George Barrington, Late Officer of the Peace, at P…

Vincent Woodthorpe (1764 - 1822)

English engraver, artist and copperplate printer whose work is chiefly remembered for its role in shaping early European visual impressions of Australia. He was born in Stepney, London, around 1764, the son of a victualler. In 1778 he was apprenticed to a tinplate worker, a trade that likely gave him the technical grounding later useful in engraving and printing. By the 1790s Woodthorpe was established in London as a professional engraver and printer, working mainly from premises in Fetter Lane. He produced maps, views and decorative prints, often hand-coloured, and was active as both engraver and publisher. His most significant work dates from the early years of the nineteenth century, when he engraved a series of plates illustrating New South Wales for publications associated with Georges Barrington. These images included views of Sydney and its surroundings, depictions of Aboriginal people, native animals and colonial life.

Woodthorpe never visited Australia, and his engravings were based on sketches and descriptions supplied by others. As a result, many of his scenes are imaginative or exaggerated rather than strictly accurate. Despite this, they were among the earliest widely circulated images of the Australian colony and played an important role in shaping how Britain and Europe imagined the new settlement.

Vincent Woodthorpe died in London on 22 September 1822.

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