Reference: see eBay listing 12.9.21: "Young Lovers, Rolling the Yarn", 59x49 cm, signed and dated 1848: ‘Marshall Claxton (12 May 1811 – 28 July 1881)
Born in Bolton, Lancashire, the son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, the Rev. Marshall Claxton, and his wife Diana.
He studied under John Jackson, R.A., and at the Royal Academy school where he enrolled on 26 April 1831.
He had his first picture in the Royal Academy in 1832, a portrait of his father. In subsequent years about 30 of his pictures were shown at Academy exhibitions. In 1834 he was awarded the first medal in the painting school, and obtained the gold medal of the Society of Arts in 1835 for his portrait of Sir Astley Cooper. From 1837 to 1842 he worked in Italy and then returned to London, gaining a prize of £100 for his "Alfred the Great in the Camp of the Danes".
In 1850 Claxton went to Sydney, Australia, with a large collection of pictures, but had little success in selling them. While in Sydney he painted a large picture, "Suffer little children to come unto me", a commission from the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. This was described in Household Words as 'the first important picture' painted in Australia.[2]
In September 1854 Claxton left Sydney for Calcutta, where he sold several of his pictures. He returned to England in 1858 via Egypt, and died in London after a long illness on 28 July 1881.
He married and had two daughters, Adelaide and Florence Claxton, both of whom were artists and represented in Royal Academy exhibitions between 1859 and 1867.
Claxton's "General View of the Harbour and City of Sydney" is in the Royal collection in England, and there are two pictures by him in the Dickinson collection in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. His portraits of Bishop William Broughton and Dean Cowper are at St. Paul's College, University of Sydney, and that of the Rev. Robert Forrest is exhibited at The King's School, Parramatta. His Godiva painting is in the Herbert Art Gallery and he also has work displayed at the Derby Art Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum.[1] He was also known for his depictions of Wesleyan and Methodist subjects, made popular as prints.’
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Original Oil Painting on Canvas, Titled "Mrs Agnes Nelson, Wife of Rev Dr William Lambie Nelson" attributed to Well Listed British/Australian Colonial Painter Marshall Claxton (1811-1881)
This Portrait is an Important part of Australian Colonial History and Local History of Toowoomba and Ipswich, Queensland
The Sitter, Agnes Nelson nee Muir (1810-1885), Wife of Rev. Dr William Lambie Nelson (1808-1887), Mother of Sir Hugh Muir Nelson (1833-1906). The Nelson Family arrived in the colony in 1853, most likely this portrait was painted just after their arrival c1853-1954.
The Artist, Marshall Claxton arrived in Sydney in September 1850, bearing a reputation as a portrait artist. Encourage by Sir Charles Nicholson, he began painting portraits in the colony. He left Australia in 1854.
Please see biographies below for the artist and Rev. Dr William Lambie Nelson.
Rev Dr William Lambie Nelson (1808-1887)
Born 20 Sep 1808 in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, Died 3 Jun 1887 in Southport, Queensland, buried at the Southport General Cemetery
Married Agnes Nelson, Nee Muir, 27 Oct 1827 in Gorbals, Lanark, Scotland
He migrated to Queensland in 1853, was the oldest Presbyterian minister in Queensland
He was for many years stationed at Toowoomba, and was one of the most learned divines in the colony
William Nelson was elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly in the three-member electorate of West Moreton on 3 May 1860 in the inaugural 1860 Queensland colonial election. However, Mr Chubb on behalf of one of the unsuccessful candidates, Pollett Cardew, protested against the election of the Reverend Nelson as he was a priest in holy orders and was therefore disqualified from being elected, but the Rev. Nelson claimed that he had resigned his religious role.[3] On 22 June 1860, the Committee on Elections ruled that the Rev. Nelson was disqualified and a new election must be called to replace him. Joseph Fleming won the resulting by-election on 9 July 1860
His son, Sir Hugh Muir Nelson (1833-1906) went on to be Premier of Queensland from 27 October 1893 to 13 April 1898
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