All Newport life is there in 1838 painting of bustling street

And we can do so thanks to a remarkable painting of the town in which the people shown milling about were not simply products of the artist's imagination, but were real, identifiable Newport residents from the dawn of the Victorian era.

Linda Fletcher, of Newport History Society, said: "We have Caroline Davies, of Davies, White & Perry to thank for preserving a wonderful watercolour of Newport High Street painted in 1838.

"It is fortunate that, not long after the painting was completed, a local person identified several of the characters and trades shown. The view is looking northwards towards the church.

"The painting is by Henry Bryan Ziegler, who lived from 1798 to 1874. He was a British artist, known as a landscape and portrait painter. He studied under John Varley, honed his skills at the Royal Academy schools, and eventually became a Royal Academician.

"He made a reputation as drawing master to members of the royal family. Queen Adelaide took him under her wing, and his views of Windsor castle are in The Royal Collections. Having relatives in Ludlow, he did several illustrations of Ludlow Castle and Shropshire towns."

As for the detail of the painting, she says: "In the background you can see St Nicholas’ church. In front of it is a small classical type of building – the butter market, commonly called The Butter Cross – and to the right of this the old William Adam’s town hall.

"Both the Butter Cross and the old town hall were demolished in about 1858 to 1860, when the new town hall was built.

"On the left we can see the post office. The postmaster is identified as Mr Henry P Silvester, and he is shown at his front door.

"In front of the post office is the mail cart. This building eventually became printers Bennion & Horne/ The Advertiser, then Browns Motors. The next property is the Old Bell Inn.

"In the centre we have the town crier or ‘bellman.’ He is identified as Mr Simpson. William Picken, a local Victorian antiquarian, described his uniform – the blue frock coat and the arms of the town (three fishes) embossed on a brass plate fastened on the right sleeve, a scarlet waistcoat, black velvet breeches, drab cloth leggings, and a black silk hat with a gold band round it.

"Next to Mr Simpson is a Mr Hutchinson. Behind Mr Simpson, sitting, is Mr Patrick identified as ‘a noted gingerbread manufacturer’ with his stall of sweetmeats.

"To the right are Mr & Mrs Hughes, carriers, who we are told put up their donkey cart at the Star Inn; now Barbers estate agents. Their donkeys were called Molly and Ned.

"The next feature to the right is what is described as ‘the Aqualate Chariot.’ Here we see members of the Boughey family coming into town. It is likely that pictured are Thomas Fenton Fletcher Boughey and his wife Louisa, nee Giffard.

"The ‘letter carriers' – the posties of their day – are shown bottom left. It is interesting to see that they were both male and female.

"You can compare the west side of the street with then and now images. From the left : Part of The Old Bell Inn – you can still see today the bell shapes on the dormer windows.

"Then No 27-31. All were demolished in 1845 to make way for a terrace of three properties. Now Clarks and Nationwide.

"Then a two bay property – Now Head Quarters. Then a four bay property – now Evenett & Bishop and Newport Pizza.

"Then a two bay property – now Happy Smiles and The Glasshouse.

"Beyond this, the old Crown Inn, which is now Davies, White and Perry. The red animal on a portico or pole standing out further along marks the Red Lion Inn, which eventually became Barclays Bank. Even today it still has the large inn yard at the back."

As to the background of the painting, Linda said: "Caroline owns the painting. It belonged to her parents, who are now deceased.

"There is no more provenance than that, except that the Davies have been in the auctioneer estate agent business here in Newport for a long time. Originally it was Perry & White, and then Davies came along.

"It may be that the picture was in the offices for most of this time, although I do know that when her mother and father or maybe her brother died, she tidied the Lilleshall Abbey house next to ruins, and brought the picture to the offices. It's not on display. It's in a fairly dark corridor, which will do fine for maintaining its colours.

"We don't know who identified the local characters, but he was obviously a local person. The handwriting looks very quirky, not standard Victorian copper plate.

"There are some people identified who are what you might call the lower class of trader, such as the gingerbread man. He does not appear in Newport trade directories – too poor to pay the fee for directory. This is interesting in itself.

"I have looked at the 1841 and 1851 census and there's nothing about Cartwright as confectioner, similarly, the Hughes with their donkeys."