Hauling in the catch in a heavy swell off Dover, with busy Channel traffic beyond

Although there is no documentary evidence to prove it, William Callcott Knell was probably the son of the highly successful marine painter William Adolphus Knell. The two lived at the same address when William Callcott exhibited for the first time at the Royal Academy in 1848. He exhibited at the R.A. until 1862, and for a few years afterwards at the British Institution, but he appears to have stopped exhibiting in 1865. However, he continued to paint until the late 1870s. His work is based upon his father's late style.