The Gaol and Courthouse, London, Canada West, (c. 1841), watercolour on paper, 15.7 x 24.2 cm., Art Fund, 1948 Indians in a Canoe near Port Stanley, Canada, West, (c. 1841), watercolour on paper, 16.5 x 24.1 cm., Art Fund, 1948 Port Stanley, Canada West, (c. 1841), watercolour on paper, 17.6 x 24.8 cm., Art Fund, 1948 Bridge near Port Stanley, Canada West, (c.1841), watercolour on paper, 16.5 x 24.1 cm., Art Fund, 1948 George Russell Dartnell (British: 1799/1800-1878) was born at Limerick, Ireland and died at Leamington, England. He was trained as a medical apprentice in Cork, Ireland and eventually joined the British Army receiving his diploma as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1822. His early postings were to the Mediterranean, India, Ceylon and Burma. Dartnell served in the Canadas from 1835 to 1843 and lived in London with his family from 1840 to 1843. He returned to Britain where he rose to be Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals until his military retirement on half-pay in 1857. Later he owned and operated Arden House Private Lunatic Asylum at Henley-in-Arden finally retiring to Leamington Spa in 1876. Little is known regarding his art training. It was probably acquired during medical and military studies in Ireland and England. Dartnell's style was typical of the military topographers and faithfully recorded various travels and home environments throughout his many postings. He painted mainly in watercolour depicting landscapes with a genre element in the then popular picturesque and sublime modes. Occasionally, some portraits were done to record native sitters. After his return to England, he exhibited at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. (Biography)