George Brettingham Sowerby

George Brettingham Sowerby jnr (1788 - 1854) was part of a remarkable family of natural history illustrators. His grandfather James was a botanical illustrator par excellence. His three sons all followed in his footsteps, as did three grandsons and one great-grandson. George Brettingham jnr. took over the mantle of conchologist from his father, and in time passed it on to his son of the same name. He produced a large body of work, including an impressive amount of work on shells which took three generations of Sowerbys over forty-five years to complete.