James Edward Hellyer Snr
Born 1787 (Circa)
Died 17 June 1872
Active: 1827 - 1871
Country of birth and death: England
Wood carver, ship's carver
Born in Portsea, Hampshire (or Deptford, Kent, both places are given). He belonged to a family of wood carvers specialising in ship carvings, James Hellyer and Sons of London and Portsmouth. Among the known members of the business were his sons, Frederick (1822-1906) and James (1828-81, and his grandson, James Edward Hellyer Junior (1846-1914).
James Edward Hellyer Senior was active from c.1855-71 as a ship's carver for the Admiralty based in Portsmouth and Fareham, Hampshire. For example, he carved a bust of the late Philip Bowes Vere Broke as the figurehead of the screw frigate 'Shannon' in 1855. This is the 'Mr. Hellyer of H.M.'s Dockyard' documented from an unknown source by Rupert Gunnis (1968, p. 196) who records him as the carver of a statue of George III originally sited in Jubilee Terrace, Portsmouth, c.1827. In Roscoe (2009, p. 598) a connection is made to Isaac Hellyer of Weymouth (born c.1782 in Portland, Dorset). It is possible the families were related but Isaac's work was as a statuary and stonemason rather than a ship's carver.
Hellyer and Son exhibited a group of seventeen carved figures on a pedestal at the Great exhibition of 1851. The firm is described as 'designers' in the exhibition catalogue. It is probable that the London part of the firm was primarily being run by the younger generation from about 1850 because James Edward Hellyer Senior's sons, Frederick and James, were living in Essex and therefore near the business address for Hellyer and Son. He died in Fareham, Hampshire.
Wealth at death: £450 0s. 0d.
Probate date: 17 September 1872
Locations
Address Five Thorn Cottage Widley Fareham England | View on map
1851 (Circa)
Address Hawthorn Cottage Cosham Fareham England | View on map
1861 (Circa) - 1872
Census Returns of 1861 do not provide an exact address at Cosham, later sources are more specific
Institutional and Business Connections
Traded as Hellyer & Son
1851 (Circa) - 1871 (Circa)
Almost certainly active in the firm before 1851. After this date James Edward Hellyer Senior seems to have worked mostly in Hampshire as a carver for the Admiralty
Personal and Professional Connections
Grandmother/grandfather/grandparent to James Edward Hellyer Jnr
Mother/father/parent of James Hellyer
Mother/father/parent of Frederick Hellyer
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
'Admiralty Carver'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
'Ship Carver'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
'Ship Carver'
Sources
A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851
2009
p. 598
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2005
HO107 piece 1661 folio 254 page 1
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
2005
Class: RG9; Piece: 650; Folio: 53; Page: 1; GSU roll: 542678
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
2004
Ref: Class: RG10; Piece: 1155; Folio: 70; Page: 1; GSU roll: 827793
England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915
2006
James Edward Hellyer
Born c1786 Age 86
Jul-Aug-Sep 1872
Fareham, Hants
Vol. 2b Page 327
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: James Edward Hellyer
Probate Date: 17 Sep 1873
Death Date: 17 Jun 1872
Death Place: Southampton, Hampshire, England
Registry: Winchester
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
The Times, Monday, Nov 26, 1855; pg. 10; Issue 22221; col B
Launch Of The Screw Frigate Shannon.
Category: News
Citing this record
'James Edward Hellyer Snr', 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_1286887508, accessed 24 Sep 2023]
