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Hi,
     Good to hear from you. As for my connection, Harry Shellard was married to Alice Hunter June 7 1917 in New York. She was an art teacher from the UK. She had a brother William Lionel Hunter who lived in Philadelphia. She would be a first cousin 2X removed to me. Her father was Edmund Southam Hunter of Manchester, a brother of the man in the painting. I've also seen a photo of one of his miniatures of a lady who bears a likeness to another of the Hunter women of that era. It seems Harry and Alice lived in NY for a time but later went to Morristown, New Jersey ( 1930 census ) They both eventually returned to England.
In case I didn't mention it, I'm in Canada...Vancouver. I can be reached directly at ^(*)

Hope to hear more.
Brian

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Just to update this, I managed to get the painting out of the frame and it looks like it was originally a canvas that was, as I suspected, backed with Masonite for protection. As it's a family portrait is has no value to someone outside the family so it seems my mother took the easier and less expensive route when she had it reframed back in the 1960s.

I agree and I'm certainly happy to have the painting in the family. I wish I'd paid more attention some 55 years ago when my mother acquired it. When I think back I can't recall if she told me it was my great grandfather or great great grandfather. As it's the only picture of either of them in existence, to my knowledge, I'm really hoping I'll be able to nail down who it is with more certainty. I think it's important to have the information correct if possible as I hope it will stay in the family for years to come. I've used the picture as a profile shot of my great grandfather in my Ancestry Family Tree for years, but recently began to ponder it's date and circumstances. So many mysteries!

I know this section is for photos mainly, but I hope maybe there's also some art historians around. This painting was given to my mother, about 1965, by someone ( I'm assuming a family member  bt don't know who)  in England. She was told it was her grandfather, and therefore my great grandfather, William Leyland Hunter. She had it shipped home to Canada and had it reframed. The painting is oil, and I assumed it was on canvas, but because the surface was hard to the touch, I figured it had been backed to protect it. I've recently come to question whether or not it is William Leyland Hunter who died in 1894 in London or maybe his father who died in 1882.
So, I removed the paper on the back side of the frame to see what was underneath and it appears to be Masonite board, which was commonly used for paintings in the 1930s and 40s ( Masonite having been patented in 1924 in the USA ) If so, then the painting is much newer and brings into question, who the person actually is, and who painted it? I've not removed the painting from the frame at this point, but on close examination of the painted surface, one can detect what looks like canvas weave beneath the paint. There's also a couple of small chips in the painting that seem to reveal a weave under the paint.
  William Leyland Hunter died broke at the age of 49 so it's unlikely h'd have commissioned a portrait of himself and the portrait looks like and older gentleman, but men aged more in that era. There's also a possibility that the painting may have been done in the USA by his niece's husband Harry Valentine Shellard. They lived in New York and New Jersey from about 1917 until 1936. The panting could also have been of her father, Edmund Southam Hunter ( one of William Leyland's brothers ) I'll attach a photo of the painting and maybe if I can, a close-up of the chipped part. Any ideas would be appreciated. My goal is to find out if it's truly my great grandfather.

There are no passenger lists, in the UK dating before 1890.
The Board of Trade didn't think them worth keeping!

That's sad. All the passenger shipping that went out of Liverpool to India and China in the early years of steam after Suez opened. What a shame that there's nothing left. Blue Funnel Line and P&O carried a lot of passengers in that 1870-1890 era