James Astbury Hammersley (1818–1867) was an English painter, and a teacher of art and design.

Life

Hammersley was born at Burslem,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

in 1818. He studied art under James Baker Pyne. During the 1840s he taught at the

Nottingham School of Design Founded in 1843, the School of Art & Design at Nottingham Trent University is one of the oldest in the United Kingdom. History In 1836, the Government Select Committee on Art and Manufactures produced a report highlighting concerns about the ...

, where his pupils included Henry Hunter and Andrew MacCallum. From May 1849 until 31 December 1862 Hammersley was head-master of the

Manchester School of Design Manchester School of Art in Manchester, England, was established in 1838 as the Manchester School of Design. It is the second oldest art school in the United Kingdom after the Royal College of Art which was founded the year before. It is now par ...

. He took part in the formation of the

Manchester Academy of Fine Arts The Manchester Academy of Fine Arts (''MAFA'') was founded in 1859 by artists eager to promote art and education. It was originally based in the building on Mosley Street which is now Manchester Art Gallery where annual exhibitions and classes ...

, being elected its first president, 28 May 1857. He resigned the post on 30 December 1861. Hammersley died on 11 March 1867 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and was buried at St. John's Church,

Higher Broughton Broughton is a suburb and district of Salford, City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, on the east bank of the River Irwell, it is northwest of Manchester and south of Prestwich. Historically in Lancashire, Broughton was a township ...

. The ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' incorrectly claims that he was born in 1815 and died in 1869.

Works

Hammersley received a commission, from

Albert, Prince Consort Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861. Albert was born in the Saxon duch ...

, to paint the prince's birthplace,

Schloss Rosenau, Coburg Schloss Rosenau, called in English The Rosenau or Rosenau Palace, is a former castle, converted into a ducal country house, near the town of Rödental, formerly in Saxe-Coburg, now lying in Bavaria, Germany. Schloss Rosenau was the birthplace an ...

, and another scene in Germany. These works are now in the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King Charles III and overseen by the ...

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

. In 1850 Hammersley delivered an address at

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

on the ''Preparations on the Continent for the Great Exhibition of 1851, and the Condition of the Continental Schools of Art''; it was published. An article by him appeared in ''Manchester Papers'', 1856, entitled "Exhibition of Art Treasures of the United Kingdom", anticipating the Manchester exhibition. In 1845, Mrs Charles Darwin noted in her diary "send the X head to Mr J.A. Hammersley.

References

External links

* Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammersley, James Astbury 1815 births 1869 deaths English landscape painters People from Burslem 19th-century English educators 19th-century British painters