Thomas Richard Essex
Born 1865
Died 21 August 1916
Active: 1888 - 1911
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, quarryman
Born in Avening, Gloucestershire. He was the son of Thomas Essex (c.1829-1907) who was a mason, inn keeper, farmer and quarry man. Thomas Essex senior was the son of a stonemason and in 1845 married Elizabeth Fowler who also came from a family involved in masonry. The marriage therefore extended the family's connections with the stone trades.
Thomas trained at the Royal Academy Schools and afterwards exhibited regularly in London and Liverpool. In 1894 he married Alice Kendall, the daughter of the family with which he had been lodging. Essex's future father-in-law, Richard Kendall, died in 1891 leaving effects valued at £1,792 1s and premises at 9 Agar Street where he had carried on a business as a painter, plumber, and glazier. This address was used by the young sculptor from 1898 although he also had other addresses at the same time. The year prior to his marriage, Essex was admitted to the St Martin's Lodge of the freemasons (Lodge Number: 2455). His known works include a statue of George Holloway, completed in 1894, in Rowcroft, Stroud, Gloucestershire.
This record includes information submitted by a descendant of Thomas Richard Essex.
Locations
Address 31 Devonshire Street London | View on map
1889 (Circa) - 1899 (Circa)
Address 9 Agar Place St. Martin-in-the-Fields London | View on map
1891 (Circa) - 1916
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1888 - 1899
Exhibited 7 times, 1 work per year.
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of pictures, in oil and water-colours: the eighteenth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1888
1888
George Shawcross Pendleton, Esq. (cat. no. 1368, plaster, not for sale).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-first (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1891
1891
Simplicity (cat. no. 1271, plaster, bronzed, £21).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-third (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1893
1893
The late Right Hon. W. H. Smith, MP, of the Treasury (cat. no. 1167, not for sale).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-sixth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1896
1896
The late Christopher James Thomas, Mayor of Bristol (cat. no. 1236, terracotta bust, not for sale).
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-ninth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1899
1899
The Late William Terriss, Esq. (cat. no. 1423, plaster bust, not for sale).
Won prize Landseer Scholarships (Royal Academy of Arts), 1884-1950
1888
Institutional and Business Connections
Studied at Royal Academy Schools
1888 (Presumed) - 1889 (Presumed)
Awarded the Landseer Scholarship for sculpture in 1888. See Royal Academy, 'Annual Report, 1888', (1889), p. 30. In 1889, Essex won a first prize silver medal for a model of a figure from the life. See 'Annual Report, 1889', (1890), p. 36.
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
'Quarryman's Son' overwritten 'no occ[upation]' and his father, Thomas Essex (c.1829-1907), was 'Innkeeper & Quarryman Farming 21 Acres of Land Employing 11 Labourers'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Sculptor of Fine Art' neither employer nor employed
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Sculptor (Fine Arts)' working on own account
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Sculptor' own account
Sources
Autumn exhibition of modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-ninth, 1899 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1899
pp. 48-52.
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 modern pictures in oil and water-colours: the twenty-third, 1893 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1893
pp. 42-45.
Autumn exhibition of pictures, in oil and water-colours: the eighteenth, 1888 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1888
pp. 54-56.
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
Class: RG11; Piece: 2550; Folio: 115; Page: 19; GSU roll: 1341615
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
Class: RG12; Piece: 215; Folio: 34; Page: 19; GSU roll: 6095325
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2001
Class: RG13; Piece: 240; Folio: 54; Page: 38
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2009
Class: RG14; Piece: 1191
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2007
2007
Name: Thomas R Essex
Birth Date: abt 1865
Date of Registration: Sep 1916
Age at Death: 51
Registration district: St Martin
Inferred County: London
Volume: 1a
Page: 481
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: Thomas Richard Fowles Essex
Registration Year: 1865
Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun
Registration district: Stroud
Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District
Inferred County: Gloucestershire
Volume: 6A
Page: 300
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Richard Kendall
Death Date: 11 May 1891
Death Place: London, England
Probate Date: 17 Jul 1891
Registry: Principal Registry
England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921
2015
Library and Museum of Freemasonry; London, England; Freemasonry Membership Registers; Description: Membership Registers: London H 1924-2202 to London I 2206-2535; Reel Number: 5
Citing this record
'Thomas Richard Essex', 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_1258471585, accessed 22 Mar 2023]
