His remaining drawings and sketches were sold by Messrs. Christie, Manson, & Woods on 28 March 1873.
[2] In 1855 he exhibited there for the first time a watercolour drawing, of Lieutenant-colonel Pakenham at the battle of the Alma.
He then concentrated on history painting, and poetical subjects, somewhat after the manner of Watteau.
[1] Tidey was elected an associate of the New Society of Painters in Watercolours in 1858, and in that year sent to its exhibition three drawings, Idleness, The Wanderer, and The Oyster Season—Natives of Hampshire.
In 1859 he became a full member, and exhibited The Feast of Roses, from Thomas Moore's Lalla Rookh, which was purchased by Queen Victoria, and three other drawings.