He described himself as "a follower of" John Ralston, a contemporary of his grandfather who captured many of Manchester's medieval and early modern buildings before they were demolished and replaced during the city's industrialisation.
[11] Many of Tavaré's watercolours similarly capture buildings in Manchester which were considered prominent or noteworthy at the time of their demolition—such as The Sun Inn, also known as Poets' Corner, a pub which was an important meeting place for the city's artists and writers.
[15][10][2] His final known painting (dated 1920) was of Cheetwood Priory, the former home of his uncle Charles Swain, which had been demolished in the 1910s to make way for an expanding brickworks; the site is now occupied by part of Strangeways Prison.
[2] Tavaré was a frequent contributor to antiquarian journals and newspapers on a range of esoteric historical subjects, such as public houses in Stockport, the life of customs officers in 17th century Northumberland, the age of a stables in Marple, and monumental brasses in churches around Cheshire.
[10] In 1884 Tavaré boarded for a time at Stocks House, a large mansion in Cheetham Hill which had been the residence of author and antiquarian James Crossley, founder and president of the Chetham Society (among a number of other influential positions in Victorian Britain's intelligentsia).