Hobart Town Daily Mercury 22nd June 1858

On page 2, col. 3 bottom, Nos. 133 & 157.

The Lord Bishop of Tasmania, Rev. Dr. Francis Russell Nixon is quoted:

"Those who are aquainted with the brilliancy of Turner's later works, would fail to recognise his master hand in these two paintings."

"The catalogue tells us that the View of Snowdon is believed to have been Turner's first attempt in oil."

In respect of the comment about the first oil there is evidence that Rev. Robert Nixon of Foots Cray, the Lord Bishop's father, did posess (not Turner's very first oil on canvas but) Turner's second oil on canvas now recorded as 'Rochester Castle with Fishermen Drawing Boats Ashore In A Gale of Wind'. However, it was not in the posession of the Lord Bishop at this time.

It is clear, from the Art Journal 1864, page 267, that the other oil (No.133 exhibited as 'Landscape') was 'The Hotwells, Bristol - Storm coming on' (ie: 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' ) Turner's first exhibited oil, RA 1793.