Oakley was born in Bermondsey, London on the 27th April 1800.
Initially he worked for a Leeds textile company. He developed into a specialist of portraits in watercolour and was given commissions by the Duke of Devonshire.
Whilst living in Derby where he painted rustic scenes until he moved to Leamington Spa in Warwickshire in 1836. He returned to London in the 1840s and worked there until his death, producing paintings of street scenes and gypsies and their lifestyle.[2]
His emphasis on gypsy paintings which he exhibited at the Royal Watercolour Society earned him the name 'Gypsy Oakley'.
Oakley met Thomas Baker in Leamington Spa, where Baker was living and working and in 1841 did a portrait of the celebrated painter, who was an important figure in the Midlands and Birmingham art world.[3] His youngest daughter, Isabel Naftel was also an artist.[4]
He died at his home, 7 Chepstow Villas, Kensington, on the 1st March 1867 and was buried in a family grave (no.14459) on the western side of Highgate Cemetery.
Gallery
Country Family of Emigrants, watercolour
Portrait of a gypsy woman, watercolour on paper, 31 x 25 cm, oval format
Portrait of Benjamin Gibbons, son of John Gibbons(1777-1851), with a view of Eton College Beyond, Watercolour, 16 1/2 X 11 1/4 inches (36.8 x 28.6 cm)
^HCG Matthew & Brian Harrison (Editors) (2004). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Vol 40 (Murrell-Nooth). Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-861390-3. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
