William Westall - Later Life

Later Life

In 1820, Westall married Ann Sedgwick; they would have four sons, William, Thomas, Richard and Robert. Supporting his family became the prime imperative of Westall's later life, and it is said that he often complained that he had sacrificed the chance of fame and success in order to earn a steady income in illustration.

Westall's health began to decline in the 1840s, and in 1847 he broke his arm. He never recovered from this setback, finding it difficult to continue working. He gave his final exhibition in 1848, and died in January 1850, aged 68. His grave is in the graveyard of St John-at-Hampstead.

In 1899, Westall's sons sold 140 of the original drawings from the voyage of HMS Investigator to the Royal Colonial Institute (later the Royal Commonwealth Society) for 100 guineas. In 1968 they were published as Drawing of William Westall; later that year they were purchased by the National Library of Australia for 38,000 pounds.