William Fifield and Henry Clarke

William Fifield William Fifield is said to have worked at the Bristol pottery for about 50 years until his death in 1857.  He his mainly known for flower painting, but also did landscapes and portraits.  Some of his painting is crude and use of colors idiosyncratic.  The crudeness may be explained by the fact that he had to produce large numbers of the same design.  Choice of colors may been limited by cost, as he was decorating cheap earthenware not expensive porcelain.  Between 1820 and 1822 Fifield painted a series of plaques of the cottages in Henbury Hamlet, Blaise Castle, etc.  Some of these, and other examples of Fifield's work are in Bristol museum.  There are surviving sketches and paintings in the Victoria and Albert museum, these show him to have been a competant and versatile artist.  A surviving trade card, dated 1820, in the V & A and the fact that he signed some of his work suggests that he may have been partly independent of the pottery. Some Fifield pieces are signed, either W Fifield, W F or W F B, and often dated.  Dates range from 1808 (a mug in Bristol Museum) to 1849.  There were other painters at the Bristol pottery and it is quite likely that some of the pieces attributed to Fifield were painted by them, e.g. Henry Clark. In 1820 only he paid rates on a property in Borough Walls, Temple Parish.  It is possible that this was a temporary residence, or was used by one of the pottery's workers. Both Hugh Owen and W J Pountney refer to a decorator called J Doe, they did not know that in earlier British and modern American English "Doe" means name unknown!  Doe committed suicide, because he thought printing would replace enamel painting (it sounds like a tall story!).  Owen says there was piece marked "J Doe 1797". According to Owen his son John was also a painter, but emigrated to New Zealand in 1849.  His painting was similar to that of his father.  Pountney refers to a son called William.  He shows a picture of a mug, signed W Fifield, made about 1850, and said to be in a different style to that of the father.  However, there was no son called William, only a grandson who died as a child. William was the son of John Fifield, a house and sign painter, who married Jane, in Bath, in 1770.  William was born in Bath in 1777 and baptized at Bath Abbey on 30th March 1777.  The birth date is confirmed by the 1851 census.  He was later apprenticed to a glass stainer and married Mary Ann Moore, at St Michaels, Bristol on 19th September 1813 (his age at the time suggests that there may have been an earlier marriage).  There were at least four children, Jane (christened 27 Nov 1814 St James Bristol, died 1834 aged 20), Elizabeth (christened 4 Aug 1818 Bristol), John (born about 1820), Martha Sarah (christened 22 Apr 1827 at St James Bristol) and Mary.  John was a ceramic artist and copper plate engraver.  Mary Anne died in 1828 aged 35.  By 1847 William had married again to Sarah White, who was in her twenties.  The 1841 census records William aged 64 (described as a painter) living at Stone Place, which was off Temple Backs, together with Martha (15) and Mary (18).  The 1851 census shows him (now aged 74) at 7 Gough's Court (probably off Temple Backs), described as a enameller of china, together with his wife, who was aged 26 and described as a pottery transferrer.  William died on 14th August 1857 of acute bronchitis. John married Honora Daily (or Daly), in Horfield, on 26th August 1838.  Their children were William Edward (born 29th December 1839, died 1845), Thomas Moore (9th January 1842, died 1843), Francis (1846) and Harold (1848).  The 1841 census shows John living at Tower Street, which is close to the pottery.  The family arrived in Port Philip, Victoria, Australia, as assisted immigrants on board the Courier.  A daughter, Mary Ann Clara, was born at Melbourne in 1852.  They arrived in New Zealand, aboard the John Scott in 1855, and settled at Otaika (near Whangarei), near the top of the north island. Michelle McGill, from New Zealand, a direct descendent of John Fifield I (and hence William) has provided fresh biographical information about the Fifield family; another descendant of John, Annie Perry, has also helped.  Examples of Fifield's Work A plaque painted c1830 and signed by William Fifield.  It is painted with a rural scene, which includes cattle, with an inscription on the reverse.  It is after an original by Aelbert Cuyp (1620-91) of Dordrecht in the Netherlands.  The artist pianted other similar pictures.  The size is 8.7 inches (22.2 cm) by 5.8 inches (14.8 cm). A mug probably painted by William Fifield, on the front is a view of Diamond Cottage, and underneath the inscription "Diamond Cottage 1820".  The height is about 5.5 inches (14 cm).  Diamond cottage is one of the cottages, now owned by the National Trust, which are part of the Blaise Castle Estate.  Sadly not all the cottages painted by William Fifield now survive.

Henry Clark Henry Clark was apprenticed to John Decimus and Susannah Pountney on 14th August 1821 as an enameller.  A James Clark had also been apprenticed on 1st October 1816, but in what capacity is not known..  There is no record of either of them completing their apprenticeships, however this is probably due to the incomplete nature of the burgess records.  According to Hugh Owen "his best pieces were flowers and landscapes". A descendent, Colin Clarke, has kindly provided the following biographical details of Henry.  He was the son of Henry and Elizabeth Clarke, and was born at Westbury-on-Trymn in 1806.  He married Elizabeth Bowen (or Bourn) on 3rd July 1827 at St Michael in Bristol.  She died around 1833.  They had three children: Frederick George (baptized on 27th April 1828 at St Michael), Emma (baptized on 26th December 1830 st St Michael), and Fanny Elizabeth (baptized on 23rd December 1832 at St James). His second marriage was to Sarah Milsom (born about 1816 at Oldbury, near Didmarton, Glos) on 23rd February 1835 at St John, Bedminster.  They had the following children: Charles Henry I (baptized on 1st November at St James, and lived at the most 2 years), Charles Henry II (born about 1840 in St Paul's), Arthur Edward (born about 1845 in St Paul's), and Francis Oliver (born on 5th March 1849 at Brunswick Square, St Paul's).  Both Charles Henry and Robert Alfred worked in Bristol as "glass cutters", the former moving to Stourbridge c1860, the latter also moved to Stourbridge c1863. The 1841 census shows him living at South Place Back, St Mary Redcliff parish, with the children of both marriages, and described as a "painter".  He was also described as a "painter" in 1851, when he resided at Narrow Weir, St Peter's parish.  Finally in 1861 he was a "fancy painter" at 21 Water Street, St Paul's.  He died on 16th July 1863, aged 58, of cellulitis, at the home of his elder brother Alfred, in Brunswick Square, St Paul's.