John Hayter (1800–1895) was Painter-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria. The second son of the miniaturist Charles Hayter, he first painted Queen Victoria when she was twelve years old. Hayter established himself during the 1820s, with portraits of notable figures such as the Duke of Wellington. His portrait drawings, in chalks or crayons, became particularly popular, a number of them being engraved for The Court Album, which contained portraits of the female aristocracy.
John's brother, Sir George Hayter, was also a portrait painter; both artists were talented draughtsmen and experimented in techniques of engraving—their work early examples of printmaking before the etching revival that was to come later in the middle of the century.
