Francis Oliver Finch
Francis Oliver Finch (1802–1862), was an English watercolour painter, and a member of The Ancients, the group of young artists formed around Samuel Palmer and the elderly William Blake in the 1820s. Life Finch was the son of Francis Finch, a merchant in Friday Street, Cheapside, in the City of London.He was born on 22 November 1802, and spent his boyhood at Stone near Aylesbury. At the age of twelve, by then fatherless, he was placed under John Varley, with whom he worked for five years, a friend having paid a premium of £200. Among his earliest patrons was Lord Northwick, who employed Finch in making views of his mansion and grounds. Some time after leaving his master's studio the same friend who had assisted in placing him there afforded him the benefit of a tour through Scotland. After his return he was uncertain whether he should continue the practice of landscape or study at the Royal Academy. He joined Sass's life academy and produced several portraits, but circumstances drawing him back to landscape-painting he became a candidate for admission to the newly formed Society of Painters in Water Colours. On 11 February 1822 he was elected an associate, and