1806 – He travelled to London to study at the Royal Academy and, in the same year, exhibited his first painting ‘St. John in the Wilderness’.

1810 – Geddes felt that he could not afford, financially or professionally, to complete a full ten-year course of studies at the Academy and, he returned to Edinburgh and opened a studio in York Place.

1814 – Geddes visited Paris and studied the great works of Veronese, Titian, Giorgione, Correggio, Jordaens, and Rubens that Napoleon’s armies had looted from conquered territories.

1818 – In February, Geddes was among the artists chosen to make a record of the newly rediscovered Regalia of Scotland.

         – His studies for this composition was a portrait of Scott.

1821 – The Discovery of the Regalia of Scotland was finally displayed at the Royal Academy and subsequently formed the centrepiece of a collected exhibition of his work in Edinburgh in the same year.

         – Geddes transferred his studio to London and continued to attract prestigious commissions, notably a massive portrait of Frederick August, Duke of York.

1826 – He published a limited edition of portfolios of etchings.

1827 – He set out for a three-year sojourn in Italy and engaged in a lengthy study of the artists of the Venetian School.

1831 – His decision to return to London was partly prompted by the onset of consumption.

1832 – He was finally elected Associate member of the Academy.

1839 – He travelled to Holland to study Rembrandt whom he particularly admired as an etcher.

1844 – Geddes suffered a renewed attack of consumption in spring but refused all medical assistance in his effort to complete his submissions to the annual exhibition of the Royal Academy.