Silvester Diggles b. 1817 Liverpool, England, UK

  • Artist (Photographer) , (Painter)
Regardless of whether he was painting a seashore scene on a mutton shoulder-blade, or showing his special skill in life-like and accurate natural history illustrations, Diggles' outstanding artistic achievement was the completion of 325 pencil and watercolour plates illustrating 600 birds for the impressive tome, 'Ornithology of Australia.'
Talk | Version history | Updated Oct. 19, 2011 | Created Jan. 1, 1992
Name
Silvester Diggles
Birth date
24 January 1817
Birth place
Liverpool, England, UK
Death date
21 March 1880
Death place
Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, Qld
Gender
Male
Roles
  • Artist (Photographer)
  • Artist (Painter)
Residence
  • 1854- 1880 Brisbane, QLD (Moreton Bay, New South Wales (1854/1859) )
Other Occupation
  • Art and music teacher
  • Piano-tuner
  • Naturalist
Arrival
  • November 1853
Active Period
  • 1865- 1870
  • 1869- 1870
Languages
  • English
Is Indigenous
No
Initial Record Data Source
  • The Dictionary of Australian Artists: painters, sketchers, photographers and engravers to 1870

painter, professional photographer, musician and naturalist, was born on 24 January 1817, eldest son of Edward Holt Diggles, an ironmonger of Liverpool, England, and Elizabeth, née Silvester.

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Writers:
Staff Writer
Date written:
1992
Last updated:
2011
relative of
Rowena Birkett
1860
Artist (Painter)
associate of
H. G. Eaton
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
relative of
John Bradley
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
child of
Edward Holt Diggles
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
spouse of
née Bradley Eliza Diggles
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
spouse of
née Birkett Albina Diggles
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
child of
née Silvester Elizabeth Diggles
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Rowena Birkett
1860
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Henry Green Eaton
1818
Artist (Printmaker)
associate of
Queensland Philosophical Society
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
Crossing Place, Coal Falls near Ipswich
Companion to Gould's Handbook; or, Synopsis of the Birds of Australia (book)
Date
1877
self-published
Ornithology of Australia (book)
Date
1866
325 pencil and watercolour plates illustrating 600 birds.
Collections
Melbourne International Exhibition
1880- 1881
Exhibition ()
Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Vic
Recognitions
first-class certificate
Award
Melbourne International Exhibition, 1880
merit award
Award
Brisbane School of Arts, 1873
Citations:
  • (June 1965), 'Notes on Diggles' "Ornithology of Australia"', (Place: Queensland Naturalist)
  • (July 1963), 'Silvester Diggles - a Queensland naturalist one hundred years ago', (Place: Queensland Naturalist 17)
  • Diggles, S., 'Letter Book 1871/1877', (Place: National Library of Australia ms 1551)
  • Fisher, R., (12 March 1986), '"Through a glass darkly": Photographers and their role in the Moreton Bay region before 1860', (Place: Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland)
  • Burmester, C.A., (1974), National Library of Australia: Guide to the Collections, (Place: Canberra)
  • Marks, E., (1972), 'Silvester Diggles', (Place: Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol 4, ed. D. Pike, A. Shaw, M. Clark, B. Nairn, G. Serle and R. Ward, Melbourne, Victoria)