sketcher and naval officer, was a son of Rev. William Tierney Elton of Whitestaunton, Somersetshire. Like his brothers, William entered the armed services, joining the Royal Navy. Colonel Frederick Elton became an early recipient of the Victoria Cross and Major-General Henry Elton served in the Indian Army, while Captain William Hallam Elton commanded HMS Esk , which served in Australian and New Zealand waters between 1861 and 1863. During this period he produced over fifty known sketches, mostly topographical, including views of Auckland and New Plymouth (NZ), Lord Howe Island, Sydney Harbour and Flinders Island in Bass Strait. He is sparsely represented in the Mitchell Library, but numerous watercolours of the Auckland district are held at the Hocken Library. When Christie’s offered Lieutenant Elton’s watercolour View in Australia (1863) for sale in October 1987, it was said to be inscribed verso: 'Fall on the North Shore Sydney, March ’69 [sic], about 59 ft. [18 m] high’. Nineteen of Elton’s drawings dated 1862-63 were sold in London in 1927.
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- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
