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
