Life

Neale's earliest works were drawings of insects. While in search of specimens in Hornsey Wood in the spring of 1796, Neale met John Varley

John Varley (painter)

John Varley was an English watercolour painter and astrologer, and a close friend of William Blake. They collaborated in 1819–1820 on the book Visionary Heads, written by Varley and illustrated by Blake...

 the water-colour painter. Together they projected a work to be entitled ‘The Picturesque Cabinet of Nature,’ for which Varley was to make the landscape drawings, and Neale was to etch and colour the plates. No. 1 was published on 1 September 1796, but no more appeared. He was a clerk in the General Post Office

General Post Office

General Post Office is the name of the British postal system from 1660 until 1969.General Post Office may also refer to:* General Post Office, Perth* General Post Office, Sydney* General Post Office, Melbourne* General Post Office, Brisbane...

, but eventually resigned his appointment to devote his time to art. Neale died at Tattingstone

Tattingstone

Tattingstone is a village in Babergh district in Suffolk, about south of Ipswich with a population over 500. It is the location of Tattingstone Place and also of the folly known as the Tattingstone Wonder...

, near Ipswich, aged 67, on 14 November 1847.

Works

In 1797 Neale exhibited at the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

 two drawings of insects, and sent others in 1799, 1801, and 1803. In 1804 he sent to the Royal Academy a drawing of the ‘Custom House, Dover,’ and continued to exhibit topographical drawings and landscapes until 1844. He contributed also to the exhibitions of the Society of Painters in Oil and Water Colours in 1817 and 1818, and from time to time to those of the British Institution

British Institution

The British Institution was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it was also known as the Pall Mall Picture Galleries or the British Gallery...

 and of the Society of British Artists.

Some of his works were in oil-colours; but he is best known for his architectural drawings, which are executed in pen and tinted with water-colours. In 1816 he began the publication of the ‘History and Antiquities of the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster,’ which was completed in 1823, in two quarto volumes, with descriptive text by Edward Wedlake Brayley

Edward Wedlake Brayley

Edward Wedlake Brayley was an English antiquary and topographer.He was born at Lambeth, London. He was apprenticed to the enamelling trade, but developed an early interest in literature. His close friendship with John Britton lasted for sixty-five years...

. He next began, in 1818, his ‘Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland,’ of which the first series, in six volumes, was completed in 1824. The second series, in five volumes, was published between 1824 and 1829, and the entire work comprised 732 plates.

He also in 1824–5 undertook, in collaboration with John Le Keux, the engraver, the publication of ‘Views of the most interesting Collegiate and Parochial Churches in Great Britain,’ but the work was discontinued after the issue of the second volume. Besides these works he published ‘Six Views of Blenheim, Oxfordshire,’ 1823; ‘Graphical Illustrations of Fonthill Abbey,’ 1824; and ‘An Account of the Deep-Dene in Surrey, the seat of Thomas Hope, Esq.,’ 1826. Many other works contain his pen and pencil illustrations.