Sir William Hamo Thornycroft RA
Born 9 March 1850
Died 18 December 1925
Active: 1868 - 1925
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, medallist
Born in London. He was the younger son of the sculptor Thomas Thornycroft and his wife, Mary Thornycroft , also a sculptor and daughter of the sculptor John Francis. Hamo Thornycroft began to study sculpture in 1868, first under his father and subsequently at the Royal Academy Schools. In 1871 he began exhibiting at the Royal Academy and soon afterwards made a trip to Italy. By the mid to late 1870s Thornycroft had attracted significant attention for works shown at the Royal Academy and in 1881 he was elected an ARA.
His major public monuments include: the statues of General Gordon in Trafalgar Square (1888) and Oliver Cromwell in Old Palace Yard (1899), which latter won the médaille d'honneur at the Paris world exhibition of 1900; the group of Dean Colet and two kneeling scholars at St. Paul's School, West Kensington (1902); the national memorial to Gladstone in East Aldwych (1905); and the circular bas-relief in stone of Richard Norman Shaw in New Scotland Yard (1914). There is also a statue of Queen Victoria in the Royal Exchange, and a bronze effigy of Mandell Creighton, bishop of London, in St. Paul's Cathedral.
Of Thornycroft's works to be found outside London are the statue of King Alfred at Winchester (1901); the monument of Bishop Harvey Goodwin in Carlisle Cathedral; the Lord Armstrong memorial at Newcastle-upon-Tyne; the memorial of the viceroyalty of Lord Curzon, set up in Calcutta in 1912; the King Edward VII memorial at Karachi (1915); the war memorial at Luton (1923); and the statue of Bishop H. W. Yeatman-Biggs in Coventry Cathedral (1925).
Thornycroft died at the Acland Home in St Giles', Oxford.
Wealth at death: £24,903 2s. 0d.
Probate date: 24 February 1926
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.
'The ploughman plods his weary way'
H.R.H. Princess Victoria of Wales
1880 (Presumed)
Professor Ella, Director of the Musical Union, London
1880 (Presumed)
A Mower
1896 (Presumed)
Medallion
1896 (Presumed)
Edward I
1896 (Presumed)
Sir George Stokes
1901
Oliver Cromwell
1901
Sir James Chance
1901
The Bather
1901
The Joy of Life
1901
Locations
Address 21 Wilton Place London SW | View on map
1872 (Circa) - 1876 (Circa)
Address Moreton House 2 Melbury Road London | View on map
1878 - 1926
This was the house to which his purpose built studio at 2a Melbury Road was attached
Studio located at 2A Melbury Road Kensington London W | View on map
1878 (Circa) - 1925
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Adjudicated Welsh National War Memorial Competition, 1922
1922
Acted as 'sculptor assessor' for the competition.
Award received from Prize for Distinguished Service to Sculpture (Royal Society of British Sculptors), 1923-1949
6 February 1923
Awarded the medal in 1923.
Exhibited at Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: First Exhibition, 1888
''The ploughman plods his weary way''
Exhibited at Yorkshire Fine Art Society, Autumn Exhibition, 1880
'Professor Ella, Director of the Musical Union, London'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1895
'Edward I'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1909
'Courage'
Exhibited at Corporation of Manchester Art Gallery, Twelfth Autumn Exhibition, 1894
Multiple works
Exhibited at City of Manchester Art Gallery, Exhibition of Modern Oil Paintings and Sculpture, 1913
'Devoniensis'
Exhibited at Laing Art Gallery, Special Inaugural Exhibition of Pictures by British and Foreign Artists, 1904
Multiple works
Exhibited at Crystal Palace Exhibition (Royal Society of British Sculptors), 1934
exhibited posthumously
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1872 - 1925
Exhibited 52 times, 145 works in all (plus 3 works shown posthumously in 1926)
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of pictures, in oil and water-colours: the nineteenth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1889
1889
Teucer (cat. no. 1510, bronze, £40).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-second (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1892
1892
Portrait Medal (cat. no. 1353, bronze, not for sale).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-fourth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1894
1894
A Mower (cat. no. 1304, bronze statue, £800).
