The well-known English animal painter John Frederick Herring Snr, was born in Surrey in 1795. He began life as a coachman and later received instruction in painting from Abraham Cooper and Sawrey Gilpin. Many of his works are well known through engravings and his lithographic prints of coaching and racing pictures are classics of their kind.

He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1826 and he received commissions from George IV and Queen Victoria. He was a member of the Society of British Artists and a regular exhibitor at the British institution.

Examples of his work are in the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Tate gallery, Glasgow Art Gallery, Wolverhampton and Leeds.