John Higton
John Higton was an English animal painter, who exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts. He was a friend of Edward Dayes and Thomas Campbell, and his patrons included Lord Sedley and George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick
Early career
John Higton was born in Virginia in 1775, the son of John Higton, Sr. His father was a cotton planter and Loyalist, who served in Cornwallis' Central Division. John Higton, Sr. was granted land in Godmanchester, Quebec, but returned to Britain with Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, and became a cotton merchant, establishing John Higton & Co in London and Manchester. While Higton considered himself an Englishman, he looked back on his boyhood in North America with fondness. He would recount his earliest memories were as a Hammerman assisting the Blacksmiths of the Division's Ordnance Corps tend the forge and horses.Higton was privately educated, and was encouraged to paint from an early age by his father, who he succeeded in business. He was a follower of Edward Dayes, however it is thought he was given support to develop his own style and exhibit his paintings by Mr. Wheble, the editor of The Sporting Magazine, who said of him in 1813, whilst commenting on J. M. W. Turner and John Constable, that: "Portraits of Dogs at Ampthill Park - Both of these performances have merit. The last is to us, who have watched the improving style of Mr. Higton, a proof that perseverance and study will always be sure to succeed."
At around this time Higton also sketched/painted noted Pugilist and Corporal of Horse, of the 2nd Life Guards, who life modelled for notable artists of the day, such as Sir Edwin Landseer, Benjamin Haydon, and William Etty. Shaw would go on to be exalted for his martial feats at the Battle of Waterloo, where he lost his life.
Marriage and maturity
John fell in love with Mary Sheldon, the cousin of John Sheldon who was at that time Professor of Anatomy at the Royal Academy, and they were married in 1794. They lived in Southwark, London, and attended church at St Mary's, being acquainted with William Blake. Higton was well known to a number of publishers including Wheble and his friend John Nichols.John and Mary had seven children, their oldest son John was born in 1795. He was raised with the expectation that he would run the family business. Of their other sons only William Higton lived to old age, whilst Richard, engraver & watercolourist, died in his mid thirties. In later life John and Mary are known to have been friends of Thomas Campbell, whose father had lived in Virginia and may have been a family friend, and his biographer William Beattie for whom Turner executed the plates.
By 1819 Mr. Brewster, Higton's business partner, had run up personal debts of £74,000. Brewster filed for bankruptcy, and his creditors turned to Higton to satisfy the debt. Higton contested joint liability, but was forced to sell his house on Cornhill, and family home and offices in Blackfriars and probably the Cotton Mill on Ancoats Lane, Manchester. This was detrimental to Higton's activity as an artist, and possibly his health. He died on 23 December 1827, being buried in the family plot at St Mary's, Newington.