(1885 – 1971)

Charles Walter Simpson, a friend of John Ruskin, was born in Camberley in Surrey and wanted to pursue a career in the army but an unfortunate riding accident prevented it.

He went to Paris to the renowned Académie Julian, where his talents were immediately recognised and he was exhibited at the Paris Salon. In 1914 he was elected to the Royal Institute of Painters in watercolours and shortly afterwards, won a gold medal at the Panama International Exposition in San Francisco. He married Ruth Alison, a noted portrait painter and they moved to St Ives in Cornwall.