Notable South Australians/E. D. Stocks
E. D. Stocks.
THIS gentleman, though South Australia be not his adopted country, yet, from his late uncle's, Mr. Samuel Stocks, and several other relatives' residence here, as well as his endeavours to forward the intellectual and agricultural interests of the colony, besides his close art connection with the beauties of its natural scenery, is fairly entitled to rank among "Notable South Australians." He was born in Manchester, England, 27th March, 1840, and at an early age came to these colonies. He at first adopted a somewhat desultory, wandering mode of life; but seeing the likely unfruitful issue of this, devoted himself to the work of teaching. As a child he had felt the burnings of the artistic soul within, and at length this capacity stirred in a way not to be resisted. He threw himself entirely into the life of an artist, and at the present time has reached the position of one of the leaders of that profession in the colonies. As a demand is now setting in for his pictures in England, he is likely to take a similar position there. His forte lies among rolling brooks, placid, overshadowed waterholes, or snow-capped mountains, with their precipices or mantling of forest, the trembling beauties of foliage, the variations of atmospheric appearances, and the wonderful realizations of cloudland. In these, with all their multitudinous combinations and effects, he seems "to live, move, and have his being." Wonderful are the effects of his brush already, but the promise is of better things to come. His best known pictures are "Adelaide, from the Torrens Lake;" "The Valley Lakes, Mount Gambier;" "Port Pirie, from the River;" "Port Augusta, from the West;" and a variety of other fine views of scenery in New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania.