Thomas Somerscales

The recorded working language is Spanish. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are marine. Work by Thomas Somerscales is recorded in the collections of Tate, The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatū, Royal Museums Greenwich, National Gallery and Chilean National Museum of Fine Arts.

His father was a shipmaster, who sketched, and his uncle was an amateur painter. However he had no formal training as an artist and originally became a teacher in the Royal Navy. He joined the Royal Navy in 1863 as a schoolmaster, and served mostly in the Pacific, firstly on HMS Cumberland for six years, then the corvette HMS Clio and finally HMS Zealous, flagship of the Pacific Station. Having caught a fever in Tahiti, he was subsequently invalided ashore at Valparaiso, Chile and discharged from the Royal Navy. He settled in Chile and from 1874 teaching at The Mackay School in Valparaíso he started working as a professional painter. By 1893 (when he had returned to Britain) he was still being referred to in England as a "little known artist" but had gained some praise. Although he returned to Britain in 1892 and spent most of the following thirty-five years in his home country, he remains far better known in Chile (where his work is on display in several prestigious locations) than he is in the UK. His life's work has been detailed in the book: "Thomas Somerscales, Marine Artist" by Alex A. Hurst. He is commemorated with a green plaque on The Avenues, Kingston upon Hull.

• Illustration — The First Chilean Navy Squadron • Illustration — Sinking of the Esmeralda at the Battle of Iquique • Illustration — The Death of Arturo Prat on the Huascar • Illustration — Chilean Navy, 1879 • Illustration — The Battle of Angamos