John Romney

John Romney (June 1785 – 1 February 1863) was an English artist in printmaking and watercolour who lived and worked in London and Chester. Much of his work consisted of reproductions of the work of other artists, but he produced some original prints, paintings and drawings. Like the great majority of contemporary printmakers he worked in both engraving and etching, often on the same plate, and descriptions of his prints as being in one or the other technique should be taken loosely. His best known original prints are series of views of the Chester area and his part of one on the antiquities in the British Museum. He was apparently not related to the famous portraitist George Romney (1734–1802).

Early life and career in London

John Romney was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, the third of seven children of John and Dorothy Romney. His father was a linen draper and the family moved at some time after 1801 to Lambeth in London where John Romney senior continued with his business. John junior was apprenticed to an engraver and in 1807 he won a prize for drawing at the Society of Arts which enabled him to establish himself as a teacher. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1807 and 1813. In 1813 he engraved two illustrations after Thomas Stothard for Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield and during the years 1812 to 1845 a series of etchings for the Description of the Collection of Ancient Marbles in the British Museum. In 1829 and 1831 he produced 200 views on 100 plates for Paris and its Environs by Augustus Pugin and C. Heath which was an inspiration for some of his later work in Chester. Amongst his considerable output during this time were five plates for an edition of Hogarth's works in 1833.

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