Exhibited at Cardiff Fine Art, Industrial and Maritime Exhibition, 1896
2 May 1896 - 30 September 1896
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-sixth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1896
1896
The Joy of Life (cat. no. 1194, bronze statue, £840).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-seventh (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1897
1897
Miss Joan Thornycroft (cat. no. 1319, bronze medallion, not for sale).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-eighth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1898
1898
The Bather (cat. no. 1472, bronze statuette, not for sale).
Exhibited at International Exhibition, Glasgow, 1901
1901
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the thirty-first (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1901
1901
Oliver Cromwell (cat. no. 1649, bronze replica of head of the statue erected at Westminster, 1899, not for sale, lent by the Rt Hon. Lord Roseberry).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of pictures & sculpture: the thirty-second (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1902
1902
The King Alfred Memorial at Winchester (cat. no. 1401, model in silver, lent by Alfred Bowker, Esq., Mayor of Winchester, not for sale).
Exhibited at Special Loan Exhibition of Paintings of the British School 1878-1903, and Sculpture (Nottingham Castle Museum), 1903
September 1903
Thornycroft exhibited two sculptures (both works were undated).
Exhibited at The Royal Scottish Academy Exhibition, 1826-
1903 - 1917
Exhibited at the annual exhibition 3 times: 1903 (1 work), 1907 (2 works) and 1917 (2 works)
Exhibited at International Exhibition, Dublin, 1907
1907
British Sculpture, Gallery II:
'Dr Mandell Creighton' (statue, bronzed plaster model), p. 25 (180); 'William Ewart Gladstone' (statuette; bronzed plaster model), p. 27 (218); 'Teucer' (bronze statuette), p. 28 (221); 'The Mower' (bronze statuette), p. 28 (224). All lent by the sculptor.
Exhibited at Works by the Late Sir H. Thornycroft, RA, and F. Derwent Wood, RA (Royal Academy of Arts), 1927
January 1927 - February 1927
Works were exhibited posthumously.
Exhibited at Festival of Britain, London: Ten Decades, a Review of British Taste, 1851-1951, 1951
1951
Thornycroft's 'The Reaper' (representing the period 1871-1880) was lent by the Fine Arts Society, and exhibited posthumously.
Exhibition committee member for The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The One Hundred and Twenty-First, 1889
9 April 1889 - 24 April 1889
Responsible for the arrangement of sculpture for the exhibition. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1888', 1889, p. 30.
Exhibition committee member for The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth (Summer Exhibition), 1897
6 April 1897 - 19 April 1897 (Presumed)
Responsible for the arrangement of sculpture, until 'owing to his [Thornycroft's] illness', this was taken over by 'Mr. Armstead'. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1897' (1898), p. 25.
Exhibition committee member for The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The One Hundred and Thirty-Seventh (Summer Exhibition), 1905
4 April 1905 - 15 April 1905
Responsible for the arrangement of sculpture. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1905' (1906), p. 27.
Exhibition committee member for The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The One Hundred and Thirty-Eighth (Summer Exhibition), 1906
16 April 1906 - 23 May 1906
Responsible for the arrangement of sculpture. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1906' (1907), p. 28.
Exhibition committee member for The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The One Hundred and Forty-Fourth (Summer Exhibition), 1912
10 April 1912 - 22 April 1912
Responsible for the arrangement of sculpture. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1912' (1914), pp. 24-25.
Exhibition committee member for The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The One Hundred and Forty-Fifth (Summer School), 1913
9 April 1913 - 19 April 1913
Respsonsible for the arrangement of sculpture. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1913' (1915), p. 23.
Exhibition committee member for The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, The One Hundred and Forty-Sixth (Summer Exhibition), 1914
8 April 1914 - 20 April 1914
Responsible for the arrangement of sculpture. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1914' (1915), p. 30.
Memorials included Memorial to William Hamo Thornycroft (Royal Society of British Sculptors), 1931-1932
Selection committee member of Chantrey Bequest (Chantrey Fund; Royal Academy of Arts), 1875-1948
1905 - 1922
Served on the selection committee for sculpture from 1905 to 1909, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1918, 1919, 1921 and 1922 (see Royal Academy, 'Annual Reports').
