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Chapter 45: Oldham turns up again

Later in the year, Fred decided to go back to Manchester and Birmingham where the wealthier and keener patrons now abounded. Apart from Henry's work, for which he already had many interested patrons, he also took along the paintings of a friend called Walter Markham whose work was mediocre but sold well - appealing, in Fred's opinion, to a general lack of public taste. Amongst the usual banality of pretty children and biblical scenes was one of Markham's better watercolours, a deserted but evocative seaside scene near Bamborough which Fred sold to an interested buyer in Leeds, having procured the rights to make prints from it which he felt sure would make him a nice fat profit.