John Corker Vigers Symons arrived in Tāmaki Makaurau in 1860 and worked as an accountant in the law firm of Whitaker and Russell. He was an amateur artist of some talent and helped to found the Auckland Society of Artists in 1869 with J. B. C. Hoyte. He was their first secretary and treasurer and exhibited with them in the 1870s as well as in Sydney in 1872. On retirement, Symons worked as a professional artist for some years during the 1890s. He deserves to be better known for his work shows finesse and a strong sense of atmosphere.