Speaker at Bronze Founding (Art Workers Guild), 1885
Spoke after lecture.
Speaker at Pedestals and Canopies (Art Workers Guild), 1887
Speaker at Architecture, from the Painter's and Sculptor's points of view (Art Workers Guild), 1892
Institutional and Business Connections
Committee member of Whitechapel Art Gallery
1905
Acted as a 'Representative Trustee on the Governing Body of the Whitechapel Art Gallery'. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1905', (1906), p. 9.
Committee member of War Memorials Committee (Royal Academy of Arts), 1918
1918
Committee member of Royal Society of Arts
1924
Served as a Member of the Council.
Committee member of Royal Society of Arts
March 1925 - December 1925
Served as a Member of the Council.
Elected ARA Royal Academy of Arts
20 January 1881 - 10 May 1888
Elected RA in 1888.
Elected RA Royal Academy of Arts
10 May 1888 - 18 December 1925
Died in 1925.
Fellow of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1923 - 1925
Died in 1925.
Lectured at Royal Academy Schools
1 March 1882 - 1885
Delivered one lecture on sculpture in 1882. See Royal Academy 'Annual Report, 1882', (1883), p. 49. Thornycroft also lectured on sculpture in 1885. See 'Annual Report, 1885', (1886), p. 19.
Member of Art Workers Guild
1884 (Circa) - 1901
Member of The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society
1889 (Circa)
Member of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1905 - 1925
Amongst those 'Invited to join without the formality of proposal and seconding' [January 10 1905, Royal Society of British Sculptors, Minutes of Council Meetings, Vol.I]. Died in 1925.
Member of committee at Royal Institute of British Architects
11 May 1908 (Circa)
Letter from the Royal Institute of British Architects read at the meeting of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, requesting that the Society 'appoint a member to represent them [the RBS] upon a committee to be formed for the purpose of considering a proposal to establish an annual international exhibition of architecture and the decorative arts [...] Resolved that the invitation be accepted, and that Mr.Thornycroft be appointed to represent the society on that committee' [11 May 1908, Royal Society of British Sculptors: Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1]
Member of council Royal Academy of Arts
1889 - 1920
Served as a Member of the Council from 1889 to 1890, 1896 to 1898, 1905 to 1906, 1912 to 1914, and from 1919 to 1920. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Reports'.
Studied at Royal Academy Schools
14 June 1869 - 1875 (Presumed)
Start date is given in Popp and Valentine, 'Royal Academy of Arts Directory of Membership', (1996), p. 119. Thornycroft won two silver medals for the 'best Restoration of the "Ilissus"', and for the best model from the antique in 1870. See Royal Academy 'Annual Report, 1870', (1871), p. 22. In 1875 he won a gold medal for the best composition in sculpture: see 'Annual Report, 1875', (1878), p. 29.
Vice-president of Royal Society of British Sculptors
1924 - 1925
Died in 1925.
Visitor at Royal Academy Schools
1882 - 1914
Listed as a visitor to the School of Modelling from the Life from 1882 to 1889, and from 1902 onwards. See Royal Academy 'Annual Report, 1881', (1882), p. 35.
Personal and Professional Connections
Assistant was Sidney Herbert Physick
Physick modelled the clay effigy of Bishop Goodwin for Carlisle Cathedral
Assistant was Charles Leonard Hartwell
Assistant was Charles John Allen
1890 (Circa) - 1894
After leaving the Royal Academy Schools Allen was employed by Thornycroft. He assisted Thornycroft on the statues of John Bright for Rochdale (1891) and Queen Victoria for the Royal Exchange (1893-5) [See M. Clough Ed. 'C.J. Allen 1862-1956: Sculptor and Teacher' pp. 16-7]
Assistant was John Tweed
1891 (Circa) - 1893 (Circa)
Tweed assisted Thornycroft on the carving of the frieze for the Institute of Chartered Accountants' building, Moorgate
Assistant was Allan Gairdner Wyon
1910 - 1911
Wyon worked as assistant sculptor to Thornycroft. See Forrer, vol. 6, (1916), p. 581.
