Paintings by John Funnell of Newick
Feb 12th, 2014 by Andy Funnell
Ian Richards of Bethania, Ceredigion (Wales) has kindly allowed me to publish photos of these two paintings by John Funnell 1813-1887, schoolmaster, artist-painter, land surveyor and photographer. He passed these last two occupations on to his son, William Baker Funnell of Newick, named after his grandfather William Baker Funnell of Chiddingly, who established himself on the farm at Southease.
Could anyone help locating these scenes?
Please do comment if you have any ideas.
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Roger Brine has asked me to post this…
Having recently discovered Funnell’s Wood I was interested to see copies of the two paintings by John Funnell of Newick, Sussex (1813-1887) belonging to Ian Richardson. John Funnell was my great-great grandfather and I immediately recognised the paintings as being by him as I have four of his oil paintings. The family are descended from the Chiddingly Funnells.
My maternal grandfather Henry (otherwise Harry Funnell) (1871-1953) was a grandson of John Funnell. Due to the illness and later death of his mother, Ellen, my grandfather and his siblings were brought up from an early age, at Newick, by his grandfather John Funnell and John’s second wife Mary. When I was a lad, my grandfather came to live with us for the last 6 years of his life. He often talked to me with great affection about his grandfather John.
My guess is that the first of Ian Richardson’s paintings showing cattle and a farm with hills in the background is a stylised depiction of the farm of John’s father William Baker Funnell (1783-1859) at Southease (near Lewes). The painting is very much in John’s style (rather simplistic and with slightly odd perspective and scale). The hills are clearly a depiction of the South Downs in the area and the cliffs in left background are no doubt intended to show the Seven Sisters or other cliffs on the nearby coast. One of John’s paintings that I have shows the farmhouse and farmyard at the family’s farm at Southease. The buildings are shown as typical Sussex flint with brick edging and are thatched.
My grandfather told me that John loved painting at Sheffield Park near Uckfield, Sussex (now National Trust owned), which is not far from Newick. Ian’s second painting of a forest scene might possibly have been based on scenes from the park with a stylised depiction of the South Downs in background. The scene seems to show the clearing of some woodland. It might have been intended to depict Sussex charcoal burners at work.
I also have a painting by John Funnell of sheep and cattle in a parkland setting, which I was told by my late mother was painted at Sheffield Park. My late half uncle (stepson of Henry (Harry) Funnell) had two paintings of John of scenes in Sheffield Park. The other two paintings I have by John are a portrait of his father William Baker Funnell and his mother Lucy Funnell (1785-1846), which were probably both painted in the 1840s.
John was a man of many talents. He was headmaster of a school in Newick, as well as being a painter, land surveyor and poet. I have some photos of him including a formal school photo with his pupils. I also have a couple of the instruments he used in land surveying. I was told he used to carry out valuations of growing crops. I also have a book by him entitled “Poetical Dialogues between Fancy and Reason; also Allegorical & Miscellaneous Poems, and Pieces in Blank Verse by John Funnell, Newick Sussex.” The book was published in 1860 by Geo. P. Bacon, Sussex Advertiser and Steam Printing Office, Lewes. It is very much of its period and not light reading.
John’s son William Baker Funnell was a photographer in Victorian times as well as being a land surveyor and I have a couple of albums of photos by him of various members of our branch of the Funnell Family.
Regards
Roger Brine