John Eyre

John Eyre was born in Coventry, England, in 1771. Although the son of a wool comber and weaver, it is thought that Eyre likely also studied drawing whilst in Coventry as later works by him show a precision and competence of a professional.

In March 1799 Eyre was convicted of house breaking and sentenced to seven years’ transportation to Sydney. He arrived aboard the CANADA in December 1801 and was granted conditional pardon in 1804. On release Eyre took up painting and in 1807 is recorded as having been commissioned by Governor William Bligh to combine the three charts of Port Dalrymple (now Launceston) into one.

Although he did not seemingly find fame or outstanding financial security before he left Australia in around 1812, Eyre was moderately successful in producing a number of views of early Sydney published by David Dickenson Mann in 1811. In 1813, and again in 1814, other engravings based on Eyre's work were published by Absalom West in 'Views of New South Wales’.