An aristocrat from England with minimal artistic training, Edwin Deakin settled in Northern California where he painted landscapes of ruins and historic architecture and scenes from a genteel time in the past such as medieval streets in London, romantic views of castles, and quaint English villages.

He was born in Sheffield, England and came to America in 1856, living first in Chicago where he earned some reputation for portraits of Civil War Heroes. In 1870, he moved to San Francisco and set up a studio and soon was very much a part of the local art scene. He was a member of the Bohemian Club and a close associate and studio mate of Samuel Marsden Brookes.

From 1887 to 1890, he painted in Europe and exhibited at the Paris Salon. From then until his death in 1923, he lived in Berkeley on a large tract of land he purchased where he built a mission style studio.

His works are in many California collections including the California Historical Society, the Oakland Museum, and the De Young Memorial Museum. He made three sets of paintings of the California missions (two in oil and one in watercolor, the one in oil is at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC).