Elhanan Bicknell (1788-1861), an entrepreneur in the whaling industry, was an important collector of British paintings, including Turner 's, especially between 1838 and 1850. He and his wife were near neighbours of the Ruskins in Herne Hill, and on friendly terms from at least 1843: in his diary for 8 February 1844, Ruskin recorded that 'Mrs. Bicknell also told me that I might have their Turner home here to copy - they are most liberal people.' ( Evans and Whitehouse, Diaries I, p.264). In the words of his DNB entry, Bicknell 'had bought many of Turner's best works before Mr. Ruskin's advocacy of their beauties had made them known.'