• Name: Wilkie, Sir David
• Gender: Male
• Birth Date: 18  November  1785
• Death Date: 1  June  1841
• Occupation: painter of genre, historical subjects and portraits

'When he was seventy-four he took tea with the painter John Martin and struck up a remarkable friendship. Martin invited him to dinner nearly every week and was to introduce him to most of the artists of the day including Turner, Wilkie, and Landseer'. (St Clair, p. 474)

In fact, it seems that Godwin knew Wilkie long before he knew Martin - see quotes from the life of Wilkie below. The first mention:
23.3.1805: 'Call on Philips; adv. Pratt, Hoare, Wilkie and Holt, senr [sign] and pressmen:' pre-dates Wilkie's arrival in London on 20 May 1805 (DNB) and is not coded.
The next entry, however, is more convincing:
5.5.1806: 'Exhibition, w. do ; adv. Perry, J Taylor, Annis (Wilkie) and Mulready:'
There is another exhibition, the supporting evidence from the life, and so I think we have grounds for identifying plain Wilkie as David Wilkie. There are a few later Wilkies with different initials who should be left uncoded.

In 1818 Godwin notes 'Wilkie RA' but other entries show Wilkie as an British Gallery adv, which fits. See The Life of Sir David Wilkie:
1808 26 Dec.Had a note from William Godwin, inviting me to dine with him on Friday next, to meet Dr Wolcot and Dr Liston.
1808 30 Dec. Met with Godwin and met Wolcot and Liston. I was highly entertained with the humour of Wolcot, although sometimes gross. He broached some strange doctrines; he declared that he had a great reverence for the Divine Being; but he considered religion to be a means in the hand of Providence for creating mischief(p. 216)

The meeting in the diary is recorded as follows:
30. F. B T, p. 148. Listons, Humes, Wolcot and Wilkie dine; adv. Lambs &Dawe . Stewart calls.

• DNB
• St Clair
• Allan Cunningham, The Life of Sir David Wilkie, ed. by P. Cunningham (London, 1843).

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.