James Tonkin was born at Sennen, Cornwall, the third son of Charles Tonkin and his wife Elizabeth, a flour dealer and grocer in Penzance. Together with John Pope VIBERT, the artist produced a large number of lithographs of West Penwith landscapes and townscapes, including a series depicting the replacement of the Logan Rock, one of which (1824) is in the Penlee House collection. He also produced a set of 'Views of Mounts Bay'. His other major talent was miniature portrait painting, for which he was called in by friends and neighbours.
He is also known to have been a musician and pianoforte tuner, and highly respected locally for his many talents.
One of his sisters was a talented singer and his brothers were also musicians.
Lou Tonkin describes himself as a Cornish artist-printmaker. His fascination for nature and its hedgerows is reflected in his work.
Richard Harry Tonkin, older brother to Wilfred TONKIN, was born in Newlyn. Alongside Wilfred, Richard fulfilled his coppersmith apprenticeship under John Drew Mackenzie. Like his brother and uncles, he created many copper pieces, later becoming a skilled cabinet maker and carver.
Textile artist, Wendy Topsey studied Art and Design (Textiles) in the early 1990s at Cornwall College, and has been a constant exhibitor, with a strong following, since that time.
She uses fine cotton, organza and linen thread together with a variety of looms to create seascapes and coastal scenes, based on the inspiration she takes from the coasts of Cornwall.
Richard Tosic is an architect and abstract artist based in Falmouth. Raised in the south-east of England, he obtained a BA (Hons) in Architecture from Thames Polytechnic in 1989, and a post-graduate Diploma in Architecture from the Kent Institute of Art and Design in 1992.
A painting by this artist, Round House, Sennen Cove (1985) is part of the art collection held by the West Cornwall Hospital, Penzance.
Roger Towndrow studied BA Fine Art (Painting) at Camberwell School of Art, and MA Printmaking at Wimbledon School of Art. He has over 30 years teaching experience and was Head of Art at Falmouth University from 2011 until 2020. In 2025 he was appointed as a tutor at St Ives School of Painting.
Towndrow's work, which centres on botanical drawing, has been shown widely in the UK and also in the USA.
Mike Townesend lived and worked for 40 years in Bedfordshire before moving to Cornwall in 2024. At his home in Carnon Downs, near Truro, he works from his garden studio.
Art editor of Punch; reported as staying at Carbis Bay, St Ives in 1913.
Primarily an ornamental artist, he supplied decorative images for the Illustrated London News in 1860. He subsequently moved to Exeter where he continued to work producing topographical images of Cornwall.
Wood lists at least two candidates for this artist, one Frederick Townsend (London address) who exhibited six works at the RA including Heather in Bloom, Deeside, Braemar, Venice and Old Mill, Poltesco Valley, Cornwall. The second, Frederick John Townsend (fl 1872) exhibited The Parting Gleam near St Rivan, Cornwall at the RA from an address in Chertsey Surrey. Though separately listed, the two speculatively could be the same artist. In 2002 an enquirer with two oil paintings in hand, St Michael's Mount (1868) and Trungle Mill Angarrack (1895), made contact with the WCAA, but to date no further information has come to notice.
Prolific artist, regularly painting Cornish subjects, although information about his life has been elusive.
Correspondent W Milburn has contributed the following: The artist was born in Bath, Somerset, and lived at Moor End, Hambrook near Bristol. Subsequently he lived at Ivydean, Lower Redland Road and at Union Street, Bristol. He died in Bristol in 1917.
Born in Sheerness, Kent, Henry Edward Spernon Tozer (H S Tozer) was the elder son of Henry Edwin TOZER. Unlike his father he does not seem to have spent much time in Cornwall, though he and his father and younger brother Eustace Arthur TOZER exhibited together in St Just in 1892.
A painter of interiors, mainly in watercolour, this artist is often confused with his father, owing to the similarity in their names.
Henry Edward Spernon Tozer died near Haslemere, Surrey, in 1955, aged 90.
The Census of 1891 records this artist as having been born at Milton, Near Gravesend, Kent, and living with his father Henry Edwin TOZER, mother, Louisa J, and older sister Marianne A Tozer (24) at Cape Cornwall, St Just.
A correspondent (2015) writes that he has a painting by Eustace which on the back is annotated in April 1888, signifying his presence in Newlyn at that date. In 1892 he and his father Henry Edwin exhibited in St Just together with his father's pupil Bessie BOYNS. His sending-in address in 1893 was listed as St Just.
In 1910 he was based in Lydford, Devon (Kellys Directory). By 1911 the Census found him at Lee Cottage, Bickington, Newton Abbot, Devon, lodging with Charles and Mary Green. He is known to have exhibited work at the RBA on at least one occasion.
