George Baxter

George Baxter (1804-67) was a colour printer from Lewes, Sussex, the son of John Baxter (1781-1858), printer and bookseller. The younger Baxter was closely affiliated with the Nonconformist missionary societies in the 1830s and ’40s, but it is unclear if he was a dissenter himself. In 1825 he moved to London to seek work as an engraver, and settled in Islington in 1827. He would become famous for perfecting colour printing, receiving a royal patent in 1836. For more than 25 years he dominated colour printing, supposedly producing some 20 million prints before he ended his career. His best work was done in collaboration with the London Missionary Society (1837-43) and the Baptist Missionary Society (1844-5) and the Wesleyan Missionary Society; some of these prints being of massacred missionaries.  He was elected a member of the Royal Society of Arts in 1855. Unfortunately, by 1865 he was declared bankrupt, largely due to competition from photography. He retired to Sydenham, London, and died there in 1867.