Victor Charles Ames

Born in Chelsea on 26 March 1859, he was one of the younger sons of Lieutenant-Colonel Lionel Ames (1809-1873) of The Hyde, East Hyde, near Luton, Bedfordshire. His mother was Augusta Percy Ames (née Wilson), daughter of Colonel Sir John Morillyon Wilson, C.B.

Victor Ames painted watercolours in Florence, and worked in Venice. His work appears to have been influenced by James Whistler, whom he may have met in the 1880s. He exhibited work at the Manchester Fine Arts Exhibition in 1898. In 1911 he exhibited watercolours of Constantinople and Greece at the Dudley Gallery, 169 Piccadilly, London. According to a review in the Times (11 May 1911): 'The smaller the better with Mr Victor Ames. Some of these tiny drawings, in their faint, exquisitely modulated colours, tell one more of the spirit of their subjects than many a large and elaborated catalogue-painting. Inspired by strongly personal vision and touched with the deftest of hands, they allure and baffle, and make one eager and content at the same moment. Models of gates designed for Sandringham are here also, to remind one of Mr Ames's art work in another field.'

On 1 June 1913 he married Violet Emily, only daughter of Arundel Berkeley Napier of Bath. The couple lived at Thornham near King's Lynn in Norfolk and had at least two children, Victor Maurice Gerard Ames and Felicia Joan Ames.

Victor Charles Ames died, aged 75, at Docking in Norfolk on 8 November 1934. He left an estate valued at £16,317.

From an album compiled by the sitter's mother, Augusta Ames (1825-1902), wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Lionel Ames.

Photographed by Camille Silvy of London on 13 June 1862.