Thomas Jacques Somerscales (born in Sculcoates, Yorkshire on 29 October 1842; died in Sculcoates, Yorkshire on 27 June 1927) was an English teacher, sailor, and landscape and marine painter. He is also considered a Chilean painter as he began his career as an artist there. Many of his landscapes evoke the region and many of his marine paintings feature notable events in Chilean naval history and have become patriotic national icons in that country.
His father was a shipmaster, who sketched, and his uncle was an amateur painter. However he had no formal training as an artist and originally became a teacher in the Royal Navy.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1863 as a schoolmaster, and served mostly in the Pacific, firstly on HMS Cumberland for six years, then the corvette HMS Clio and finally HMS Zealous, flagship of the Pacific Station. Having caught a fever in Tahiti, he was subsequently invalided ashore at Valparaiso, Chile and discharged from the Royal Navy. [1]
He settled in Chile and from 1874 teaching at The Mackay School in Valparaíso he started working as a professional painter. [2] By 1893 (when he had returned to Britain) he was still being referred to in England as a "little known artist" but had gained some praise. [3]
Although he returned to Britain in 1892 and spent most of the following thirty-five years in his home country, he remains far better known in Chile (where his work is on display in several prestigious locations) than he is in the UK. His life's work has been detailed in the book: "Thomas Somerscales, Marine Artist" by Alex A. Hurst.
He is commemorated with a green plaque on The Avenues, Kingston upon Hull.
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a First World War naval action between the British Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. The British, after their defeat at the Battle of Coronel on 1 November, sent a large force to track down and destroy the German cruiser squadron. The battle is commemorated every year on 8 December in the Falkland Islands as a public holiday.
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a British naval officer, peer, mercenary and politician. Serving during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars in the Royal Navy, his naval successes led Napoleon to nickname him le Loup des Mers. He was successful in virtually all of his naval actions.
Huáscar is an ironclad turret ship owned by the Chilean Navy built in 1865 for the Peruvian government. It is named after the 16th-century Inca emperor, Huáscar. She was the flagship of the Peruvian Navy and participated in the Battle of Pacocha and the War of the Pacific of 1879–1883. At the Battle of Angamos, Huáscar, captained by renowned Peruvian naval officer Miguel Grau Seminario, was captured by the Chilean fleet and commissioned into the Chilean Navy.
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The Chilean Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso.
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Sir Oswald Walters Brierly, was an English marine painter from an old Cheshire family and he was born at Chester.
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The Battle of Valparaíso, also called the Capture of USS Essex, was a naval action fought during the War of 1812. It took place off Valparaíso, Chile on March 28, 1814, between the frigate USS Essex and the sloop USS Essex Junior of the United States Navy and the frigate HMS Phoebe and sloop HMS Cherub of the Royal Navy. The British ships won the battle, and the American vessels were captured.
Francis Watson Wood (1862–1953) commenced his career as a Royal Navy officer, and was described in 1907 as "naval artist, Portsmouth". He went on to become an internationally regarded watercolorist.
Marine art or maritime art is a form of figurative art that portrays or draws its main inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea—a genre particularly strong from the 17th to 19th centuries. In practice the term often covers art showing shipping on rivers and estuaries, beach scenes and all art showing boats, without any rigid distinction – for practical reasons subjects that can be drawn or painted from dry land in fact feature strongly in the genre. Strictly speaking "maritime art" should always include some element of human seafaring, whereas "marine art" would also include pure seascapes with no human element, though this distinction may not be observed in practice.
Admiral Sir James Hillyar KCB KCH was a prominent British Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century, who is best known for his service in the frigate HMS Phoebe during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. While in command of Phoebe, Hillyar was present at the Invasion of Ile de France in 1810, was heavily engaged at the Battle of Tamatave in 1811 and captured the USS Essex off Valparaíso in Chile in 1814. In addition, Hillyar was engaged in numerous other operations, his first battle occurring in 1781 off Boston. He remained in the Navy until his death in 1843, and was active at sea during the 1830s, commanding fleets in the North Sea and off Portugal. He was knighted twice and two of his sons later became full admirals, Charles Farrell Hillyar and Henry Shank Hillyar.
The Mackay School, a Chilean school located in Reñaca, Region of Valparaiso, Chile. Of Scottish origin; it was founded in 1857 by Scottish immigrants. It is considered one of the best academic institutions in the Valparaiso region. Currently it only educates male students.
Lautaro was initially the British East Indiaman Windham, built by Perry, Wells & Green at the Blackwall Shipyard for the East India Company (EIC) and launched in 1800. She made seven voyages to India, Ceylon, and China for the EIC. In 1809–10, the French captured her twice, but the British also recaptured her twice. The Chilean Navy bought her in 1818 and she then served in the Chilean Navy, taking part in several actions during the liberation wars in Chile and Peru. From 1824 she was a training ship until she was sold in 1828.
Álvaro Casanova Zenteno was a prominent marine painter and of historic naval warfare, a statesman his art is classified as realist, expressionist, classical, and romantic.
Alfredo Helsby Hazell was a Chilean landscape painter of English ancestry. He was also an avid promoter of what is now known as alternative medicine.
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