Thomas Colley and Son
Other names: Thomas Colley (1875)
Active: 1851 - 1924
Function: Sculptor, stone mason, marble mason
History or description: Thomas Colley Senior (c.1815-98) was born in Marden or Bodenham, Herefordshire and died in Bristol on 10 January 1898. By 1851 he had established himself as a stone carver in Westminster, London. His son George (c.1847-1931) was born in Westminster, Middlesex. George was a mason and remained living with his father when the family moved to Bristol. He was presumably employed in the family business. Thomas Colley Senior was quite successful because at his death his effects were valued at £1054 7s. 11d. (probate granted 5 September 1898 to Thomas Mabey sculptor, among other family members).
A second son, Thomas Colley Junior, (c.1847-1924) was born in Pimlico, London. It is likely he also worked with his father in Bristol because in 1881 he was living in Horfield, Gloucestershire which is only a few miles from the family business address. By 1891 Thomas Colley Junior had established a business in Clapham, London (see Census Returns of 1891 and 1911). It was probably Thomas Colley Junior who worked on the statue of St. Paul on the west pediment of St. Paul's Cathedral before 1897 (see Ward-Jackson (2003) p. 362). He died in Clapham, London on 18 June 1924.
An E. Colley is documented in Roscoe (2009) as having created a funerary monument to Archdeacon Cowper in the church of St Philip, Sydney, Australia in 1858. He may be another member of the family.
The National Monuments Record (English Heritage, Swindon) holds at least 7 prints of carvings by Thomas Colley Junior. Extensive annotations on each print include sites, architects, but no precise dates (presume c.1890s-1900). The reverse of one includes an ink sketch of a keystone at Sunderland which was 'carved direct onto the stone without models'. Allusions are made to further architectural sculpture for the National Provincial Bank, architect Charles R Gribble.
Locations
Address 7 Ponsonby Place Pimlico London | View on map
1851 (Circa)
Thomas Colley snr, residential address, possibly also a business address
Address 143 Regent Street East Side London | View on map
1861 (Circa)
This was a residential address for Thomas Colley snr and family, not known if his stone carving business was also run from these premises
Address 19 Stokes Croft Bristol | View on map
1875 - 1898
Address for Thomas Colley snr - recorded as 10 Stokes Croft in 1875
Address 15 Gloucester Road Horfield Barton Regis | View on map
1881 (Circa)
Thomas Colley jnr, residential address, possibly also a business address
Address Jamaica Street King's Square Bristol | View on map
1889 - 1900
Address for Thomas Colley snr
Address 83 The Chase Clapham Common London SW | View on map
1891 (Circa)
Thomas Colley jnr, residential address, possibly also a business address
Address 103 The Chase Clapham Common London SW | View on map
1911 (Circa)
Thomas Colley jnr business and residential address
Associated People
May be connected to George Colley
Presume, as both George and Thomas came from Herefordshire, that they were related. However, unable to use census data to corroborate this because both had left Herefordshire before 1841
Descriptions of Business or Institution
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
Thomas Colley snr 'Sculptor'
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
Thomas Colley snr 'Sculptor (Marble)' employer
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
Thomas Colley jnr 'Carver of Stone and Wood' own account
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
Thomas Colley jnr 'Architectural Sculptor' employer
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
Thomas Colley snr 'Stone Carver'
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
1861 (Circa)
Thomas Colley snr 'Stone Carver'
Listed in Slater's Royal National Commerce Directory of North and South Wales, Monmouthshire, Shropshire and the Cities of Bristol and Chester, 1880
1880
Thomas Colley snr listed as Sculptor, Stone Mason and Marble Mason
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
1881 (Circa)
Thomas Colley jnr 'Sculptor'
Listed under sculptor Mathews's Annual Bristol Directory and Almanack: 1900. The One Hundred and Second Edition.
1900
Thomas Colley snr
Listed under Stone Masons Mathews's Annual Bristol Directory and Almanack: 1875. The Seventy-Seventh Edition.
1875
Thomas Colley snr listed as Marble Mason and Sculptor
Listed under Stone Masons J. Wright and Co.'s (Mathew's) Bristol and Clifton Directory, 91st Edition, 1889
1889
Thomas Colley snr listed as Marble Mason and Sculptor
Sources
A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851
2009
p. 304
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2004
Class: HO107; Piece: 1479; Folio: ; Page: 30; GSU roll: 87802-87803
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
2004
RG09 piece 51 folio 52 page 30
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
RG11 piece 2475 folio 94 page 2
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
RG11 piece 2487 folio 89 page 2
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
RG12 piece 1963 folio 151 page 2
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
Class: RG12; Piece: 440; Folio 79; Page 17; GSU roll: 6095550
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2009
RG14PN2252 RG78PN77 RD26 SD4 ED2 SN56
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2007
2007
Name: Thomas Colley Death Registration Month/Year: 1924 Age at death (estimated): 75 Registration district: Wandsworth Inferred County: Greater London Volume: 1d Page: 470
England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: Thomas Colley
Estimated birth year: abt 1816
Year of Registration: 1898
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
Age at Death: 82
District: Bristol
County: Avon, Gloucestershire
Volume: 6a
Page: 22
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Thomas Colley
Probate Date: 5 Sep 1898
Death Date: 10 Jan 1898
Death Place: Bristol, England
Registry: Bristol
J. Wright and Co.'s (Mathew's) Bristol and Clifton Directory, 91st Edition, 1889
1889
p.426
Mathews's Annual Bristol Directory and Almanack: 1875. The Seventy-Seventh Edition.
1875
p.302
Mathews's Annual Bristol Directory and Almanack: 1900. The One Hundred and Second Edition.
1900
p.649
Public Sculpture of the City of London Public Sculpture of Britain Volume Five
2003
p. 362
Citing this record
'Thomas Colley and Son', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/organization.php?id=msib1_1220516830, accessed 30 Jan 2023]
