Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Thomas Meehan

Thomas Meehan

Thomas Meehan by John Carmichael, 1828

Watercolour on paperboard

P2 / 548


This is the only known formal portrait by John Carmichael. Carmichael, who described himself as ‘deaf and dumb’, was trained as an engraver — considered a suitable occupation for deaf people — in Edinburgh. He emigrated to Sydney on his own, with no family and only his profession to support him, in 1825. Advertising himself as an ‘engraver and copperplate printer’, he seems to have found work quickly. Considered one of the best engravers in Sydney, his skills supported him and his eight children, until his death in 1857. 


Carmichael’s talents are perhaps most evident in his work on Sir Thomas Mitchell’s ‘Map of the Nineteen Counties’ of 1834, but his many designs for local bill heads and advertisements are his most visible legacy.


The only known formal portrait by John Carmichael came from Meehan family descendants.