Clifford Graham Roberts

Born 1888
Died 13 October 1965

Active: 1903 - 1950

Country of birth: Wales

Country of death: England

Sculptor, monumental sculptor, stone carver

Born in Newport. He was the son of George Roberts (born c.1852 in Cheltenham) who worked in various occupations including shop assistant, tram conductor and shipping clerk. On 24 October 1903 Clifford was indentured for a six year apprenticeship in monumental work to Ivor John Thomas of Waterloo Street, Swansea. Roberts was to be paid on a sliding scale during his apprenticeship, starting at three shillings a week and rising to twelve shillings in his final year. Whilst learning his trade with Ivor John Thomas, Roberts studied at Swansea School of Art under Grant Murray and Harry Hall. He won a number of prizes for modelling in the National Competitions run by the Board of Education in London and was awarded a prize for modelling a Great Dane from life at the National Eisteddfod in 1911.

Around this date Roberts entered into a business partnership as Messrs Roberts & Nurse Ltd. This lasted till about 1926 when that business was sold and Roberts became proprietor of a firm that traded by the name of William Brown Monumental Sculptor. He continued to work in Swansea until the 1950s and died at St Mary's Hospital, Portsmouth of silicosis caused by exposure to dust while working with stone. Roberts was buried at Mumbles near Swansea.

This record includes information submitted by his grandson Simon Roberts.

Citing this record

'Clifford Graham Roberts', 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=msib1_1216824813, accessed 08 Jun 2023]