879 in Brighton. His widow Amelia died in Burrage Place, on the Woolwich/Plumstead border in 1882 when living with her daughter Teresa - then no longer painting - and her husband, a marine artist called William Woodley.