Feature Article
John Michael Skipper (1815–1883)
John Michael Skipper (1815-1883), artist and solicitor, was born on 12 July 1815 at Norwich, Norfolk, England, eldest son of John Skipper, solicitor, and his wife Jane, sister of James Stark, a member of the Norwich school of landscape painting. Educated at Norwich Grammar School where he did well at classics and modern languages, he was intended for the law but was more interested in art in which he was encouraged by his uncle. In 1833 he abandoned his studies to become a midshipman in the East...