Havell family

The Havell family was a wide English artistic and intellectual family whose best-documented branches originated in Reading, Berkshire. Across several generations, its members worked as engravers, aquatint specialists, painters, drawing teachers, print publishers, writers, educators, musicians, and art administrators. The family became particularly associated with the production of finely coloured aquatint prints, a technically demanding form of printmaking that could reproduce tonal effects and painterly surfaces more effectively than ordinary line engraving. The family’s early prominence is linked to Luke Havell, a Reading drawing master and painter, and to his brother Robert Havell the Elder, who operated an engraving and printing business in London. Luke’s descendants included artists such as William Havell and Edmund Havell, while his wider family network produced several painters, engravers, teachers, writers, and musicians. The family’s activities were not confined to a single commercial enterprise; rather, the name represented a network of related practitioners working in Britain and, later, in India, the United States, and other parts of the British imperial and cultural world. Luke Havell was born in 1752 and was apprenticed as a young man to the Reading signwriter Ayliffe Cole after a local patron recognised his artistic ability. He later became drawing master at Reading Grammar School and maintained a small print shop. His professional and family influence helped establish the artistic environment from which later Havell careers emerged. His children included William Havell, a landscape painter who travelled and worked in Asia and Italy, and Edmund Havell, who continued the family’s educational and artistic connections in Reading. Robert Havell the Elder developed the family’s strongest early publishing and printmaking association. By the beginning of the nineteenth century he was established in London, and his firm became known for engraving, aquatint, colouring, and the sale of natural-history artefacts. The business operated as Havell and Son from 1818 to 1825. Its most important commission came from the American naturalist and artist John James Audubon. Robert Havell the Elder supervised the printing and colouring of Audubon’s large-scale Birds of America project, while his son Robert Havell Jr. engraved nearly all of the plates after the first ten. Their collaboration helped turn Audubon’s drawings into one of the most significant natural-history publications of the nineteenth century. Robert Havell Jr. later moved to the United States, where he continued working in aquatint and engraving while devoting increasing attention to landscape painting. He became associated with the Hudson River School and painted extensively around the Hudson River valley. His career illustrates the family’s transition from London print production to international artistic exchange. Other members extended the family’s connection with illustrated publishing. Daniel Havell, a relative from another branch, worked with Robert Havell in the production of aquatints and later supplied illustrations for publishers including Rudolph Ackermann. His work included views of Saint Helena, the River Thames, schools, London landmarks, theatres, naval engagements, Devon, and North Wales. Later descendants included Edmund Havell Jr., a portrait and genre painter who was associated with official portraiture, and Ernest Binfield Havell, an art writer and educator whose work in India had a major influence on the development of modern Indian art education. Ernest Binfield Havell served as superintendent of government art schools in Madras and Calcutta. Working with Abanindranath Tagore, he helped establish and promote what became known as the Bengal School of Art, which sought alternatives to the academic conventions imposed by colonial art education. Other family members contributed to classical scholarship, music teaching, photography experiments, heraldic painting, military service, and corporate administration. The Havell family is therefore best understood not as a single surviving brand or company, but as a historically connected group whose members participated in several important cultural institutions and artistic movements.

The Havell family’s documented history begins in Reading, Berkshire, where Luke Havell established himself as a drawing teacher, painter, and small-scale print-shop proprietor. Born in 1752, Luke was originally expected to work as a farmhand, but a local squire recognised his artistic ability and arranged an apprenticeship with the signwriter Ayliffe Cole. After completing that training, Luke became drawing master at Reading Grammar School during the headmastership of Richard Valpy. His position placed him within an educational and artistic community, while his print shop gave him a practical connection to the production and circulation of images. Luke married Charlotte Phillips in 1778. Their fourteen children and subsequent descendants formed the principal network through which the Havell name became associated with the arts. William Havell became a landscape painter in watercolours and oils, exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy and travelling through China, India, Ceylon, and Italy. Edmund Havell combined teaching and painting, and later generations included portraitists, genre painters, lithographers, engravers, musicians, writers, and educators. The family’s professional diversity reflected the expanding nineteenth-century market for art instruction, illustrated books, prints, landscape imagery, and cultural scholarship. Luke’s brother Robert Havell the Elder developed a particularly influential London career. By 1801 he was established at Chapel Street near Tottenham Court Road and was describing himself professionally as an artist. His business later operated under the name Havell and Son. It specialised in engraving, aquatint, colouring, and related commercial activities, including natural-history artefacts. In 1824 Robert moved to Newman Street after his son’s marriage. The location brought him into contact with John James Audubon, who sought a highly capable engraver for the large portfolio that became Birds of America. The Audubon commission reunited Robert Havell the Elder with his son Robert Havell Jr., who had previously separated from his father while attempting to pursue an independent artistic career. Robert Jr. engraved all but the first ten plates, while his father supervised printing and colouring. The project required sustained technical control over large images and helped establish the younger Havell as a major figure in American and British print history. Robert the Elder retired from active involvement in 1828 and died in London in 1832. Robert Havell Jr. emigrated to the United States in 1839 at Audubon’s invitation. After periods in Brooklyn and elsewhere, he settled in Ossining and later Tarrytown, New York. He continued to produce engravings and city panoramas but increasingly focused on landscape painting. His repeated journeys through the Hudson River valley, including travel in a homemade horse-drawn trailer, supplied material for oil paintings and connected him with the Hudson River School. Daniel Havell, whose precise relationship to the other branches was historically misreported in some older sources, was the son of Thomas Havell. He formed an engraving partnership with Robert Havell and worked on illustrated series including views of Saint Helena and the River Thames. After the partnership ended, Daniel supplied aquatints and other plates for Rudolph Ackermann’s publishing projects. His output included educational institutions, London buildings, theatres, naval subjects, and British landscapes. He died in 1822. The family’s later history extended beyond British printmaking. Edmund Havell Jr. became a painter of portraits and genre scenes and was associated with official portraiture. Ernest Binfield Havell became an influential writer and administrator in the field of Indian art. As superintendent of government art schools in Madras and Calcutta, he challenged the dominance of imported academic models and worked with Abanindranath Tagore to develop the Bengal School of Art. Other descendants pursued classical writing, music education, photography, heraldic painting, military service, and business administration. Taken together, the family’s history illustrates the movement of artistic skills across workshops, schools, publishers, museums, imperial institutions, and transatlantic networks. Its importance rests on the contributions of individual members rather than on a continuing corporate organisation. The strongest common threads are aquatint and illustrated publishing, landscape and topographical art, art education, and engagement between British and Indian artistic traditions.

