Robert Philip Underwood

Born 1876
Died 29 October 1944 (Presumed)

Active: 1899 - 1944

Country of birth and death: England

Carver, gilder, teacher of woodcarving and gilding

Born in Chelsea, London. Robert's parents names and occupations are not currently known because he seems to have been raised by his grandparents. His grandfather, Robert Underwood (born c.1820 in Enfield) lived in Bournemouth and was a gardener. In 1891 a cabinet maker, Robert John Hasberry (1869-1963, born Newington, London) was boarding with the Underwoods in Bournemouth. It is possible that Robert Philip Underwood was later apprenticed to Hasberry or to a contact made through him. Certainly by the late 1890s, Underwood had completed his training and was teaching at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. The address he was living at in 1901 (19 Bolsover Street) is associated with another wood carver, Theophil Wilryer who was listed there in the London Post Office Directory of 1900. Before 1911 Underwood returned to Bournemouth, possibly in 1904 when he married Emily Fielding. There he settled and established a carving, gilding and picture restoration business.

Wealth at death: £1,950 15s. 2d.
Probate date: 16 April 1945

Citing this record

'Robert Philip Underwood', 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=msib4_1250169500, accessed 05 Jun 2023]