Robert Elwes (painter)

Robert Elwes (1819–1878) was a British Victorian traveller, painter and the author of A Sketcher's Tour Round the World illustrated by engravings from his own works which he published from his home at Congham, Norfolk in 1853.

Elwes was the second son of Henry Elwes of Colesbourne in Gloucestershire. His mother, Susan Hamond of Westacre, Norfolk brought as her dowry the estate of Congham, eight miles from King's Lynn. It was here that Robert Elwes and his wife settled, building Congham House in the late 1850s. Today only one wing remains following the disastrous fire of November 1939. The fire has meant the loss of much valuable material relating to the Elwes family, but the surviving work of Robert Elwes, paintings and journals provide an insight into the life of this Victorian country gentleman, exceptional not only for the extent of his travels, but also for the meticulousness of his artistic and literary records.

Robert Elwes travelled extensively in his twenties and thirties, but in 1848 he embarked on a journey that was to take him round the world. Robert Elwes, aged 28, left England on 20 March 1848 on board the Eclipse. This voyage around the world took two years and three months, sailing on 10 different ships. He painted and sketched many scenes on his journey. He arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil having crossed the Atlantic from Tenerife in 30 days. He explored a little of Brazil and then sailed to Buenos Aires, Argentina. He crossed the Pampas on horseback, a journey of 1,000 miles, crossing the Andes by mule and up the Pacific coast to Lima. He sailed across the Pacific to Honolulu and Tahiti and was shipwrecked off Tasmania in September 1849. Rescued by sealers and taken to Hobart with a cargo of 500 sheep, he then traveled overland across Tasmania to Launceston where he sailed (nervously) for Australia.

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