William Quiller Orchardson trained at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh and while not attending classes, spent time sketching views of the city and the surrounding area, including Arthur's Seat, the Pentland Hills and the East Lothian coast. He also travelled to Arbroath and to the Shetland Islands. Various sketches in this group, dated 1847 and 1848, have been identified as sites in and around the Arbroath area.

Orchardson's daughter Hilda later wrote a biography of the artist, in which she noted that at 'about the age of fifteen or sixteen he went for a holiday in Arbroath staying with aunts'. She describes how he met an old sea captain in the town with whom the young Orchardson went fishing, adding that they 'returned, steering by the rose window in Arbroath Abbey (like the professional fishers)'. The dates on the drawings suggest that he spent two summers in this area.

All objects in this group