Description

Extended Data

Birth Place

London, England, UK

Biography

watercolour painter and Anglican clergyman, was born in London in July 1835, son of Marcus Brownrigg RN and Maria Caroline Brownrigg , née Blake. He arrived in Sydney in 1856 and by 1860 had been ordained an Anglican priest. In 1862 he married Eliza Shapcote in Albury, NSW. Canon Brownrigg, rector of St John’s Church of England at Launceston, undertook 13 missions to the people of the Furneaux Islands between 1872 and 1885. A keen sketcher, he illustrated his book The Cruise of the Freak (1872) with his own lithographs (see Australian Dictionary of Biography ). He also exhibited watercolour views at various exhibitions in Tasmania and New South Wales, e.g. [Royal] Art Society of NSW in 1883. At the third annual exhibition of Art Society of NSW: “ no.164, 'Kanimbla Valley’ is a large oil painting by the Rev. Canon Blake of Tasmania. It is rather too misty but the great valley has been correctly sketched and the distance is good, so that it is to be hoped Canon Brownrigg will contribute again” ( Sydney Morning Herald 21 March 1883, 11: info. Edwina Deakin). At the 1887 Exhibition of Fine Arts, Parliament House, Hobart: “The Rev. M.B. Brownrigg exhibits four pictures from his own easel which do not display any great artistic merit, though the coast scene 'The Bass Rock’ and the 'Wild North West Coast of the North Countrie’ are freely drawn and accurately coloured representations of difficult and not very interesting subjects” ( Hobart Town Mercury 16 February 1887, 3: info. G.T. Stilwell). His panoramic watercolour view of Mount Strezlecki and the Chapel Islands viewed from the western tip of Cape Barren Island (Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania) was excuted during his 1881 voyage in 'his self-built canoe the Nautilus ' (Sullivan and Adkins). . Writers: Staff Writer Date written: 1999 Last updated: 2011

Born

b. 1835

Summary

An artistic Anglican clergyman who painted the landscapes of Tasmania, to varying degrees of regard. A bit of an explorer, he built his own canoe, and illustrated and wrote a book about his travels.

Gender

Male

Died

1890

Age at death

55