Samuel Jackson (1794-1869) Samuel Jackson was born in Bristol and remained here throughout his life, becoming in middle-age something of an elder statesmen of the arts in the city. He appears to have been a steady anchoring influence in the sketching group, and supplemented his earnings from painting with work as a drawing master. He was involved in the organisation of the first exhibition of the work of Bristol artists at the Bristol Institution in 1824-25, and in 1832 was the most important artist involved in the new Bristol Society of Artists.

Jackson was primarily a watercolour artist although he also worked in oils. His earliest work was his best using clear colour and fluent washes. He also made Romantic sepia wash drawings. He was an Associate of the Old Water-Colour Society in London and exhibited several large watercolours of imaginary landscapes there. The Bristol antiquarian G. W. Braikenridge collected his work and commissioned topographical drawings from him in the 1820s. Jackson travelled in Europe later in life, visiting Switzerland in 1853 and 1858. His son, Samuel Phillips Jackson (1830-1904) was also a successful watercolour painter.