Joseph Lycett

Joseph Lycett, The residence of Edward Riley Esquire, Wooloomooloo, Near Sydney N. S. W., 1825, hand-coloured aquatint and etching printed in dark blue ink. Australian print in the tradition of British decorative production.

Joseph Lycett (c.1774 – 1828) was a portrait and miniature painter, active in Australia. Transported to Australia for forging banknotes, Lycett found work in the colony as a painter specialised in topographical views of the major towns of Australia, and some of its more dramatic landscapes.

Early life Lycett was born in Staffordshire, England, where he became a botanical artist. By 1810, Lycett was described by others as an engraver and as a drawer; he was also noted as being a painter of portraits and miniatures. Lycett had a de facto wife, Mary Stokes, known as Mary Lycett. Lycett painted at least 14 scenes depicting traditional cultural practices of the Awabakal people. The "Chief of the Newcastle tribe", Burigon, is shown in at least one of the works of the convict engraver, Walter (or William) Preston, which were based on Lycett’s drawings.

Collectors' Chests Collector's chest featuring Lycett's paintings. The chest is believed to have been presented to Lachlan Macquarie by Captain James Wallis, ca. 1818 Captain James Wallis also involved Lycett in the design of two cedar and rosewood timber chests displaying natural history specimens from the Newcastle area. It is strongly believed that Wallis presented one of these chests to Governor Lachlan Macquarie as a gift around the year of 1818. The other chest's initial provenance is unknown, but it was purchased by William Dixson in London in 1937 and later bequeathed to the State Library of New South Wales where Macquarie's chest is also held.

Sydney Lycett returned to Sydney and was allowed to practice his art, and in 1820 Governor Macquarie sent three of his paintings including a large view of Sydney to Earl Bathurst. It is generally believed that the absolute pardon which Lycett received on 28 November 1821 was a reward for these pictures. By permission the series was dedicated to Bathurst. The parts began to appear in July 1824 at 7s. plain and 10s. 6d. coloured. that was reprinted in 1971. The 50 plates are coloured in some copies and plain in others.

Death The Warwick and Warwickshire Advertiser for Saturday 27 October 1827 (quoting from Aris's Birmingham Gazette) reported: FORGERY OF PROVINCIAL NOTES- On Saturday afternoon, the constables of Birmingham, accompanied by Mr Redfern, prison-keeper, proceeded to the house of an engraver named Joseph Lycett, in Bath Row, who was suspected of being implicated in the several forgeries of local bank notes which have lately appeared in that neighbourhood. After making some inquiry, the officer went upstairs, accompanied by Lycett, who, no doubt alarmed at the consequences likely to result, attempted self-destruction by cutting his throat on the stairs, and rushing into the chamber endeavoured to throw himself on the bed. He wounded himself severely near the jugular vein, and bled profusely. In the room was found a portable copper-plate press, with rolls, &c complete, a newly-engraved 1l plate of the Stourbridge and Bromsgrove Bank, with a facsimile of the signature, entry, number and date. He was immediately conveyed to Hospital, and there is every expectation that he will recover from the effects of the wound. His daughter, who was found with him in the house, is in custody, and the press, &c have been removed to the prison- Aris’s Birmingham Gazette.”

The Globe (quoting from the Hereford Journal) reported on 22 February 1828: “Joseph Lycett, who was apprehended in October is charged with having in his possession the plates from which forged one-pound notes of several country banks were struck off, died on Saturday at the General Hospital in Birmingham. It will be recollected that while the officers were searching his house, he took the opportunity of attempting self-destruction by cutting his throat; he was immediately removed to the Hospital, and placed under surgical care, and it was for some time considered that he would recover. The wound, subsequently, however, assumed an unfavourable appearance, he became gradually worse, and died on the day above-mentioned. He was a man of extraordinary ingenuity, and had his talent been better directed, he would have formed a valuable member of society. A coroner’s inquest was held before J.H. Wharnley, Esq, at the Warwick Arms, Snowhill, on Monday last, where after a long investigation, a verdict of “died a natural death” was returned. – Hereford Journal.

As above, Lycett died in Birmingham Hospital on 9 February 1828 and was buried in St Mary's Churchyard, Birmingham. A pencilled note in a copy of his Views in the State Library of New South Wales, states that, when he was living near Bath, he was again arrested for forgery of some notes on the Stourbridge Bank. On being arrested he cut his throat, and when recovering in hospital he tore open the wound and killed himself. However, this is not confirmed.