Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Syme, John (1795-1861)
SYME, JOHN (1795–1861), portrait-painter, nephew of Patrick Syme [q. v.], was born in Edinburgh in 1795, and studied in the Trustees' academy. He became a pupil and assistant of Sir Henry Raeburn [q. v.], whose unfinished works he completed, and subsequently practised with success as a portrait-painter in his native city. Syme was an original member of the Scottish Academy, founded in 1826, and took an active share in its management. He died in Edinburgh on 3 Aug. 1861. Of his many excellent portraits, that of John Barclay, M.D., which was exhibited at the London Royal Academy in 1819, and is now in the Scottish National Gallery, is a good example. It was well engraved in mezzotint by T. Hodgetts, as were also those of John Broster and Andrew McKean. Syme's portrait, by himself, is in the possession of the Royal Scottish Academy.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Scottish Royal Acad. reports; information kindly furnished by James Caw, esq.]