Design and Art Australia Online

sketcher, army engineer, landowner and magistrate, arrived at Sydney with the 48th Regiment on 3 August 1817. He married Susannah Palmer in 1821 and became the father of nine children, of which four survived, including Marrianne Collinson Campbell . Close resigned from the army to settle near Morpeth on the Hunter River at about the time of his marriage. He was appointed magistrate in 1825 and a Legislative Council nominee in 1829 38. A devout churchman, he erected St James’s Church of England at Morpeth in 1837 41, reputedly in fulfilment of a vow he had made if he survived the Peninsular Wars. He died on 7 May 1866.

Close’s only attributed watercolour painting is a long Panoramic View of Newcastle (ML) dated 11 June 1821, which depicts the settlement, the adjacent coastal strip and an Aboriginal corroboree annotated with a note, initialled 'E.C.’, which explains 'this corrobery [sic] has no business here as it is never danced in the daytime’. In 1995, from stylistic evidence, Sally Grey attributed the painting to Close’s sister-in-law Sophia Campbell , with only the annotation being his. However, Vineyard Hill (1830, ML), a pencil sketch initialled 'E.C.’, has also been attributed to him. His portrait hangs in Maitland Hospital.

Writers:

Staff Writer

Date written:

1992

Last updated:

2011