Henry Meynell Rheam was born on 13th January 1859 in Birkenhead on Merseyside into a staunch Quaker family. He was the first cousin of Henry Scott Tuke. As a young man Rheam studied art in Germany, later enrolling at Heatherly's school in London before attending the Académie Julian in Paris.

By 1891 Rheam was boarding at St Peters, Newlyn aged 32 years old. He clearly threw himself into life as an artist in the burgeoning Newlyn colony and in 1897 became the Honourary Secretary of the Newlyn Society of Artists; not to mention his central role in the cricket team!

Rheam’s early paintings in Newlyn conformed to the Newlyn oeuvre but gradually he moved towards a distinctly pre-Raphaelite style and more romantic subject matter. He favoured watercolour as a medium and like his peer, Walter Langley, was particularly gifted in painting the human figure.

By 1897 he had moved to Boase Castle Lodge, Belle Vue in Newlyn, with his wife Alice Elliott Rheam. It was that same year that Rheam became the Honourary Secretary and Curator of the Newlyn Society of Artists; an involvement he was to maintain throughout his life.

Rheam exhibited at the Royal Academy, was elected to the R.B.A. (Royal Society of British Artists) in 1889, and R.I. (Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours) in 1892 and exhibited regularly in all 3 institutions. The painter remained in Newlyn until about 1914 when he moved to West Lodge in Alverton, Penzance. Henry Meynell Rheam died in Penzance in 1920 aged 61, painting right up to end of his life in this part of West Penwith that he clearly loved.