Samuel Lucas (1805–1870) was a British

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

and amateur painter based in

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

. His works range from extremely detailed representations to impressionistic views and he is likely to have been influenced by

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...

Biography

Early Years

Samuel Lucas was born to William and Ann Lucas in

, Hertfordshire. He was the descendant of

yeomen Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of servants in an English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in mid-14th-century England. The 14th century witnessed ...

and brewers who were based in the area since the 1500s. Samuel Lucas was educated at the Tilehouse Free School in

and at the Society of Friends School of

Fishponds Fishponds is a suburb in the north-east of the English city of Bristol, about from Bristol city centre, the city centre. It is mainly residential, and housing is typically terraced Victorian. It has a small student population from the presence ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. It was there that he discovered a passion for drawing. However, as his family were members of the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

and disapproved strongly of any artistic activity, Samuel was required to focus solely on his studies. As an apprentice (first to a shipowner in Shoreham and then to a corn merchant in

Wapping Wapping () is an area in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is in East London and part of the East End. Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames between Tower Bridge to the west, and Shadwell to the east. This posit ...

), Samuel strived to pursue his passion. Later on, after his mariage to Matilda Holmes, a pupil of John Bernay Crome, in 1837, he returned to the family business in

and carried on painting in his spare time.

Painting

Samuel Lucas predominantly used oils, watercolours and ink to depict beloved landscapes, wildlife and fauna, as well as local

characters. He rarely exhibited his work although we know that in 1828, he sent his painting ''The Ship Broxbournbury off the Islands of Amsterdam'' to the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

. Samuel Lucas and his friend

Jacob Thompson Jacob Thompson (May 15, 1810 – March 24, 1885) was the United States Secretary of the Interior, who resigned on the outbreak of the American Civil War and became the Inspector General of the Confederate States Army. In 1864, Jefferson Davis ...

used to paint in the valley of Mardale, currently beneath

Haweswater Reservoir Haweswater is a reservoir in the valley of Mardale, Cumbria in the Lake District, England. Work to raise the height of the original natural lake was started in 1929. It was controversially dammed after the UK Parliament passed a local act o ...

in the Lake District. Samuel Lucas's most famous painting, ''Hitchin Marketplace'' (1860), was very popular at the time and he was asked to paint miniature versions of the work.

Death

In 1865, Samuel Lucas developed paralysis and died five years later in

Personal life

Lucas was a member of

Quaker Meeting. Samuel and his wife had six children together. Sadly, Mathilda died in childbirth in 1849. Thirteen years later, Samuel remarried Elizabeth Manser of Hertford, a poet. Two of Samuel Lucas's daughters, Matilda and Ann(e) Mary, were skilled artists. They studied painting and pottery in Rome. Lucas's son, Samuel, as well as his own daughter, Florence Davy Thompson, the founding librarian of the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

, also became accomplished painters.

Legacy

A number of Samuel Lucas's works are held by the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, the North Hertfordshire Museum and the Bingham Gallery. ''The Old Hitchin Market'' can be found at the Hitchin

Corn Exchange A corn exchange is a building where merchants trade grains. The word "corn" in British English denotes all cereal grains, such as wheat and barley; in the United States these buildings were called grain exchanges. Such trade was common in towns ...

. Samuel Lucas's botanical drawings are displayed in ''The Florist'' (Chapman and Hall) as well as in Reginald Hine’s ''History of Hitchin'' and ''Hitchin Worthies''. The junior school in

, Samuel Lucas JMI School, is named after him. It was inaugurated in 1975 by the

Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

Richard Lucas, a descendant of Samuel Lucas. His biography, ''Samuel Lucas, His Life and Art Work'' by Reginald Hine, was published by Walkers Galleries Ltd in 1928. North Hertfordshire Museum hosted an exhibition on Samuel Lucas from 9 September to 12 November 2023.

References

Ressources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Samuel 1805 births 1870 deaths People from Hitchin English watercolourists 19th-century British painters Quakers