Dan and his wife Jess lived at 'Westbrook' in the newly developing area of Joy Lane in Whitstable. He was a prolific and accomplished artist in oil of landscape and marine scenes. Today his work is sought after, capturing images of Whitstable, Herne Bay and other fine pictures he was commisioned for around the country.

This on it's own would make him worthy of mention in the annals of the town's history but the character of the man was such that stories of his exploits are still spoken about in the town today. Not only was he known as the artist who frequently settled his bills with a painting, but as a self-publicist of the most humorous kind who not only poked fun at those in authority but was also a great benefactor to many local charities.

Dan could not be missed about the town, or in London where he had a studio. He insisted on wearing the most outrageously chequed plus-fours and his love of beer was legendary. He always entered the carnival mocking some current fad or news item and frequently won 'best of class'.

When Dan believed strongly in something he used all his skills as an artist, local celebrity and sportsman to best effect in promoting the cause. He started the Seasalter Fire Brigade single-handed (he was the only fireman!) and in his way assisted Whitstable in it's transition from seaside village into a modern town of the age. He gave out leaflets promoting his fire-brigade, warning people to give at least one week's notice of the fire unless it was in close proximity to a public house when he would attend instantly!

Everyone is surely aware of the WW1 recruitment poster by Lord Kitchener (Your country need you). Here is our mock up of the bill-board that Dan posted up around the town at the time. An original can be seen at the Buffs Museum in Canterbury.

This poster, produced after Dan was invalided home after service in France, and his many local speeches were instrumental in getting over 2,000 men to sign up, including Dan's son Reg. Dan received a personal commendation from Lord Kitchener for his work.

One day, whilst travelling back home from London on the train, Dan got into a discussion with a fellow passenger. Dan insisted that the train would stop at Seasalter where the track passed his house. The passenger was adamant that this could not be the case. This disagreement eventually was settled as a wager between the two men. £10 was the bet by Dan that the train would stop outside his house so that he could alight. The passenger agreed and they shook hands on the deal.

As the train left the marshes heading for Whitstable he watched in horror as Dan leapt up and pulled the communication cord. The train screeched to a halt alongside Dan's garden at which he got off, having relieved his new friend of the £10.

The fine in those days for malicious use of the cord was £5 which Dan duly paid, giving his profit to the local hospital. I dare say that the victim of this trick was very wary of making bets with anyone from Whitstable in the future!

Dan was very often in front of the local magistrate for some minor dismeanor or other. Once, travelling home after one such hearing where he was fined for drinking out of hours at a pub, Dan came across a horse quietly refreshing itself at the trough by the Tollgate at the bottom of Borstal Hill. He gathered up its reigns and marched it through the town to the Police Station. He demanded that the desk sergeant charge the horse with drinking out of hours and promptly left it there for them to deal with.

When white lines were first painted along the High Street for vehicular guidance Dan decided to add his own, curving them around into the bar at the Bear & Key. This, apparently, was to guide him and other pub-crawlers as they left the bar at the Duke of Cumberland.

Dan once sold a painting to a local undertaker. He decided to take payment in the form of a coffin. This he used in many of his pranks over the next 30 years, and he was buried in it after he died on January 26th 1940 aged 71.

Dan was one of the first of a long line of artists and novelists that made the town their home. Perhaps it was the light, the sunsets, or maybe the tranquillity of living amongst down-to-earth people who just accepted you and left you in peace that led so many of his kind to follow him here.

He left the nation, including the Royal Family, many excellent works of art that were indictive of the country in his time.

He taught the townspeople that sometimes bureaucracy and pomposity can be oafs and far better to mock them than argue with them. So if you come to Whitstable representing either and get a knowing grin from a resident you'll know why.

Since this page was first published it appears it has given Dan a new audience to have fun with - the world wide users of the internet, and Oystertown for unleashing his name onto it.

Never a week goes by without someone emailing Oystertown about their find of a Dan Sherrin painting. Many ask if we can value it. The simple answer is no, we are not qualified to. The answer we generally use is as follows:

Dan Sherrin was probably the most prolific artist of his period. He painted thousands of pictures and many of these were reproduced as prints and sold throughout the world. If your picture is an original it may well have some monetary value, but whether original or print now that you know more of the man himself its value to you should have increased to the point that you would never part with it. If, on the other hand, the picture is of Whitstable itself why not act as charitably as Dan would have done and donate the picture to Whitstable Museum?