Ralph Hedley R.B.A. (1848 - 1913). Newcastle genre painter who worked in both oil and watercolour. He was also a wood carver, illustrator and sculptor. Born in Gilling West near Richmond, NorthYorkshire in 1848 he studied at the Newcastle School of Art. Later he became the President of the Berwick Club, and Northumbrian Art Institute, as well as a Member of the Society of British Artists. The subjects of his paintings are usually scenes of the working lives of ordinary people, from labourers and sailors through to children and veterans, in his native North East, beautifully observed and well executed. Hedley exhibited at the Society of British Artists as well as the Royal Academy from 1879 and elsewhere. His works can be seen in the Sunderland and in the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle.