Nathaniel Hitch
Born 1846
Died 28 January 1938
Active: 1871 - 1935
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, architectural sculptor, sculptor's modeller, mason, church decorator
Born Ware, Hertfordshire. The son of George Hitch (born c. 1817 in Ware, Hertfordshire) who was working as a carpenter and joiner c.1851, but by 1861 had become a builder employing (in 1871) seventeen men and four boys.
At the age of fourteen Nathaniel moved to London. He served an apprenticeship with Farmer and Brindley, makers of church furnishing and art metalwork presumably starting c.1860. In the 1890s he enrolled at the South London Technical School of Art and studied there until 1901. Nathaniel became a prolific sculptor of altarpieces, church furniture and other decorative features. The cathedrals and churches he worked on or created sculpture for include: Truro; Bristol; All Saints' Church, Hove; Canterbury; Lincoln; Peterborough; Beverley Minster in the UK and elsewhere in the world include: Washington Cathedral, USA; Calcutta Cathedral, India; St. David's Cathedral, Sydney, Australia; and (to be confirmed) Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle, Australia (Bishop's Cathedra in English Oak). He worked for many architects, including: H.P. Burke Downing, H. Fuller Clark, W.D. Caröe, Paul Waterhouse and T.H. Lyon. His most successful partnership with John and Frank Loughborough Pearson.
There is an album containing fourteen photographs of details of statues for the reconstruction of the North Transept of Westminster Abbey c.1890 in the English Heritage Archives, National Monuments Record, Kemble Drive, Swindon, SN2 2GZ. Collection Number: HIT01.
Wealth at death: £9,618 16s. 5d.
Probate date: 25 March 1938
Locations
Address Doulting Street Doulting | View on map
1871 (Circa)
Lodger at this address
Address 21 Harleyford Road Lambeth London | View on map
1880 (Circa)
Studio located at 60 Harleyford Road Lambeth London | View on map
1891 (Circa) - 1926 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1884
Exhibited once, one work: F. Weekes, Esq., (cat. no. 1789)
Institutional and Business Connections
Apprenticed to Farmer and Brindley
1860 (Circa)
Student at South London Technical School of Art (also Lambeth School of Art and City and Guilds of London Art School)
1894 - 1901
Personal and Professional Connections
Collaborated with Paul Waterhouse
See Ward-Jackson (2003)
Collaborated with John Loughborough Pearson
1880 (Circa) - 1897
On the entire decorative scheme of sculpture for Truro Cathedral. John Loughborough Pearson was the architect, after his death in 1897 Hitch worked with Frank Loughborough Pearson who completed his father's work
Collaborated with Frank Loughborough Pearson
1897 (Circa) - 1910
On the completion of the decorative scheme of sculpture for Truro Cathedral. The cathedral was designed by Frank's father, John Loughborough Pearson. After his death in 1897 Frank completed the commission and Hitch finished the decorative work.
Collaborated with Frank Loughborough Pearson
1912
On the sedilia for Wakefield Cathedral, which was the gift of Mrs. Tempest. Pearson was architect of the cathedral.
Mother/father/parent of Frederick Brook Hitch
Descriptions of Practice
Listed under Sculptors Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p.2371
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
'Architectural Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Sculptor's Modeller' and an employer
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
'Sculptor employing 9 men'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Sculptor' and an employer
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Architectural Sculptor and Mason' and an employer working at home
Sources
British Phone Books, 1885-1984
2007
1926, London A-Z; Page: 583
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
2004
Class: RG10; Piece: 2442; Folio: 70; Page: 22; GSU roll: 835182.
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
Class: RG11; Piece: 602; Folio: 70; Page: 16; Line: ; GSU roll: 1341138.
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
RG12 piece 399 folio 111 page 6
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
Class: RG13; Piece: 414; Folio: 38; Page: 7
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2011
RG14PN2003 RG78PN70 RD25 SD2 ED29 SN25
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Nathaniel Hitch
Probate Date: 25 Mar 1938
Death Date: 28 Jan 1938
Death Place: Surrey, England
Registry: London
Post Office London Directory, 1880 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1880
p. 1812
Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p.2371
Public Sculpture of the City of London Public Sculpture of Britain Volume Five
2003
pp. 464-5
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
The Times, Monday, Nov 18, 1912; pg. 10; Issue 40059; col F; Ecclesiastical Intelligence. The Work Of The S.P.G.
Category: Official Appointments and Notices (accessed 8 April 2010)
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
The Times, Tuesday, Feb 01, 1938; pg. 16; Issue 47907; col C; Mr. Nathaniel Hitch The Gothic Tradition In Sculpture Mr. Burke Downing. Category: Obituaries(accessed 8 April 2010)
Citing this record
'Nathaniel Hitch', 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/person.php?id=ann_1239657440, accessed 09 Jun 2023]
