Presteigne
Important local Victorians
  Joseph Murray Ince (1806-1859)  
  Joseph Murray Ince was a successful artist, best known for his watercolour landscapes.
He was born in London in April 1806 but moved with his parents to the Presteigne area in early childhood, and is believed to have attended John Beddoes Free Grammar School when it was still on its original site opposite the church.
After receiving some private tution in Hereford he moved to London for further training in 1826.
 
  He returned to Presteigne in 1830 and became a successful landscape painter. He also needed premises in London as he needed to be near the galleries and wealthy people who could buy his work.
He painted landscapes and country houses, and produced a series of pictures on the colleges of Cambridge University.
The picture (right) is one he painted of Brecon in 1850. The peak of Pen-y-fan can be seen in the background.
Picture of Brecon
 

His Presteigne home was the house called Roseland (right) in Broad Street, which today carries a blue plaque in his honour. It must have had sad memories for him in later life. He married in 1834 but his wife Sarah died shortly after childbirth in the following year. This was common in Victorian times.
Joseph Murray Ince died in London in 1859 at the age of 53.
There is a memorial to the artist in Presteigne parish church.

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