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Painters of Wallingford - James Hayllar
  James Hayllar
James Hayllar (1829-1920) was born in Chichester, and after overcoming
family opposition enrolled at Cary's Art School in 1842. In 1851 he travelled
to Italy with Frederic Leighton, where he stayed and worked until 1853. On his
return, Hayllar exhibited literary and historical genre paintings at the Royal
Academy. In 1866 he started a series of hugely popular genre studies of
children. The first of these was Miss Lily's Carriage stops the Way, in
which a child, no more than four years old, has her cloak adjusted before her
first party. This was followed by The First Flirtation and The Return
from the Ball.
After these successes he was proposed as an Associate of the Royal Academy
by William Powell Frith and Eyre Crowe, but he missed election by one vote and
never tried again. Not being part of the Academy circle he withdrew from London
life, and took large houses in the country. In 1865 he submitted pictures to
the Academy from Carlton Rookery, near Saxmundham in Suffolk, and in 1875 he
moved to Castle Priory, Wallingford. He was to live there until after the death
of his wife, and his move to Bournemouth in 1899. According to the painted
legacy of his daughters, Castle Priory was the setting for an exceptionally
happy family life, filled with innumerable children (he had nine himself, but
neighbours and cousins frequently visited) where days were filled with games of
tennis as well as artistic endeavour. The house was to provide his family with
inspiration, and it is interesting to note how few of his daughters painted
after their marriages.
Works by James Hayllar include the following.
 | Miss Lilly's Carriage Stops The Way |
| The First Flirtation |
| The Return from the Ball |
| The Picture Gallery in the Hall, Royal Academy, London |
| The Centre of Attraction, Liverpool |
| Plagues of the Garden |
| Grymm's Dyke, which hangs in the Town Hall Offices, Wallingford.
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| The Welsh Coast, oil sketch |
| The Lunch |
| Happy is the Bride the Sun Shines Upon |
| Feeding the Swans |
 On
the Thames at Basildon (1874), oil on paper.
 Going to School
 Midsummer Evening
 The Thorn
 Waiting for May Day
 Sketch of an old
man
 The Young Gardener
 The Only Daughter, The Forbes Collection,
Old Battersea House, London.
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On
the Thames at Basildon (1874), oil on paper. 
The Only Daughter, The Forbes Collection,
Old Battersea House, London.
Going to School
Midsummer Evening
The Thorn
Waiting for May Day
Sketch of an old
man
The Young Gardener