Assistant was Mortimer John Brown
1911 (Circa)
Assistant was Harold Parker
1917 (Circa)
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110141b.htm?hilite=parker%3Bharold accessed 12 December 2009
Brother/sibling of Alice Thornycroft
Daughter/son/child of Mary Thornycroft
Daughter/son/child of Thomas Thornycroft
Granddaughter/grandson/grandchild of John Francis
Nominated by George Dunlop Leslie
25 April 1879
For RA.
Nominator of Thomas Stirling Lee
2 December 1892
For RA.
Nominator of Charles Beacon
4 December 1905
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominator of Mortimer John Brown
4 December 1905
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominator of Henry Price
4 December 1905
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominator of Arthur Stanley Young
4 December 1905
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominator of Albert Hemstock Hodge
12 March 1906
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominator of Albert Hemstock Hodge
19 November 1907
For RA.
Nominator of Frederick Brook Hitch
13 May 1907
For membership of Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominator of Richard Louis Garbe
11 May 1908
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Nominator of James Havard Thomas
23 January 1908
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominator of Stanley Nicholson Babb
1912
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominator of Mortimer John Brown
1912
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominator of Ernest George Gillick
1912
For RA.
Nominator of Richard Louis Garbe
4 May 1912
For RA.
Nominator of Alexander James Leslie
1912 (Presumed)
For RA; cancelled nomination at an unspecified date.
Nominator of William Reid Dick
1914
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominator of Thomas Mewburn Crook
26 April 1917
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominator of Leonard Stanford Merrifield
26 April 1917
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominator of William McMillan
21 March 1922 (Presumed)
For RA.
Nominator of John Angel
19 March 1924
For RA; unsuccessful.
Nominator of Charles Sargeant Jagger
November 1925
For RA.
Seconded by Frederic Leighton
25 April 1879
For RA.
Seconder of Edouard Lanteri
13 November 1906
For RA; unsuccessful.
Seconder of Charles James Pibworth
12 March 1906
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Seconder of George Hardie
23 May 1910
For membership of the Royal Society of British Sculptors [23 May 1910, Royal Society of British Sculptors, Minutes of Council Meetings, no.1].
Descriptions of Practice
Listed as medallist Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Coin, Gem, and Seal-Engravers, Mint Masters, &c., Ancient and Modern with References to their Works, B.C. 500 - A.D. 1900, Volume VIII, 1930 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Forrer notes that the artist exhibited a gilt-bronze medallion at the Royal Academy, London, in 1916 and a bronze portrait panel in 1916. See vol. 8, (1930), p. 235.
Listed under Sculptors Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Coin, Gem, and Seal-Engravers, Mint Masters, &c., Ancient and Modern with References to their Works, B.C. 500 - A.D. 1900, Volume VI, 1916 Biographical Dictionary of Medallists
Listed as a sculptor. Trained at the Royal Academy Schools and under his father Thomas Thornycroft. Worked on a number of modelled figures in England from c. 1871 onwards. Forrer discusses many of the artist's modelled works that were produced between 1871 and 1895. Forrer states that the artist was 'in 1892 one of the competing sculptors who submitted designs or patterns for the coinage of Queen Victoria 1893, the adopted models for which were prepared by T. Brock'. He also adds that Thornycroft 'ocassionally modelled Portrait-medals and Plaquettes', including one of Agatha Thornycroft that was exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, in 1904. See Forrer, vol. 6, (1916), pp. 82-84. Forrer lists sources including Speilmann's 'British Sculpture and Sculptors of To-day' (1901).
