Summary of Life of Samuel Begg
Born 1854 in London.
In about 1860 Sam Begg's family emigrated to New Zealand,
taking with them a staircase, oak and a cow. They built a wooden
house on the hill at Napier and people said it would blow away. It
is called Prospect and is still there as is another wooden house
for a daughter. They survived the 1931 earthquake.
In 1868 Sam left home to work as a surveyor on new
developments.
In the early 1870's he worked for a time in Eketahuna where he
helped with the engineering of the new settlement for Scandinavian
immigrants.
In 1874 he realised he would like to be an artist, not a
surveyor.
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It was probably in about 1876 that Sam got a contact with the
Auckland Herald for a set of drawings of Scenes
around Auckland.
It is believed the the two paintings show may be his
first watercolours
Click on the pictures
to see them enlarged |
He soon moved to Australia and stayed for a while in Sydney and
in 1880 Sam started work for the
Illustrated Australian News in Melbourne. In 1883 he left for
England and then Paris where he studied art in
Julian's Studio.
In 1895 he joined the staff of the Illustrated London News as an
illustrator until 1919.
He was a friend of Russel Flint (Sir William Russell
Flint RA 1880 – 1969)
and in fact advised him to spend more time doing water
colour painting rather than black and white. Later he regretted
suggesting this in case Russel Flint considered that Sam was
trying to keep the Black and White work to himself.
In 1912, while visiting India on a commission, he returned to Eketahuna for a visit and was warmly
welcomed by the community.
Died 7 Jan 1936
See details:
Articles from the
Eketahuna Express 1912 In 1912 Sam
accompanied, we believe, by his Daughter Mary, returned to New
Zealand and visited
Eketahuna where he had worked earlier in his life. see Samuel Begg's Autobiography It
may have been on this trip that the following Cape or Cloak was
acquired but this is supposition.
Article
1 from Bush Telegraph 1997 Article
2 from Bush Telegraph 1997 Paul
Rowntree comments on Sam Begg |