landscape painter and shipping agent, was born in England, son of Joseph Bingham and Elizabeth Clifton and first cousin of Elinor , Louisa , Mary and William Pearce Clifton . Little is known of any art training, except that in 1835 he received a merit award for his achievements in drawing while a pupil of John Whichelo at Rev. Edward Trimmer’s Putney School, London. A watercolour painted in England in 1843 is in the Western Australian Museum.
Clifton came to Western Australia on board the Jedda in February 1861 with his second wife, Sophia Harriet, née Adcock, and three of his children (the family finally consisted of four daughters and six sons). As agent for the P & O Shipping Company, Clifton had been transferred from Mauritius to Albany, King George Sound. His large panoramic view of Albany (34.2 × 162.5 cm), painted from his yacht, was left to the city of Albany by his third daughter, Ethel, on her death in 1933. This is his only known Australian work.
At Albany, Clifton established a savings bank for the coalers (1861) and a local co-operative society (1867). He was Albany agent and correspondent for the Adelaide Register and the Melbourne Argus . The family lived at Albany until William decided to retire in 1882. William and Sophia then returned to England in March 1882, where Clifton died on 29 September 1885.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
dsenn
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2022
