John Colley Nixon

John Colley Nixon (died 1818)^[1] was an English merchant and amateur artist.

Life

The son of Robert Nixon, an Irish merchant in London, and brother of James Nixon the miniaturist and Robert Nixon the patron of J. M. W. Turner, he was in business as a merchant in Basinghall Street, London, and was for many years secretary to the Beefsteak Club.^[2][1]

This is a correction to the assumption that John Colley Nixon was a brother to James Nixon the Minaturist. He was baptised as John Coley Nixon on 18 August 1755 at St Margaret Lothridge, London to Robert Nixon and Lucretia Wilson who married in 1754 at St. Helens Bishopsgate. John Coley Nixon was their first born son in 1755 and other sons George Richard and Robert followed. The marriage Allegation between Robert Nixon and Lucretia Wilson stated that they were both Bachelor and Spinster and that Robert was above the age of 24 and Lucretia was above the age of 23. James Nixon the Minaturist was born to William Nixon and Elizabeth in 1741 in Lincolnshire, he was not the brother of John Coley Nixon. Robert Nixon father of John Coley Nixon would have been too young to have a son born in 1741. This research comes from original Parish Registers.

Works

Eastbourne from Lord G. Cavendish's Seat in the Park, landscape by John Nixon

Nixon was known for landscapes, and for caricatures, some of which he etched himself. He was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy from 1784 to 1815. He drew a number of views of the seats of the nobility and gentry in England and Ireland, which were engraved for a series published by William Watts.^[2]

Notes

1. Fordham, Douglas. "Nixon, John Colley". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20209. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
2.  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1895). "Nixon, John". Dictionary of National Biography 41. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1895). "Nixon, John". Dictionary of National Biography 41. London: Smith, Elder & Co.