The Artist

Detail from a painting by Harry Payne of the 1888 review by HRH The Duke of Cambridge in Mote Park

Harry appears in his own paintings. His distinctive bearing, hooked nose, and luxuriant moustache are, for example, clearly visible in the front rank of the WKY in the painting of the Mote Park Review of 1888.

He and his wife Susanna lived in Brixton and then in Catford, where he kept his horse, Kitty, in livery at the “Two Brewers” inn.

Harry received the Imperial Yeomanry Long Service Medal and retired from the WKY in 1906 after 23 years’ service. He continued work as an artist until after the Great War, finally dying of influenza on 23 March 1927.

He had no children but his widow, Susanna, lived until 1953. She was bombed out during the Second World War when most family possessions were destroyed.