in the United Kingdom (also known as the British Gallery) in Pall Mall, London. While some of the London press commented on Parker's ‘uncultivated style’, it was also seen as being ‘a remarkable picture’ that ‘reminds us of that master of the satirical art, Hogarth'. Parker’s painting had put Newcastle and its corporation on the map, and it was purchased by the mayor and the corporation for 100 guineas. Parker and Thomas Miles Richardson formed a close friendship, and in response to the absence of public exhibiting space in Newcastle they planned an annual art exhibition. Drawing from their experience of London exhibiting organisations, it was to be called the Northumberland Institution for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, and in September 1882 the first exhibition was held, in Richardson’s modest studios at Brunswick Place. A committee ‘consisting of twenty artists and connoisseurs’ was established, with Richardson as treasurer and Parker as secretary. One of the ‘connoisseurs’ on the committee was the local naturalist Henry Hewitson, and he commissioned Parker to paint a picture of Hewitson's circle on an expedition, known as The Cullercoats Party. The attractive seaside setting and identifiable documentary details make the work characteristics of Parker's now mature style. Broadening His Appeal While paintings of local subjects had considerable appeal, there was a danger of such work being considered too parochial. Parker turned to the novels of Walter Scott for inspiration for dramatic incidents. Davie Deans Rejecting the Advice of Saddletree and Butler, drawn from Scott's Heart of Midlothian (first published 1818), was exhibited at the British Institution in 1823, from where it was purchased. Who’s Turn Next? or Vacant Chair, a whimsical work ‘in the style and manner of Wilkie’, was exhibited at Royal Academy in 1824 – and bought by Brandling. Comparisons with Wilkie were also made in relation to The Village Raffle, exhibited the following year at the British Institution (where purchased by Hewitson). With an expanding family, Parker's livelihood came from portraiture – human and animal. A dog's head was painted ‘the exact size of life’; short-horned cattle he depicted had won prizes at the Wooler Fair; Whiskey was a favourite pony of the Rev. R. H. Brandling, and T. Cook, Esq. was shown on his favourite hunter. The Porteus Mob Breaking into the Tolbooth, Edinboro’ was, artistically, Parker's most ambitious work, and contemporary newspaper critiques were highly complementary: ‘Composed , as the