Gilks, Edward (1822 - 1897)

Summary

Edward Gilks was a lithographer who, before coming to Victoria in 1853, taught art privately and at the City of London Mechanics Institute. On arrival in Melbourne, he and his wife quickly immersed themselves in the local artistic community: they attended the first meeting of the Victorian Fine Arts Society. Gilks was best known for his lithographs, engravings and drawings of significant buildings and events in Melbourne. For three years from 1855 he was a lithographic draftsman with the Victorian Department of Crown Lands. Resigning in 1858 to establish his own business, he found it difficult to make a living. After several proceedings for bankruptcy he returned to the United Kingdom in 1869. Between 1861 and 1863 Gilks was commissioned to produce lithographs for the Prodromus of the zoology of Victoria (1885 - 1890), being prepared by Frederick McCoy, Professor of Natural History at the University of Melbourne. Gilks's plates included the only snake in the volume, the Red-bellied Black Snake, and Bryozoa illustrated by Paul McGillivray.

Details

Chronology

1853

Life event - Migrated to Victoria

1854

Award - Won prize for lithography, Melbourne Exhibition

1855 - 1858

Career position - Lithographic draftsman, Victorian Surveyor General's Department (later Department of Crown Lands and Survey)

1858

Career event - Established his own business in Melbourne

1869

Life event - Returned to the United Kingdom

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• McCoy, Frederick, Prodromus of the zoology of Victoria, or, figures and descriptions of the living species of all classes of the Victorian indigenous animals, 2 vols (Melbourne: Government Printer, 1885-1890). Details

Resources

• Museums Victoria, McCoy's zoology of Victoria: the artists, Museum Victoria, Carlton, 2026, https://museumsvictoria.com.au/discover/websites/caughtandcoloured/mccoys-zoology-of-victoria/the-artists/. Details