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
Thomas, Mary and William Hamo all 'Sculptor' and Alice and Frances 'Painter'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
Thomas and Mary 'Sculptor', William Hamo 'Sculptor ARA', Mary and Theresa 'Painter' and Henry Webb (born c.1867 in Notting Hill) 'Studio Sweeper Domestic'
Sources
Annual Report from the Council of The Royal Academy to the General Assembly of Academicians for the Year 1882, 1883 Royal Academy Annual Reports
1883
pp. 16, 30, 49
Annual Report from the Council of The Royal Academy to the General Assembly of Academicians for the Year 1885, 1886 Royal Academy Annual Reports
1886
pp. 19, 31, 49
Annual Report from the Council of The Royal Academy to the General Assembly of Academicians for the Year 1912, 1914 Royal Academy Annual Reports
1914
pp. 19, 25, 29
Annual Report from the Council of The Royal Academy to the General Assembly of Academicians for the Year 1913, 1915 Royal Academy Annual Reports
1915
pp. 18, 23, 27
Annual Report from the Council of The Royal Academy to the General Assembly of Academicians for the Year 1914, 1915 Royal Academy Annual Reports
1915
pp. 25, 30, 33
Annual Report from the Council of The Royal Academy to the General Assembly of Academicians for the Year 1924, 1925 Royal Academy Annual Reports
20 February 1925
pp. 2, 9
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1885-1900
1886, p.25; 1887, p.5; 1900, p.34.
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Papers relating to the founding of the Society
1888 (Circa)
'National Exhibition of the Arts'. Listed as one of 20 sculptors invited to be part of selection and hanging committee.
Arts and Crafts Society: Catalogue of the Second Exhibition.
1889
p.155.
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-fourth, 1894 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1894
pp. 49-52.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-seventh, 1897 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1897
pp. 44-47.
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-sixth, 1896 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1896
pp. 45-48.
Autumn exhibition of pictures & sculpture: the thirty-second, 1902 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1902
pp. 42-47.
Cardiff Fine Art, Industrial and Maritime Exhibition
1896
Catalogue of the Autumn Exhibition (Yorkshire Fine Art Society, Leeds) 1880
1880
Cat. Nos. 485, 522, pp. 52, 55
Catalogue of the Exhibition of Modern Oil Paintings and Sculpture, Autumn 1913
1913
Cat. No. 224, pp. 50, 44
Catalogue of the First Spring Exhibition 1880
1880
Cat. Nos. 712, 729, pp. 62, 63, xxv
Catalogue of the Special Inaugural Exhibition of Pictures by British and Foreign Artists, 1904
1904
p. 126
Catalogue of the Special Loan Exhibition of Paintings of the British School, 1873-1903, and Sculpture, 1903
1903
p. 77 and p. 87.
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1895
1895
Cat. No. 629, pp. 54, 117
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1909
1909
Cat. Nos. 497, 537, 538, pp. 43, 47, 88
Catalogue of the Twelfth Autumn Exhibition, 1894
1894
Cat. No. 619, pp. 53, 67
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
2004
Class: RG10; Piece: 103; Folio: 36; Page: 26; GSU roll: 838762
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
Class: RG11; Piece: 27; Folio: 131; Page: 3; GSU roll: 1341006
International Exhibition Glasgow, 1901,
Official Catalogue of the Fine Art Section
1901
International Exhibition, Dublin 1907, Fine Art Catalogue
1907
British Sculpture, Gallery II
p. 25, no. 180: 'Dr. Mandell Creighton.' Statue; Bronzed Plaster Model.
p. 27, no. 218: 'William Ewart Gladstone'. Statuette; bronzed Plaster Model.
p. 28, no. 221:'Teucer'. Bronze Statuette.
p. 28, no. 224:'The Mower'. Bronze Statuette.
All lent by the Sculptor.
List of Members: Royal Society of British Sculptors
2008
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
Mark Stocker, ‘Thornycroft, Sir (William) Hamo (1850–1925)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36513, accessed 11 July 2009]
Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p.2371
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1866-1906
1906
See entries for 1879. Address given but illegible. Also see entries for 1892, 1906.
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1906-1927
1927
p.5, p.42, pp.43-46, p.64, pp.86-87, p.107, p.201, p.224.
Royal Society of British Sculptors. Minutes of Council Meetings No. 1, 1905-1913
19 May 1913
10 January 1905; 4 December 1905; 12 March 1906; 13 May 1907; 6 July 1907; 11 May 1908; 23 May 1910; 21 October 1912.
Citing this record
'Sir William Hamo Thornycroft RA', 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_1208265032, accessed 05 Jun 2023]
