Robert Field

(1769-1819)

Robert Field is among the most distinguished of the portrait painters who have lived and worked in Canada. He was born in London, England, and educated at the Royal Academy Schools in London, graduating in 1790. In 1794, he moved to the United States; first to Baltimore, and then to Philadelphia, the nation’s first capital. He quickly became one of the leading portrait painters and was a founding member of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1795. While in Philadelphia he produced a number of portraits of Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

With rising tensions between America and Britain, Field moved to Halifax in 1808. At that time, Halifax was Britain’s most important military and naval base in North America and was home to the second largest garrison in the British Empire (after Gibraltar). Halifax provided a good potential market for a portrait painter. While in Halifax, Field painted portraits of most of the important government officials, military officers, merchants and assorted members of the Halifax gentry including Bishop Charles Inglis, and former lieutenant governors Sir John Wentworth, Sir George Prevost, Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, and Admiral Wallis among others.

Michael Wallace was an important figure in early Nova Scotia history. He was born in Scotland and started as a merchant in Glasgow. In 1771 he emigrated to Virgina, but lost all his property in the American Revolution. In 1779, Wallace moved to Halifax where he established a retail and wholesale merchant business importing goods from Britain. He received a number of patronage appointments and supply contracts with the military. In 1802, he was appointed a senior member of the Nova Scotia Council resulting in his taking over the administration of the province during the lieutenant governor’s absences. He also served in the vice admiralty court and was surveyor general of the King’s woods. Wallace died in Halifax in 1831. Port Wallace is named after him.