Thomas Mewburn Crook ARCA, RBA, FRBS, HRI
Other names: T. Mewburn
Born 4 December 1869
Died 18 January 1949
Active: 1897 - 1943
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, teacher
Born in Tonge Moor, Bolton, Lancashire. He was the son of James Crook, a cotton dealer. Thomas studied at the Manchester Technical School and then the Royal College of Art in the early 1890s. He also travelled widely in Europe, visiting France, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Germany. Crook was appointed modelling master and anatomy lecturer at Manchester School of Art in 1896 and remained in Manchester until 1905. In that year he moved to Chiswick with his widowed mother and sisters and established a practice in London.
His works include: the ceiling of the Council Chamber at the School of Science and Technology (formerly Manchester Technical School); a statue of Sir Thomas Picton, Cardiff City Hall; a bust of Bishop Casartelli (now in the possession of the Catenian Association); marble altar panel, a war memorial (bronze) and lectern, St.Mark's Church, North Audley Street, London; paintings of the Stations of the Cross, a marble pulpit, a panel of Old and New Testament Saints, an Annunciation panel, a marble Madonna figure on the Lady Altar and a marble First World War Memorial of St. Anthony all for St. Mary's Church, Wigan; war memorials outside St.Saviour's Church, Raynes Park, St. Lawrence Church, Caterham and All Saints Church, Streetly, Sutton Coldfield. One of his last commissions was to create nine plaques representing each of the main divisions of the Dewey classification system in cast stone for New Malden Library, Kingston Road in Surrey (unveiled 22 March 1941). Crook also carved a panel in Australian Satin wood depicting Caxton and his printing press for the library entrance hall.
There are some images online at: http://www.tmewburncrook.net/ (accessed 1 December 2009)
Wealth at death: £1,227 14s. 8d.
Probate date: 2 June 1950
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
Portrait of the Late Revnd Mother M. M. A. Ellis, Supervisor for 49 Years of Loreto Convent, Hulme
Dr Casartelli, Bishop of Salford
Rev. Mother M. M. A. Ellis, Late Superior of Loreto Convent, Hulme
Dawn
1910 (Presumed)
Eleven
1910 (Presumed)
Mysteries
1913 (Presumed)
His Majesty King George VI
1939
Pope Pius XII
1939
Locations
Address Lyndhurst Heald Place Manchester | View on map
Address 79 Clarendon Road Chorlton-on-Medlock Manchester | View on map
1901 (Circa) - 1905
In 1901 was sharing this house with John Shields, an art master in a school
Address 10 Gainsborough Road Bedford Park London W4 | View on map
1910 (Circa) - 1949
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1906
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1909
'Dawn'
Exhibited at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Twenty-Third Autumn Exhibition, 1905
Multiple works
Exhibited at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Fifteenth Autumn Exhibition, 1897
'Study from Life'
Exhibited at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Sixteenth Autumn Exhibition, 1898
'Bust of an Old Man'
Exhibited at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Seventeenth Autumn Exhibition, 1899
Multiple works
Exhibited at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Heaton Hall Branch, Exhibition of Works of Members and Associates of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts, Summer 1907
Multiple works
Exhibited at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Twenty-Fifth Autumn Exhibition, 1907
'My Mother'
Exhibited at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Twenty-Sixth Autumn Exhibition, 1908
'Dawn'
Exhibited at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Twenty-First Autumn Exhibition, 1903
Multiple works
Exhibited at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Nineteenth Autumn Exhibition, 1901
'Portrait Bust'
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Seventy-Eighth Annual Exhibition, 1939
'His Majesty King George VI'
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-eighth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1898
1898
Study of a figure from Life (cat. no. 1447, bronzed plaster, not for sale); Spring (cat. no. 1458, panel in relief, not for sale).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-ninth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1899
1899
Study of an Old Man (cat. no. 1373, bronzed plaster bust, not for sale).
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1904 - 1943
Exhibited 25 times, usually one work but sometimes two per year.
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1904
Exhibited in 1904; likely exhibited in later years (see later dictionary)
Exhibited at Exhibition of the Bristol Academy, Annual Spring Exhibition for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, The Sixty-Fifth, 1910
1910
Exhibited at Exhibition of the Bristol Academy, Annual Spring Exhibition for the Promotion of the Fine Arts, The Sixty-Eighth, 1913
1913
Promoted Prize for Distinguished Service to Sculpture (Royal Society of British Sculptors), 1923-1949
1923
The prize was originally proposed by Crook to the Council of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Selection committee member of Lady Feodora Gleichen Fund (Royal Academy of Arts, Royal Society of British Sculptors), 1922-1951
1938 - 1940
Speaker at Temporary Street Decoration (Art Workers Guild), 1914
Took part in Competition for a statue for the Central Library, New Malden, 1939
1939
Crook received the highest number of votes from the Council, and was awarded the commission.
Institutional and Business Connections
Associated with Manchester Academy of Fine Arts
Fellow of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1923 - 1949
Died in 1949.
Honorary secretary of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1940 - 1945
Honorary treasurer of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1937 - 1944
Was temorary honorary treasurer in 1937 before becoming honorary treasurer in 1938. Crook was forced to retire from this role after a new rule was passed in 1944, which stipulated that a five year limit should be imposed on the position.
