Newton Herbert Penprase

Other names: Newton Penpraze, Pen

Born 23 March 1888
Died 1978

Active: 1905 - 1978

Country of birth: England

Country of death: Northern Ireland

Teacher, painter, sculptor

Born Redruth, Cornwall. He was the son of Richard H. Penprase (born c.1859 in Madron, Cornwall), a house painter who often worked on decorating churches. Newton studied at Redruth School of Mines and School of Art (from 1909 Redruth School of Art when the mining section was moved to Camborne, Cornwall). In 1905 nine of his prize-winning drawings of church decorations, plate and plans of Camborne Church were acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

In October 1911 he was appointed Art Master at the Belfast College of Art and remained until his retirement in 1953. Penprase married Mildred McNeice (a former student of Belfast School of Art) in 1916. He taught a number of subjects including a ‘Natural Forms’ class and spent a period teaching a modelling class. Students included Rowel Friers and William Scott. Penprase was one of twenty entrants for a competition to extend the cenotaph at Belfast City Hall (1928). He entered four designs, one of which was shortlisted before Belfast Council abandoned the project. Penprase exhibited occasionally with the Ulster Arts Club and Ulster Academy.

In 1936 he began building Bendhu House at Ballintoy, Co. Antrim, a project that continued for over forty years. Penprase created a wide range of work for the house including: woodcarving; stained glass; mural painting; metal work; and a sculpture group of a rising phoenix and sea horse.

Note on surname: He occasionally used ‘Penpraze’, for example on his wedding certificate, and this spelling was used by his wife and his family. ‘Penprase’ was used by Newton in everyday life. At Belfast College of Art he was widely known as ‘Pen’ by staff and students.

This entry includes information supplied by David Penpraze and Emma McVeigh. There are images and information about Bendhu at the website of Ulster Architectural Heritage Society http://www.uahs.org.uk/resources/bendhu_ballintoy_county_antrim.php (accessed 29 October 2011)

Citing this record

'Newton Herbert Penprase', 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=msib3_1257717751, accessed 28 Feb 2021]