James Pattison Cockburn

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
James Pattison Cockburn
by William A. Cockburn
York, capital of Upper Canada, showing Court House and Jail, August 1829

James Pattison Cockburn (18 March 1779 – 18 March 1847) was an artist, author and military officer. He was born into a military family and received his military training at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich where he received training in drawing which was related to the skills required for topography.

Life

Cockburn had a long military career and retired with the rank of

folio
, in 1827.

Cockburn spent two periods in Canada during his military career. The first, from November 1822 to June 1823, produced little work that has survived, but his second posting, lasting from April 1826 to August 1832, proved artistically productive. Many works from this "mature" period cover subjects from both Upper Canada and Lower Canada with Niagara Falls producing some of the finest work.

Cockburn finished his career as the director of the laboratory of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich where he died. His body of work is large and has yet to be reconstructed in a comprehensive manner for more in-depth study.

View of entrance to the Tête-de-Pont Barracks (Fort Frontenac), Kingston, Ontario, ca. 1830.

Notes

"Passenger Pigeon Net, St. Anne's, Lower Canada". Watercolour and pen and black and brown ink on wove paper (1829).

References

  • "James Pattison Cockburn". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
  • Chichester, Henry Manners (1887). "Cockburn, James Pattison" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 11. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 188.

Attribution:

External links