I am hoping that the forum may be able to find more about the early history of Joseph Backler who was an early convict artist. He painted an early photo of my home town in either 1860 or 1878. In the Australian Dictionary of Biography (2005) his entry starts as follows:

"Joseph Backler (1813?-1895), convict artist and portrait painter, was born probably in 1813 in London, son of Joseph Backler, painter on glass, and his wife Jane, née Cowie. Convicted in 1831 for uttering forged cheques, the 18-year-old, who seemed to The Times 'a highly respectable young man', was sentenced to death, later commuted to transportation for life."

I would like to either prove or disprove the above entry. Many thanks. Julie