The Last of England (c.

1855) by Ford Madox

Brown

The Last of England (c.1855) by Ford Madox Brown. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery,
UK. Source Wikimedia Commons
Here is a painting that takes on a completely different subject matter: the life-changing challenge
of emigrating in search of a better life.

The painting shows a husband and wife sat side by side on the outer deck of a boat. Her pink
scarf is rippling across them, whipped by the sea breeze. The pale-green waves race towards the
side of the boat relentlessly.

They are a family of at least three: husband, wife, and if you look very closely, the suggested
form a child — inside the wife’s shawl — whose hand clutches onto its mother’s between a gap
in the material. These two hands holding each other are echoed in the hands of the husband and
wife clasped nearby.

Detail from ‘The Last of England’ (c.1855) by Ford Madox Brown. Birmingham Museum and
Art Gallery, UK. Source Wikimedia Commons

Painted by the English artist Ford Madox Brown, the image is a record of the fact that 19th
century Britain had one of the highest rates of emigration of all European countries. People were
travelling to the colonial territories of the British Empire. Many of those leaving were farmers,
labourers and craftsmen from traditional trades; many emigrated in family groups.

Every detail of their long voyage is painted in crisp detail. I especially like the row of cabbages
that hang from the rope around the edge of the ship’s deck.
It is through these graphic details that the viewer can further empathise with the family’s
experiences, and in doing so, turn the work from a comment on social classes into a distinctively
vivid image of fear and hope, regret and perseverance.