James Finucane Draper was born in Guernsey in 1836 and had moved to Jersey by the time he was 24. He lived at a number of addresses in St Helier, including 35 Belmont Road, 11 Don Road, 55 Bath Street, 13 Duhamel Place, 9 David Place and 2 St Mark's Villas. He was a talented watercolour painter and a caricaturist. Some of these works were published. He was also a playwright and several of his plays were performed at the Theatre Royal, Don Road and the Royal Hall in Peter Street. By 1869 he had acquired a studio at the Masonic Temple, Stopford Road, but he was to die only seven years later aged only 41 in 1876. He is best known for his watercolours of Channel Island scenes, but they are comparatively rare. He taught his nephew, Charles Draper, who was also born in Guernsey.
Collections of his work are held by the Jersey Heritage Trust and the Guernsey Museum and Art Gallery, but we have only been able to find three, shown on this page, online.
Stormy sea off Jersey
Mont Orgueil
