Ernest Charles Walbourn was a British landscape painter of rural and farming scenes. He was the second of five children and was educated locally. His father, who owned property in Tasmania/Australia, initially disapproved of his artistic ambitions, but later helped with the setting up of a studio at the family home and the funding of his art training.

In 1895 he settled in Chingford, Essex and began exhibiting at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. From 1897 his paintings were exhibited at the Royal Academy and at the Royal Society of British Artists. His works were well received, many being sold through the London art dealers, W. W. Sampson & Louis Wolfe. In 1906, he married Eva Gardner who assisted by painting the backgrounds of some of his larger works, later achieving recognition in her own right.