Joseph Lycett

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Corroboree Newcastle by Joseph Lycett

Joseph Lycett (* around 1774 in Staffordshire , Kingdom of Great Britain , † between 1825 and 1828 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ) was a British painter and forger. He specialized in portrait and miniature painting.

Career

Joseph Lycett was born during the reign of George III. born in the county of Staffordshire. Nothing is known about his youth. He worked as a portrait and miniature painter. On August 10, 1811, he was found guilty of forgery by the Shropshire Circuit Court and sentenced to 14 years in the Australian Convict Colony . In February 1814, Lycett reached Sydney on board the General Hewitt . The command was Captain James Wallis of the 46th  Regiment . The architect Francis Greenway , who was convicted of fraudulent accounts and fraudulent bankruptcy , was on board. Lycett was appointed clerk in the police station soon after his arrival .

In May 1815, Sydney was inundated with hundreds of cleverly forged 5 s bills of exchange drawn on the postmaster . They were traced back to Lycett, where a small copper plate press was found. As a result, he was found guilty of forgery and sent to the Newcastle penal colony . Strict discipline and severe punishments were the order of the day. For Lycett, the situation only improved after Major James Willis - the commander of General Hewitt - took command in June 1816. Lycett made plans for a church planned by Wallis, which was built in 1818. In this context, he painted the altarpiece. He was said to be responsible for the three-light window, which still in the sacristy of the Cathedral of Newcastle upon Tyne exist. On the recommendation of Wallis, Lycett received a conditional pardon. Between 1819 and 1820 he worked as a commissioned painter and created numerous pictures for private customers during this time. In February 1820, Colonial Governor Lachlan Macquarie sent three of his drawings, including a large view of Sydney, to Secretary of State for the Colonies Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst in Great Britain . It is generally believed that his full pardon, which he received on November 28, 1821, was a reward for these works.

Lycett may have married in the colony. In June 1822 he announced that he would leave with his two daughters for Great Britain. They boarded the Shipley in September 1822 . What happened to him after his arrival is not clear. According to a handwritten pencil note in one of the Mitchell Library's copies of the statements relating to Australia , he lived in Bath and was arrested for falsifying bills of exchange from Stourbridge Bank . Lycett reportedly tried to commit suicide by slitting his throat. He is said to have died later when he reopened the wound in the hospital. This is said to have taken place sometime between 1825 and 1828. But there are no records of it.

Works

Lycett has already planned to publish a book in the UK on views of Australia. There was a twelve-part series, published monthly, two aquatint views each of New South Wales and two of Van Diemens Land , in descriptive letterpress printing and with maps of both colonies in the appendix. The series was dedicated to Bathurst and began to appear in July 1824 - an issue, monochrome and colored to 7s to 10s and 6 d . The views were then sold together as an anthology, Views in Australia (London, 1825). Lycett intended to publish a natural history series in a similar form, but the project was dropped.

Colonial governor Lachlan Macquarie likely received the chest of drawers from Captain James Wallis around 1818

Lycett is likely the creator of some of the painted panels on two wooden chest of drawers that are in the State Library of New South Wales collection . One of them is believed to belong to the Macquarie family. Certainly some of the panels are based on engraved views in Wallis' 1821 Publikantion, An historical account of the Colony of New South Wales. Wallis himself claimed to have painted many of the works on which the engravings were based, but some bear striking resemblance to and are attributed to Lycett's work. The engravings were the work of convict Walter Preston.

Trivia

Lycett was a habitual smoker , according to Commissioner John Bigge .

literature

Web links

Commons : Joseph Lycett  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Francis Greenway on the State Library of New South Wales website
  2. ↑ Views in Australia, or, New South Wales & Van Diemen's Land delineated: in fifty views with descriptive letter press ... , J. Lycett
  3. ^ Views in New South Wales, 1813-1814 and Historical account of the colony of New South Wales, 1820-1821 , State Library of New South Wales
  4. ^ Walter Preston on the State Library of New South Wales website
personal data
SURNAME Lycett, Joseph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British painter and forger
DATE OF BIRTH around 1774
PLACE OF BIRTH Staffordshire , UK
DATE OF DEATH between 1825 and 1828
Place of death United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland