J. W. North was born 1 January 1842 in Walham Green (now Fulham Broadway) in west London, the second son of Charles North, a linen draper, and his wife Fanny Knight. As a child he lived for a time with his parents and paternal grandfather in Stopsley, Bedfordshire. John showed an artistic ability from an early age. He was largely self-taught, although he attended art school for a short period of time at the Marlborough House School of Art as well as received instruction from a local artist named Hackman who lived in nearby Fulham. In about 1854 his father's business failed and Charles, Fanny, and their youngest son Alfred immigrated to Ottawa in Canada. John therefore left school at age twelve and was looked after by his uncle Alfred North. John lived part of the time in 1854-55 with his great-uncle, a Mr. Gathard, who had a farm near Kimpton in Hertfordshire. Between 1856 and 1866 he divided his time between his two uncles living in London, Alfred and John, in Walham Green and Fulham.
In 1858, at age sixteen, John was apprenticed to the well-known London wood engraver Josiah Wood Whymper, where he became friends with Frederick Walker, Arthur Boyd Houghton, George John Pinwell and Charles Green. North stayed with Whymper until January 1, 1863. He worked on black and white illustrations for publications and developed a reputation for his sensitive interpretation of landscape subjects. From 1862 to 1867 North worked as an illustrator for the Dalziel Brothers where he made designs for periodicals such as Good Words, Once a Week, and The Sunday Magazine, and contributed to books such as A Round of Days (1866), Wayside Posies (1867) and Jean Ingelow's Poems (1867).
In 1863 he moved for a time to Halsway Manor (Court) near Crowcombe in Somerset where he painted some of his best-known early Idyllic watercolours. Initially North divided his time between London and Somerset, but he was to live in Somerset permanently from 1868 until the end of his life. In 1868 he left Halsway Manor and by early 1869 he had rented a house in the nearby village of Woolston, about three miles to the northwest. By 1867 he was in a strong enough financial position to give up illustrative work and to pursue painting full-time. He exhibited initially at the Dudley Gallery, and then later at the Old Water-Colour Society, the Royal Academy, the Grosvenor Gallery, and the New Gallery. In 1869 he had his first painting hung at the Royal Academy. In 1871 he was elected an Associate of the Old Water-Colour Society and a full member in 1883. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1893. In late 1873 North accompanied his friend Fred Walker to Algeria for the sake of the latter's health. North liked the country so much that he built a house and spent several months a year there over the next six years, not finally giving up the house until 1885.
On 19 February 1884, at age forty-two, North married 21-year-old Selina Weetch, the daughter of a local farmer, at Bicknoller Church in Somerset. The couple moved into Beggearn Huish House in nearby Nettlecombe. They were to have six children and Selina predeceased him in 1898. After her death he moved to Bilbrook and then from 1904 to 1914 he lived in Withycombe. In 1891 North's painting The Winter Sun was bought by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest for the Tate Gallery. In 1895 he invested heavily in, and became Chairman of, the O. W. Paper & Arts Co. that manufactured and marketed fine linen-based papers for art printing and watercolours. The complete failure of this enterprise left him virtually destitute except for a small pension from the Royal Academy. In 1897 he won a second-class medal for his submissions to the International Exhibition in Brussels. He exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1898, the Franco-British Exhibition in London in 1908, and the Esposizione Internazionale di Belle Arti in Rome in 1911. North died at Stanborough on December 20, 1924, having been in failing health for some time. He was buried in the New Cemetery at Nettlecombe.
Bibliography
Alexander, Herbert. "John William North, A.R.A., R.W.S." Old Water-Colour Society's Club V (1927-28): 35-52.
Esposito, Donato. Frederick Walker and the Idyllists. London: Lund Humphries, 2017. Chapter 4, 90-111.
Created 28 April 2023