Liverpool from the North Shore (Front); Llangollen (Back)

Samuel Austin was said to be the son of William Austin, a joiner, who may have died in London in 1806. In that year his mother, Mary Austin, sent him to the Bluecoat School, Liverpool. In 1809 he became a clerk to William Barber, a Liverpool merchant, but soon gave this up to become an artist. He is thought to have been a pupil of Peter de Wint (1784 - 1849). Austin specialised in landscapes and coastal scenes and was greatly influenced by the work of JMW Turner (1775 - 1851). He exhibited at the Liverpool Academy (1822 - 1832) where he was elected Member and Secretary in 1824. Whilst keeping his Liverpool house at 66 Russell Street, Austin seems to have spent time in London as in 1824 he became a founder member of the Society of British Artists. He also exhibited regularly with the Old Watercolour Society (1827 - 1834) and produced 'Liverpool Illustrated' from 1828 to 1830, using his own drawings on several occasions. Austin appears to have visited Holland, France and the Rhine throughout his career and died during a sketching tour of Wales in 1834.