Henry H. Glover
Henry H. Glover
William Baker Ashton, First Governor of Adelaide Goal, c.1849
Watercolour
25 x 20 cm
signed
William Baker Ashton, First Governor of Adelaide Goal, c.1849
Watercolour
25 x 20 cm
signed
A Rare Early South Australian Watercolour depicting William Baker Ashton, Governor of Adelaide Goal, 1839 - 1854
William Baker Ashton arrived in South Australia on The Rajasthan from England in November 1838. Ashton’s services had been requested by Governor Gawler for the newly settled colony and his position as Deputy Inspector of Police was gazetted on the 1st of December 1838, although by early 1839 he had been appointed as the first Governor of the Adelaide Goal. Ashton was to hold the position until his death in 1854 and he lived with his wife and family in quarters above the Adelaide Goal main-gate. Ashton had spent his whole working life in law enforcement as either a policeman in London or jailer in Australia and he was a physically large and imposing man (at his death he weighed 146kg and could not be carried down the stairs from his residence above the goal so had to be lowered through the window!) but contemporary reports indicate that he was a fair man in a position that would have been most demanding in the developing community. Every known image of Ashton depicts his large frame and portly stomach, engulfed by a trademark-patterned waistcoat over a large overcoat, and he is always seen wearing his wide-brimmed hat and carrying his distinctive knurled wooden walking stick. The State Library of South Australia holds all the other known images of Ashton by Glover - a large watercolour, The Governor and his Staff at the Adelaide Goal, along with two smaller portraits of Ashton - and this recently discovered rare and historically important work further enhances this collection and is the only known Henry Glover painting to be held in private hands. For such a group of works to exist from a small known oeuvre suggests that a friendship existed between Henry Glover and William Ashton, which with the Goal being later widely known as “Ashton’s Hotel”, and Glover being a licensed victualler, is not an unreasonable conclusion!
The artist Henry Heath Glover (c.1810 – 1858) was a painter and lithographer in England before arriving in Australia in 1848. In the early 1850’s Glover is listed as a licensed victualler in Rundle Street, Adelaide but appears to have been predominantly an artist while in the colony as can be attested to by his name appearing in various directories. Glover’s watercolours are particularly documentary and display admirably the life and people of the times, with a realism and tendency to show the more working class sides of society rather than the ideals and higher society that were more commonly illustrated. All Glover’s artworks show a technical competence with the use of watercolour that indicates some training and a familiarity with the medium that would have been expected for an artist of the day.
Early portraits held in private hands depicting people of importance in the fledgling South Australian community are particularly rare, and even more so when the artist is known. This recently discovered artwork by Henry Glover depicting William Ashton is a welcome addition to the pictorial archive of early South Australia and further develops our knowledge regarding both the artist and sitter.
William Baker Ashton arrived in South Australia on The Rajasthan from England in November 1838. Ashton’s services had been requested by Governor Gawler for the newly settled colony and his position as Deputy Inspector of Police was gazetted on the 1st of December 1838, although by early 1839 he had been appointed as the first Governor of the Adelaide Goal. Ashton was to hold the position until his death in 1854 and he lived with his wife and family in quarters above the Adelaide Goal main-gate. Ashton had spent his whole working life in law enforcement as either a policeman in London or jailer in Australia and he was a physically large and imposing man (at his death he weighed 146kg and could not be carried down the stairs from his residence above the goal so had to be lowered through the window!) but contemporary reports indicate that he was a fair man in a position that would have been most demanding in the developing community. Every known image of Ashton depicts his large frame and portly stomach, engulfed by a trademark-patterned waistcoat over a large overcoat, and he is always seen wearing his wide-brimmed hat and carrying his distinctive knurled wooden walking stick. The State Library of South Australia holds all the other known images of Ashton by Glover - a large watercolour, The Governor and his Staff at the Adelaide Goal, along with two smaller portraits of Ashton - and this recently discovered rare and historically important work further enhances this collection and is the only known Henry Glover painting to be held in private hands. For such a group of works to exist from a small known oeuvre suggests that a friendship existed between Henry Glover and William Ashton, which with the Goal being later widely known as “Ashton’s Hotel”, and Glover being a licensed victualler, is not an unreasonable conclusion!
The artist Henry Heath Glover (c.1810 – 1858) was a painter and lithographer in England before arriving in Australia in 1848. In the early 1850’s Glover is listed as a licensed victualler in Rundle Street, Adelaide but appears to have been predominantly an artist while in the colony as can be attested to by his name appearing in various directories. Glover’s watercolours are particularly documentary and display admirably the life and people of the times, with a realism and tendency to show the more working class sides of society rather than the ideals and higher society that were more commonly illustrated. All Glover’s artworks show a technical competence with the use of watercolour that indicates some training and a familiarity with the medium that would have been expected for an artist of the day.
Early portraits held in private hands depicting people of importance in the fledgling South Australian community are particularly rare, and even more so when the artist is known. This recently discovered artwork by Henry Glover depicting William Ashton is a welcome addition to the pictorial archive of early South Australia and further develops our knowledge regarding both the artist and sitter.
