He wrote a detailed account of his childhood memories and produced accurate paintings of Norwich scenes, both of which have provided historians with a record of the city he lived in all his life.

Born of poor parents, he was orphaned during the Peninsular War when his mother, who was a camp follower with the British Army, fell sick and died in Lisbon, and his father was killed at the Battle of Corunna a few weeks later.

Obadiah Short was associated with the Norwich School of painters, a group of artists connected both by geographical location and their depictions of Norfolk landscapes, as well as by personal and professional relationships.

[18][19] His father enlisted in the British Army during Napoleon's campaign of 1808–1809 and travelled across the Iberian Peninsula, with his mother accompanying him as a camp follower.

As a son of a British soldier killed during the Napoleonic Wars, Obadiah could have attended the Royal Military Asylum at Chelsea, but he was instead brought up by his grandparents in Norwich.

His family's poverty forced him to seek poor relief and to be taken by his grandmother to Duke's Palace Plain, where employers came to hire boys as cheap labour.

Later in life, Short recalled his childhood, writing down his memories in a small leather-bound book, now in the Norfolk Museums Collections at Norwich Castle.

It describes events such as the arrival in Norwich of news from London by mail coach; public celebrations after the announcement of the end of the Napoleonic Wars; the procession of the 'Gregorians' on the River Wensum; bull-baiting; the annual fair held north of the city; the public executions at the Castle; Norwich Guild Day and the procession of Snap the Dragon; prisoners transported by wagon to Thetford; pitched battles on Mousehold Heath; and lamplighting.

[18] Short's Recollections have provided modern historians with a link to the past and allowed the revival of previously forgotten traditions, such as wassailing.

He travelled that year to Spain as a regimental sergeant in Sir John Moore's army, along with Elizabeth, who came with her husband as a camp follower.

As Joseph Short failed to return to England and was never heard from again, it was assumed by his family that he was killed on 16 January 1809, in the midst of the Battle of Corunna.

Spinning and weaving were done in the workers' homes, but the fast-changing fashions, and competition with the mills of the north of England made such a practice obsolete.

[27] In 1834 he found work as a pattern designer at Edward Willett, Nephew & Co,[24] a large manufacturer of silk shawls initially based in Pottergate, Norwich.

Measuring 41 by 41 centimetres (16 in × 16 in), it is a silk Jacquard square made from eight pieces of shawl fabric, sewn together to make what may have been a cushion cover.

[48] In 1832, Crome's physician the Norwich surgeon William Dalrymple took an interest in Short and provided him with a letter of introduction to give to the Earl of Leicester.

[49] Short learnt the art of landscape painting by copying the works of Old Masters such as those at Holkham;[24] his artistic style probably originated from his access to the Earl of Leicester's collection.

[14] In contrast to his usual style, he produced a series of twelve small watercolours of Mousehold Heath, praised by the art historian Derek Clifford for their "dark, rich tones".

Clifford rated him as a "pleasing minor talent" and the author Harold Day wrote that Short produced paintings that were charming, while describing him as "not one of the great men of the Norwich School".

Examples include his depiction of the area around St Laurence's Church, Norwich on Westwick Street,[59] a watercolour of Cromer, showing the town's early wooden pier in 1870,[60] and paintings of buildings beside the River Yare at Thorpe and at New Mills.

His obituary, published in the Bury and Norwich Post a few days after his death, asked its readers to appreciate "a life not barren of interest to those who care to mark the events of a well-spent career", and "to notice the success of perseverance under difficulties".

He was described as kindly, unambitious, undemanding, and a devout Christian, whose art was praiseworthy for its “charming choice of subject” and "delineation of foliage".