Part of the Town of Sydney N South Wales, 1812 / by William Lyttleton

SV/196

fonds

1812

Graphic Materials, Watercolours

934426

1 watercolour - 16.5 x 31.0 cm

William Thomas Lyttleton (1786?-1839), a soldier, settler, and amateur artist, enlisted in the army as an ensign in the 73rd Regiment in April 1809, later becoming a lieutenant. The regiment arrived in Sydney in December 1809. In February 1810 a company under Major Gordon arrived at Port Dalrymple (Launceston), and for a short time Lyttleton was attached to the Commissariat Department. In 1812 he was appointed Naval Officer at Port Dalrymple.

On 4 January 1812, Lyttleton married Ann, the daughter of Private James Hortle of the New South Wales Corps. They had seven children. In June 1814, Lyttleton along with two companies of the 73rd Regiment sailed from Hobart Town to Ceylon, and in 1821 the regiment returned to England. Lyttleton was granted leave on the grounds of ill health from February 1820 to January 1822. In 1824 he sold his commission and retired from the army. Claiming possession of 500 cattle in Tasmania, and a capital of more than £2000, he sailed from Leith with his wife and family. He arrived in Hobart in October 1825, and was granted land near Westbury and in the Meander district. In November 1829 he was appointed police magistrate and deputy-chairman of Quarter Sessions at Launceston. Lyttleton is supposed to have built two notable late Georgian houses in Tasmania. He built Pinefield, at Longford, and probably only the western side of Hagley House, Hagley.

In 1835 Lyttleton resigned his post at Launceston and returned to England. He died on 7 June 1839 in London and is buried at Kensal Green cemetery.

Reference:
Australian Dictionary of Biography. http://adb.anu.edu.au/ (accessed 12 July 2011)

The artist by descent. Private collection, Tasmania Reference: Important Australian Art / Sotheby's Australia, Melbourne, 17 May 2011

View of Sydney from the east side of Sydney Cove

Out of copyright: Artist died before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Titled in ink in margin lower centre

Details of Lyttleton's visit to Sydney around 1812 are not known, although the date of 1812 is supported by the presence of the white, four-storey Commissariat Building on the water's edge at right. Construction of this building was completed in November 1812. Alternately, the work may date to 1814 when Lyttleton was in Sydney en-route to Ceylon with his regiment.

Reference:
Important Australian Art / Sotheby's Australia, Melbourne, 17 May 2011

Signed with initial 'L.' in ink in margin lower left

Dated from pencilled notation beneath title