3-080-214 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Thomas Webster, RA, 1886. Thomas Webster, was born in Pimlico, London on 20 March 1800. His father, a member of George III’s household, had him educated in the Chapel Royal, St James’s, as a chorister. However, he showed a strong inclination for painting and in 1820 entered the Royal Academy Schools, London. In 1825 he won the first medal for painting. He became ARA in 1840 and RA in 1846, moving in 1856 to Cranbrook, Kent, where he became the leading figure in the Cranbrook Colony of artists.