A VICTORIAN oil painting of an army officer by a Blackburn artist sold for more than £8,000 at an auction – almost three times the guide price.

Robert Crozier was in his late 20s when he painted the 22in by 29in picture of Lt Colonel Thomas Marten of the Royal Dragoons, in 1843.

The picture had been expected to sell for between £2,000 and £3,000 before the auction at Dreweatts in Newbury, Berkshire, on Wednesday.

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But it was snapped up by a mystery bidder for £8,680.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the artist’s birth in Blackburn on October 17, 1815, and his baptism in Chapel Street on November 23, 1815.

Crozier was the son of George Crozier, a Blackburn saddler and enthusiastic amateur botanist.

He spent the first 10 years of his life in Blackburn, before moving to Bolton and then in 1836 to Manchester, where he spent the rest of his life.

In 1859, Crozier and other local artists founded the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts and in 1878 Crozier became president of the Academy.

Crozier married Liverpool-born Ellen Morgan in 1838 and they had three children George, Ann and Mary.

He died at the age of 75 on February 7, 1891.

His papers and correspondence, including letters to Crozier from such distinguished artists as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and George Frederic Watts, are now stored at the John Rylands University Library at the University of Manchester.

Robert Crozier painted his picture of Lt Col Thomas Marten in 1843.

Four years earlier in 1839, Lt Col Marten had made news when he and the Dragoons were called in to quell the so-called Chartist Riots in Sheffield.

In the 1850s. Marten volunteered for action in the Crimean War.

He married wealthy Caroline Ellison and they lived in Mrs Marten’s native Yorkshire where in 1861 they employed eight live-in servants.

Lt Col Marten served in the 1st Dragoons campaign in Ireland from 1835, retired briefly, and then resumed command of the Royal Dragoons in 1839 to deal with the January 12 Chartist riots in Sheffield. The officer’s papers and correspondence are now stored at the Brynmor Jones Library at the University of Hull.