Francis Oliver Finch

Francis Oliver Finch, The Dell of Comus (illustrating John Milton's Comus), watercolour c. 1835

Francis Oliver Finch (22 November 1802 – 27 August 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.

Death On 10 October 1861 Finch lost the use of his limbs. He died 27 August 1862 and was buried on the west side of Highgate Cemetery.