(1774 - 1852)
George Chinnery was born in London, the son of a writing master. He studied at the Royal Academy Schools. In 1796 he moved to Dublin and became Secretary of the Society of Artists in Ireland. In 1802 he returned to England and, later that year, left behind a wife and two children to travel to Madras as a painter for the East India Company. Here he painted portraits and published topographical etchings. In 1808, he moved to Dacca and, by 1812, was in Calcutta, where he became the principal portrait painter. However, he also ran up a debt of c.30,000 rupees. By 1825 he had fled to Macau on the coast of China. In Macau he painted portraits (particularly of expatriate merchants) and made topographical drawings. He died in the city, aged 74.
