Earp, Hobbs & Miller (by 1900)
Other names: Earp & Co. (c.1881)
Active: 1864 - 1938
Function: Architectural sculptors, stone and marble masons, sculptors
History or description: A highly successful firm of architectural sculptors and stone carvers founded by Thomas Earp (1828-93) in Lambeth, London c.1851. The firm expanded in 1864 when Earp went into partnership with Edwin Hobbs Senior (c.1841-1904) and they opened premises in Manchester on Lower Mosley Street. Edwin Hobbs oversaw the Manchester business from Chorlton-upon-Medlock and then Moss Side. The London side of the firm continued to trade as Thomas Earp until the late 1880s when it became Earp, Son and Hobbs, then Earp and Hobbs c.1900.
The Manchester branch was known as Earp, Hobbs and Miller from about 1900, continuing under that name in Manchester until the early 1940s. Edwin Hobbs Senior had a son also called Edwin (born c.1883) who was working as a stone carver by 1901, it is assumed that he continued to work for the firm after his father's death in 1904. Around 1900, Harry Malcolm Miller (born 1871) joined the business as a partner. It is presumed that he had served his apprenticeship with the business c.1891.
An entry in 'British Sculpture in the Lady Lever' (pp.64-5) states that Earp, Hobbs & Miller were successors to John Jarvis Millson's highly successful Manchester based business.
Locations
Address 63 and 65 Lower Mosley Street Manchester England | View on map
1881 (Circa) - 1911 (Circa)
Address High Street Chorlton-on-Medlock Manchester England | View on map
1931 (Circa) - 1939 (Circa)
Institutional and Business Connections
Affiliated with Earp and Hobbs Ltd.
Earp and Hobbs Ltd was the London based branch of the firm and Earp, Hobbs and Miller was located in Manchester, both grew out of the architectural sculpture business founded by Thomas Earp and expanded in partnership with Edwin Hobbs
Established by Thomas Earp
1864
The partnership originated between Thomas Earp (1828-93) who founded the London branch of the firm and Edwin Hobbs who ran the office in Manchester
Associated People
Apprenticed Thomas Gerard Murphy
1919 - 1927
Employed Arthur Philip Hall
Hall may have worked for the firm by 1911 when he moved to Manchester. In 1927, Harry Rendell designed a sculptural group symbolic of the sea for the Ship Canal House, head quarters of the Manchester Ship Canal Co. (architect, Harry S. Fairhurst) on behalf of Earp, Hobbs and Miller. The group was carved by Bond and Hall. (See Wyke, 2004, p. 88).
Employed Harry Rendell Bond
Possibly by about 1911 and according to G. Wheeler, 'Parliament Buildings, Stormont: the building, its setting, uses and restoration, 1922-1998', Belfast, 1999 Rendell Bond worked with Harry Malcolm Miller on the Parliament Buildings, Stormont on behalf of the contractor, Earp, Hobbs and Miller. In 1927, Harry Rendell designed a sculptural group symbolic of the sea for the Ship Canal House, head quarters of the Manchester Ship Canal Co. (architect, Harry S. Fairhurst) on behalf of Earp, Hobbs and Miller. The group was carved by Bond and Arthur Philip Hall. (See Wyke, 2004, p. 88).
Employed Edwin Hobbs Junior
1901 (Circa)
May have become a partner after his father's death in 1904
Managed by Edwin Hobbs Senior
1864 - 1904
Edwin Hobbs (c.1841-1904) managed the Manchester branch of the firm established by Thomas Earp (1828-93)
May be connected to John Jarvis Millson
An entry in 'British Sculpture in the Lady Lever' (pp.64-5) states that Earp, Hobbs & Miller were successors to John Jarvis Millson's highly successful Manchester based business.
Partners included Harry Malcolm Miller
Descriptions of Business or Institution
Listed in Slater's Manchester and Salford Directory, 1881
1881 (Circa)
Under Architectural sculptors and Stone and marble masons
Sources
A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851
2009
p. 403
British Sculpture in the Lady Lever Art Gallery
1999
pp. 64-5
Calendar of the Municipal School of Art, Session 1918-19
1918
p. 4
Calendar of the Municipal School of Art, Session 1923-24
1923
p. 3
Calendar of the Municipal School of Art, Session 1930-31
1930
p. 4
Calendar of the Municipal School of Art, Session 1938-39
1938
p. 5
Kelly's Directory of Manchester and Salford, 1931
1931
p. 1931
Kelly's Directory of Manchester and Salford, 1939
1939
p. 1867
Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester Public Sculpture of Britain
2004
p. 443
Slater's Manchester and Salford Directory, 1881
1881
Trades section, pp. 176, 216
Slater's Manchester, Salford and Suburban Directory, 1911
1911
p. 1986
Slater's Manchester, Salford and Suburban Directory, 1921
1921
p. 1611
Citing this record
'Earp, Hobbs & Miller (by 1900)', 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=msib5_1221667860, accessed 28 Sep 2023]
