A half length, seated studio portrait of Egidius Benedictus Watermayer (1842-1867), a Cape Judge, scholar and historian. Born in Cape Town, Watermeyer studied law at Leiden University from 1841-1843 and in London from 1843 until he was called to the Bar in 1847. He returned to practice in the Cape the same year. In 1854-1855 he represented the Worcester District in the Legislative Assembly and was appointed to the bench in 1857, serving on it until 1857 when he went to London on sick leave and died there. Watermayer made an intensive study of Cape archives and it was due to his work that many archives were saved from neglect and ruin.