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.
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of DundonaldGCB, styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a Scottish 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.
HMS Ajax was a Leander-class light cruiser which served with the Royal Navy during World War II. She became famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate, the Battle of Crete, the Battle of Malta and as a supply escort in the siege of Tobruk. This ship was the eighth in the Royal Navy to bear the name. In February 1942, she was adopted by the civil community of Halifax, West Yorkshire.
Edward Bransfield was an Irish sailor who became an officer in the British Royal Navy, serving as a master on several ships, after being impressed into service in Ireland at the age of 18. He is noted for his participation in several explorations of parts of Antarctica, including a sighting of the Trinity Peninsula in January 1820.
David Porter was an officer in the United States Navy in the rank of captain and the honorary title of commodore. Porter commanded a number of U.S. naval ships. He saw service in the First Barbary War, the War of 1812 and in the West Indies. On July 2, 1812, Porter hoisted the banner "Free trade and sailors' rights" as captain of USS Essex. The phrase resonated with many Americans. Porter was later court martialed; he resigned and then joined and became commander-in-chief of the Mexican Navy. Porter County, Indiana was named after him.
Maria Graham, Lady Callcott, was a British writer of travel books and children's books, and also an accomplished illustrator.
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.
The Pacific Station was created in 1837 as one of the geographical military formations into which the Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. The South America Station was split into the Pacific Station and the South East Coast of America Station.
The German East Asia Squadron was an Imperial German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the mid-1890s until 1914, when it was destroyed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands. It was based at Germany's Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory in China.
Sir Oswald Walters Brierly, was an English marine painter from an old Cheshire family and he was born at Chester.
Patricio Javier de los Dolores Lynch y Solo de Zaldívar was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and a rear admiral in the Chilean Navy, and one of the principal figures of the later stages of the War of the Pacific. He has been nicknamed the "Last Viceroy of Peru", and the Chinese slave-labourers he liberated from the Peruvian haciendas called him the "Red Prince" because of his red hair.
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 1877 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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