Tozer served in the First World War in the rifle brigade. His death is registered in March 1931 at Exeter, Devon.
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Born on 8 July 1838, in London (GRO), Henry Edwin Tozer was the father of Henry Edward Spernon TOZER (1864-1955), Marianne Alice, and Eustace Arthur TOZER. Henry Edwin was the son of a tinplate worker and his stated profession on marriage to Louisa (nee Griffin) in 1861 at St Martin's-in-the-Fields was 'civil engineer'.
By 1888 the family had moved to Newlyn. At the time of the 1891 Census, he had an address in St Just, Cornwall. Bessie BOYNS was a pupil of his, and exhibited with him in St Just in 1892 and subsequently in Exeter. His friendship with her and her photographer sister Gertrude affected his marriage. On his daughter Marianne's marriage, Louisa moved to London with the newly-weds. Henry Edwin moved to Galmpton where he lived with Bessie and Gertrude. He and Bessie held a joint exhibition in Kingsbridge in 1912 and he died in Galmpton in 1913, aged 74. Upon their deaths (Gertrude in 1928 and Bessie in 1947) the sisters were buried beside him.
Henry Edwin Tozer exhibited Surf and Rocks at the Mouth of the Cove at the RA in 1892. Two works by him were shown at Birmingham between 1889 and 1892.
Andrew Tozer's fascination for the Helford River valley began when he was growing up in Cornwall on the family farm. Working en plein-air, he captures the river in all its moods.
Tozer is a tutor at Newlyn School of Art (2016). He has led workshops in landscape painting at Truro Arts Company (2018).
Dunlop Tracy's RA successes were when he was living at Kingston Buci, part of Shoreham by Sea, Sussex (1908-12). His work is first mentioned in St Ives in an exhibition review, when his painting, Moonlight upon the Sea, was praised; but as he was then living in Holbrook, Ipswich, his contributions were not regular.
In the 1911 Show Day at St Ives he exhibited three paintings, all of which were seascapes; his works are again mentioned in 1940 and 1945, but it is not certain whether he lived in St Ives during the Second World War or not.
In the parish church at Shoreham, there is a memorial window to his son who died of pneumonia. Tracy is better known as an expert pistol shot and author of a WW1 book on The Service Revolver. He continued to paint between the wars when he moved to the East Coast.
Originally from Richmond, Surrey, Debbie Trant creates vibrant, emotive seascapes which reflect the constantly changing colours and extraordinary light and movement of sea and sky. She is thankful for the privilege of living in north Cornwall, surrounded by such beauty.
She is a regular exhibitor at Zeath Gallery, Padstow Memorial Hall and Rock Institute, and her work has also been shown at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea. She has had a solo exhibition at Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair.
Hilary Tranter's work, inspired both by her surroundings and the fleeting moment, expresses ambiguity and mystery.
Mary Trapp is a visual artist living in Falmouth, who works within the fields of sculpture, drawing and installation. Her work examines the relationship between body and water.
She was born in Cheltenham. In 2006 she took a foundation diploma in Art and Design at Bristol School of Art. This was followed by a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Falmouth University in 2011, and in 2018 an MA in Fine Art at Plymouth College of Art.
Her work has been widely exhibited in Cornwall, Plymouth and Bristol.
In the Royal Cornwall Gazette (18 Aug 1827) there is noticed on page 3: Mr Trathan's Museum of Painting, Falmouth. No further information at present.
Daguerrotype photographer of Carharrack: daguerrotypes are photographic images which were among the first made available to the general public. Popular from the late 1840s to the mid 1860s, these positive images were taken onto a plate of glass making each one unique. They were usually placed into a decorative leather case and cherished as family keepsakes.
A design artist who was born in Truro, Cornwall, Poppy studied first at the Falmouth College of Art (1994-5) and then at the Winchester School of Art (1996-1999) with an interest in textiles. Following college she worked abroad for some years in developing countries and amongst craft cooperatives. This gave her the interest in creating a business and working together with other artists. From 2004 she has formed her own textile-based company, Hidden Art, and now works with and employs a number of creative makers who produce her designs (and help create new ones) to patterns chosen for wide appeal. All are quirky, colourful and fun.
The company is based in Newlyn and the intention is to remain there in a bustling and creative arts environment. Starting with tea cosies and shoulder-bags, the range has extended to cards, ceramics, books, and virtually any item which can be sewn. These are offered from the POPPY TREFFRY Company, and can be seen on the website, and in various retail outlets who stock the company's work.
Listed as an artist living at Blight's Yard, Falmouth in the 1841 Census.