Born Glasgow; died Kensington. Painter and etcher of seascapes and coastal scenes. Son of a Helensburgh postmaster. Father of John Young Hunter. Began life as a clerk but was encouraged by Milne Donald to become a landscape painter. In the 1860s he turned to seascape painting on which his reputation is founded. In 1872 moved to London and the following year 'Trawlers waiting for Darkness', subsequently etched by Chauvel, was his first major success. In 1879 'Their only Harvest' was bought by the Chantrey Bequest. His pictures capture the mood of the sea rather than its purely visual effects. Although technically as good a painter as many other marine artists of his time, his strong greeny-black colours and thickening skies can be remarkably effective although the overall effect is often coarse. Most of his pictures were painted on the west coast or among the Hebrides. Visited Paris in about 1866 and studied briefly in the studio of Bonnet. 'He does not attempt to transfer the waves to his canvas; he understands that paint can grapple with the sea as colour and as colour he is content to take it'[Armstrong]. 'The Mussel Gatherers' of 1880 is now in Hamburg AG, 'Waiting for the Homeward Bound' is in Adelaide AG, the 'Herring Fleet at Sea' in Manchester AG, as is 'The Upper Rapids of Niagara', painted during a visit to the US in 1884 and exhibited at the RSA the following year. In 1898 his 'Changing Pasture', exhibited at the RA, was illustrated that year in the Art Journal (p170), described as ' a wonderfully redolent work of a summer scene on Loch Duich; the luminous atmospheric effect, the majestic loneliness of the setting enhanced by the touch of life'. Friend of Wm McTaggart, sketched with him at Tarbet over a number of years in the late 1860s.
Elected ARA 1884, RSW 1879, ROI 1883, RE 1881 and RI 1882. Exhibited RA, RSA (68), GI (94), AAS 1885-1898 and L (15), after 1877 from 14 Melbury Road London. Represented in Glasgow AG (8), Kirkcaldy AG, Nat Gall of South Africa (Cape Town). 

Signed and dated 1887 lower left.