Early Life, Training and Family Frederick Smallfield was born on 16 October 1829 in the London Borough of Hackney. He grew up in an environment where the visual arts were a shared language. His siblings, Philip and Beatrice Smallfield, also became artists who exhibited their work. This family connection suggests a household shaped by the practicalities of making and showing art. In the late 1840s, Frederick Smallfield entered the Royal Academy Schools to begin his formal training. He spent those years learning the foundations of his craft, focusing on oils and watercolour. His time at the A…