MS 608
Reference code
MS 608
Title
Walter Severn collection
Level
Sub-fonds
Administrative / Biographical history
Severn, Walter (1830-1904)
Walter Severn (12 October 1830 – 22 September 1904), was a professionally a civil servant and a watercolour artist.
He was the the eldest son of Joseph Severn and his wife Elizabeth. In 1852 he entered the Civil Service, and was for thirty-three years an officer in the education department, while also maintaining a interest in various branches on art. exhibited in 1874 at Agnew's Gallery in Bond Street
Joseph Severn (7 December 1793 – 3 August 1879) was an English portrait and subject painter and a personal friend of the famous English poet John Keats. He exhibited portraits and a selection of his paintings can today be found in some of the most important museums in London, including the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Tate Britain.
In 1815, he was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools in London and exhibited his first work in oil, Hermia and Helena, a subject from A Midsummer Night's Dream, along with a portrait miniature, "J. Keats, Esq", in the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1819. He probably first met the poet John Keats in the spring of 1816.
In 1819, Severn was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Academy for his painting Una and the Red Cross Knight in the Cave of Despair.
On 17 September 1820, Severn set sail onboard the Maria Crowther from England to Italy with the famous English poet John Keats. Keats and Severn had known one another in England, but they were only passing acquaintances. Severn who agreed to accompany the poet to Rome which was intended to cure Keats's lingering illness. After a harrowing voyage, they arrived in the Bay of Naples on 21 October, only to be placed in quarantine for ten days. The two men remained in Naples for a week before heading off to Rome.
Severn nursed Keats until his death on 23 February 1821, three months after they had arrived in Rome.
Walter Severn (12 October 1830 – 22 September 1904), was a professionally a civil servant and a watercolour artist.
He was the the eldest son of Joseph Severn and his wife Elizabeth. In 1852 he entered the Civil Service, and was for thirty-three years an officer in the education department, while also maintaining a interest in various branches on art. exhibited in 1874 at Agnew's Gallery in Bond Street
Joseph Severn (7 December 1793 – 3 August 1879) was an English portrait and subject painter and a personal friend of the famous English poet John Keats. He exhibited portraits and a selection of his paintings can today be found in some of the most important museums in London, including the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Tate Britain.
In 1815, he was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools in London and exhibited his first work in oil, Hermia and Helena, a subject from A Midsummer Night's Dream, along with a portrait miniature, "J. Keats, Esq", in the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1819. He probably first met the poet John Keats in the spring of 1816.
In 1819, Severn was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Academy for his painting Una and the Red Cross Knight in the Cave of Despair.
On 17 September 1820, Severn set sail onboard the Maria Crowther from England to Italy with the famous English poet John Keats. Keats and Severn had known one another in England, but they were only passing acquaintances. Severn who agreed to accompany the poet to Rome which was intended to cure Keats's lingering illness. After a harrowing voyage, they arrived in the Bay of Naples on 21 October, only to be placed in quarantine for ten days. The two men remained in Naples for a week before heading off to Rome.
Severn nursed Keats until his death on 23 February 1821, three months after they had arrived in Rome.
Date
1878-1884
Extent & medium
8 items
Content description
The collection contains autograph notes of Joseph Severn's conversations of Keats and other people in his early life, which were recorded by his son Walter Severn.
Also included is information on the composition of the biography of his father, undertaken by William Sharp.
Also included is information on the composition of the biography of his father, undertaken by William Sharp.
Location of this record in the archive hierarchy
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Number 37 of 95 at this Level
Beneath this record in the archive hierarchy
- Walter Severn collection: Autograph letter from Walter Severn to J. Dasent, MS 608 01, (15 March 1878)
- Walter Severn collection: 'Notes of conversations with my father during his illness', MS 608 02, (17 March 1878)
- Walter Severn collection: 'Autograph notes of conversations with my father', MS 608 03, ([ March 1878])
- Walter Severn collection: Autograph letter from W. Lewis Fraser to Walter Severn, MS 608 04, (22 January 1884)
- Walter Severn collection: Autograph letter from B.J. Baron to Walter Severn, MS 608 05, (12 September 1884)
- Walter Severn collection: Autograph notes about Joseph Severn's marriage and on Walter Severn's career, MS 608 06, ([1884])
- Walter Severn collection: Two versions of an autograph note about a visit to Sir Walter and Lady Hughes, MS 608 07, ([1884])
- Walter Severn collection: Autograph draft of some notes on writing a biography of Joseph Severn, MS 608 08, ([Late 1880])