Explore: George Haydock Dodgson

(1811 - 1880)

George Haydock Dodgson was born in Liverpool; the son of a draper. He took drawing lessons with Andrew Hunt, before being apprenticed to a surveyor. In 1827 he began working for railway engineer George Stephenson, but resigned in 1834 to become an artist. After sketching tours through Wales, Cumberland and Yorkshire, he moved to London, where he sketched public buildings and produced work for architects. He also designed plates for publication, including those for the ‘Illustrated London News’. He exhibited at the Society of British Artists from 1835 and was a member of the Old Watercolour Society. A nervous condition, which gave him shaky hands, may explain his method of dropping paint onto dampened paper. He died in London, aged 70.