 | William Buelow Gould was born in Liverpool in 1803. He had experience as a painter in the Staffordshire potteries in the 1820s; his convict records describe him as a portrait painter. Convicted of theft in Northampton in 1827 and transported to Van Diemen's Land, he arrived in December of that year, thus becoming one of the first artists to live and practice in Tasmania. His considerable output included portraits, still lifes and landscapes. But his most notable and disciplined work is in the natural history studies which he did while in confinement following further convictions. |
 | Gould's records are found in the volumes of the Tasmanian Convict Department. They provide ample and striking evidence of his turbulent character and life experiences. He finally achieved freedom in November 1848, but died five years later in 1853. In 1832 Gould was sent to the convict settlement at Sarah Island, in Macquarie Harbour (on the west coast of Tasmania) where he was assigned to the resident medical officer, Dr William de Little. At de Little's instruction, Gould worked on his sketches of fishes as well as many botanical studies. The creation of these works offers powerful evidence that artistic and scientific pursuits could exist in such a grim and hostile environment. |
 | The Sketchbook is unique both as a representation of Gould's work and in its primacy as the first substantial body of accurate depictions of the marine life of Tasmania. The images are of continuing interest to scientists and environmentalists. The Sketchbook also inspired Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan to write his widely-acclaimed novel Gould's book of fish, published in 2001. |