Invited to join Royal Society of British Sculptors
2 March 1905 - 3 April 1905
Amongst the suggested second wave of those invited to join 'without further nomination' [2 March 1905, Royal Society of British Sculptors, Minutes of Council Meetings, Vol.I]: but name removed from list following further discussion at next meeting [3 April 1905, Royal Society of British Sculptors, Minutes of Council Meetings, Vol.I]
Member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1908 - 1949
Died in 1949.
Member of Art Workers Guild
June 1914 - 1930
Resigned from guild in 1930.
Member of council Royal Society of British Sculptors
1919 (Presumed) - 1944
Served as a member of the Council from 1919 to 1924. The 1924 'Annual Report' notes that Crook 'felt it necessary to resign, for family reasons, which prevented his attendance'. From 1929 to 1930 he resumed this position. He served again from 1936, and was also Treasurer from c. 1937 to 1939. Crook served again on the Council from 1944
Teacher of modeling at Manchester School of Art
1896 (Presumed) - 1905 (Presumed)
Crook also lectured in anatomy (based on information from Crook's family).
Unsuccessful in ballot for election to Royal Academy of Arts
Despite nominations in 1917, 1925 and 1933.
Personal and Professional Connections
Nominated by David McGill
11 March 1907
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominated by William Goscombe John
26 April 1917
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Frederick William Pomeroy
26 April 1917
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by William Hamo Thornycroft
26 April 1917
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by David Murray
26 April 1917 - 1925
Two nominations for RA, in 1917 and 1925, both unsuccessful.
Nominated by George James Frampton
26 April 1917 - January 1925
two nominations for RA, in 1917 and 1925, both unsuccessful.
Nominated by Francis Derwent Wood
February 1925
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Charles Leonard Hartwell
March 1933
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Alfred Turner
March 1933
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Wilfred Gabriel de Glehn
March 1933
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by George Spencer Watson
March 1933
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Sydney Lee
March 1933
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Leonard Campbell Taylor
March 1933
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Edwin Landseer Lutyens
March 1933
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominated by Frederick Landseer Maur Griggs
March 1933
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominator of Hibbert Charles Binney
1905 (Presumed)
Nominator of John Millard
1923 (Circa)
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors
Seconded by Francis Derwent Wood
11 March 1907
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Art Master, Sculptor, Professional' and working on own account
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Sculptor' working on own account
Sources
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1913-1933
1914, p.10, p.13; 1930, p.12.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-eighth, 1898 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1898
pp. 45-48.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-ninth, 1899 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1899
pp. 48-52.
Catalogue of the Eighteenth Autumn Exhibition, 1900
1900
p. 2
Catalogue of the Exhibition of Works of Members and Associates of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts, Summer 1907
1907
Cat. Nos. 33, 115, pp. 15, 25, 30
Catalogue of the Fifteenth Autumn Exhibition, 1897
1897
Cat. No. 422, 428, pp. 2, 44, 48
Catalogue of the Nineteenth Autumn Exhibition, 1901
1901
Cat. No. 280, pp. 2, 49, 52
Catalogue of the Seventeenth Autumn Exhibition, 1899
1899
Cat. Nos. 250, 251, pp. 2, 43, 46
Catalogue of the Sixteenth Autumn Exhibition, 1898
1898
Cat. Nos. 231, 238, pp. 2, 27, 30
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1906
1906
Cat. No. 852, pp. 71, 81
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1909
1909
Cat. No. 236, pp. 25, 71
Catalogue of the Twenty-Fifth Autumn Exhibition, 1907
1907
Cat. No. 265, pp. 48, 53
Catalogue of the Twenty-First Autumn Exhibition, 1903
1903
Cat. No. 280, pp. 44, 51
Catalogue of the Twenty-Sixth Autumn Exhibition, 1908
1908
Cat. No. 197, pp. 36, 40
Catalogue of the Twenty-Third Autumn Exhibition, 1905
1905
Cat. Nos. 283, 291, pp. 47, 48, 52
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
Class: RG13; Piece: 3697; Folio: 63; Page: 39
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2011
RG14PN6946 RD128 SD5 ED19 SN325
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Thomas Newburn Crook
Probate Date: 2 Jun 1950
Death Date: 18 Jan 1949
Death Place: Middlesex, England
Registry: London, England
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1906-1927
1927
p.87.
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1927-1938
1938
p.34.
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Annual Report of Council and Accounts For the Year ending 21 December 1922. To be Presented at the Eighteenth Ordinary General Meeting, 1923
26 February 1923
p. 1
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Annual Report of Council, with Accounts for the Year Ending 31 December 1936, to be Presented at the Thirty-Third Ordinary General Meeting, 1937
March 1937
pp. 2, 14
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Minutes of Council Meetings No. 1, 1905-1913
19 May 1913
2 March 1905; 3 April 1905; 11 March 1907.
Citing this record
'Thomas Mewburn Crook ARCA, RBA, FRBS, HRI', 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=msib2_1207215317, accessed 02 Oct 2023]
