Thomas Earp
Born 1828
Died 12 September 1893
Active: 1848 - 1893
Country of birth and death: England
Architectural sculptor, stone carver, sculptor
Born in Nottingham. He was the oldest son of Thomas Earp (born c.1796), agent. Thomas studied at Nottingham School of Art and Design and then worked for the building contractor, George Myers in London from 1848. Earp established an architectural sculpture business in Lambeth by the early 1850s and within ten years was running a large firm employing twenty-four men. This expanded in 1864 through a partnership with Edwin Hobbs Senior (c.1841-1904) and the opening of premises in Manchester on Lower Mosley Street.
A son by Earp's first marriage to Isabelle, Arthur Clifford Earp (1854-1886, born in Lambeth) was probably working for the family business as a sculptor in 1881 and became a partner during that decade alongside Edwin Hobbs. However Arthur Clifford died in 1886. A son by Thomas Earp's second marriage to Ellen, Edgar Thomas Earp (c.1873-1955), was also involved in the firm, possibly as a partner, from the 1890s.
Earp collaborated with many architects, among them: George Gilbert Scott, A.W.N. Pugin, Samuel Sanders Teulon (1812-73) and George Edmund Street. Earp's works include the pulpit at St James the Less, Westminster (1860-1), the carving on the Eleanor Cross, Charing Cross (1863) and the reredos at Exeter Cathedral (1870-7). He received an Honourable Mention at the International Exhibition, London (1862) for his work in the church of St John the Baptist, Huntley, Gloucestershire.
Wealth at death: £15,264 17s. 0d.
Probate date: 20 December 1893
Locations
Address 20 Homer Street Lambeth London | View on map
1851 (Circa)
Address 23 Meads Row Lambeth London | View on map
1861 (Circa)
Address 49 Kennington Road London | View on map
1871 (Circa) - 1893
Institutional and Business Connections
Traded as Thomas Earp
1851 (Circa) - 1893
Business became Earp, Son and Hobbs c.1890
Worked with Henry Thomas Margetson
Mitchell states that Margetson was Earp's foreman at the Royal Courts of Justice, London built between 1873-82.
Personal and Professional Connections
Collaborated with George Edmund Street
On many buildings and other projects
Employed Henry William McCarthy
Duration and dates of employment unknown. Apparently McCarthy later became an assistant to John Francis Bentley at Westminster Cathedral (based on Mitchell).
Employed James Erskine Knox
Duration and dates of employment unknown. Apparently Knox later became an assistant to John Francis Bentley at Westminster Cathedral (based on Mitchell).
Mother/father/parent of Edgar Thomas Earp
Partner to Edwin Hobbs Senior
1864 - 1893
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
'Architectural Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
'Architectural Sculptor (Employing 21 Men and 3 Apprentices)'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
'Sculptor'
Sources
A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851
2009
p. 403
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841
2004
RG number: HO107 Piece: 871 Book/Folio: 10/18 Page: 9
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2004
HO107 piece 1571 folio 590 page 26
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
2004
RG09 piece 351 folio 9 page 19
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
2004
RG10 piece 657 folio 6 page 6
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
RG11 piece 589 folio 17 page 28
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
RG11 piece 676 folio 41 page 31 (reference for Arthur C. Earp)
England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: Thomas Earp
Estimated birth year: abt 1828
Year of Registration: 1893
Quarter of Registration: Jul-Aug-Sep
Age at Death: 65
District: Lambeth
County: Greater London, London, Surrey
Volume: 1d
Page: 234
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Thomas Earp Probate Date: 20 Dec 1893 Death Date: 12 Sep 1893 Death Place: Surrey, England Registry: London
Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester Public Sculpture of Britain
2004
p. 443
Citing this record
'Thomas Earp', 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_1296684736, accessed 31 Mar 2023]