• 1914

  Posthumous publication of Republican Rome

  [1]Havell familyen.wikipedia.org

  Herbert Lord Havell’s classical work Republican Rome was published after his death.

• 1839

  Robert Havell Jr. moves to the United States

  [1]Havell familyen.wikipedia.org

  At Audubon’s invitation, Robert Havell Jr. relocated to America and began the phase of his career focused increasingly on Hudson River landscape painting.

• 1828

  Robert Havell the Elder retires

  [1]Havell familyen.wikipedia.org

  Robert Havell the Elder retired from the active partnership after supervising the early production of Audubon’s plates.

• 1827

  Audubon approaches Robert Havell

  [1]Havell familyen.wikipedia.org

  John James Audubon asked Robert Havell the Elder to engrave a major portfolio of his American bird drawings, leading to the family’s most celebrated printmaking collaboration.

• 1818

  The business becomes known as Havell and Son

  [1]Havell familyen.wikipedia.org

  Robert Havell the Elder’s enterprise used the Havell and Son name during a period of growing recognition for its aquatint engraving and colouring.

• 1812

  Publication of River Thames views

  [1]Havell familyen.wikipedia.org

  The family’s printmaking network produced Twelve Picturesque Views of the River Thames from watercolours by William Havell.

• 1809

  Publication of Saint Helena aquatints

  [1]Havell familyen.wikipedia.org

  Daniel Havell and Robert Havell were associated with the publication of Twenty Four Views Taken in St. Helena after pictures by Henry Salt.

• 1801

  Robert Havell the Elder establishes his London business

  [1]Havell familyen.wikipedia.org

  Robert Havell was established at Chapel Street near Tottenham Court Road, operating as an artist and print producer.

• 1778

  Luke Havell marries Charlotte Phillips

  [1]Havell familyen.wikipedia.org

  The marriage helped establish the immediate family line from which several later artists, teachers, and cultural figures emerged.

• 1762

  Luke Havell begins artistic apprenticeship

  [1]Havell familyen.wikipedia.org

  Luke Havell was apprenticed to the Reading signwriter Ayliffe Cole after a local patron recognised his artistic ability.

A historically notable English artistic family associated with high-quality aquatint printmaking, illustrated publishing, landscape painting, art education, and cross-cultural engagement with Indian art.

• Natural-history engraving · 1827

  Birds of America plates

  Robert Havell Jr. engraved all but the first ten plates for John James Audubon's Birds of America, while Robert Havell the Elder supervised printing and hand colouring. The plates combined detailed natural-history observation with sophisticated aquatint and engraving techniques. Their contribution is regarded as central to the visual and material success of the publication and remains the most prominent example of the family’s printmaking legacy.

• Illustrated aquatint series · 1809

  Twenty Four Views Taken in St. Helena

  This series of views was produced after pictures by Henry Salt and was associated with the collaboration between Daniel Havell and Robert Havell. It exemplifies the family’s involvement in early nineteenth-century illustrated travel and topographical publishing, where aquatint allowed landscapes and buildings to be reproduced with tonal depth and hand-coloured visual appeal.

• Topographical print series · 1812

  Twelve Picturesque Views of the River Thames

  The series presented views based on watercolours by William Havell. It belongs to the tradition of picturesque landscape publishing that circulated attractive, geographically identifiable scenes to a broad nineteenth-century audience. The work demonstrates how the Havell family connected original landscape painting with commercially distributed engraved images.

• Book and periodical illustration · 1815

  Ackermann illustrated views

  Daniel Havell supplied plates for Rudolph Ackermann’s publications, including histories of Cambridge and public schools such as Eton, Winchester, and Rugby. He also produced views of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London theatres, naval engagements, and British landscapes. These projects show the family’s role in the commercial ecosystem of illustrated books and cultural reference works.

• Art criticism and education

  Writings on Indian art

  Ernest Binfield Havell wrote and administered in the field of Indian art, advocating greater recognition of Indian artistic traditions within colonial education. His institutional work in Madras and Calcutta, and his collaboration with Abanindranath Tagore, helped shape the intellectual and educational environment associated with the Bengal School of Art.

1. 1Havell familyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2The Havell family entry and related artist referencesartnet.com
3. 3A Handbook to Agra and the Taj by E. B. Havellgutenberg.org