John Wilson Carmichael was born in Newcastle in 1800. He was the son of a ship's carpenter and was apprenticed to a ship builder before turning to painting as a full time career. Carmichael studied under Thomas Miles Richardson Snr, who had a studio near to Carmichael's in Blackett Street. He travelled extensively visiting Holland, Italy and the Baltic (where he recorded the Crimean War for the Illustrated London News).

Carmichael was an extremely versatile artist, painting landscape and architectural subjects. However,  marine painting was his first love. Many of his pictures are of the North-East coast of Newcastle,  in particular Whitby and Scarborough. Several of Carmichael's paintings are in public collections. The Laign Art Gallery held a Centenary Exhibition of his work in 1968.

Exhibited: The Northern Academy of Arts, Newcastle; The Royal Academy (1835-1849); The British Institute; The Royal Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street.

Museums:  The National Maritime Museum at Greenwich; Gateshead, Sunderland and Newcastle Museums