Robert Jackson
Born 1824 (Circa)
Died 1905 (Circa)
Active: 1861 - 1900
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor
Born in Norwich, Norfolk. He was probably the son of Robert Jackson (born c.1796 in Norfolk), a stonemason. Jackson may have served an apprenticeship with his father or another stonemasonry firm in the early 1840s. He was later appointed chief assistant to the sculptor, John Thomas creating the statues and ornamental sculpture for the Houses of Parliament. According to Roscoe (2009) he was working in Rome between 1860-3, however during this time he maintained an address in Newman Street, London and exhibited at the Royal Academy.
Jackson was primarily a portrait sculptor but he also created ideal works, animal subjects and medals. His known public commissions include: the monument to Robert Anderson, Glasgow Cathedral (1863), a drinking-fountain with a seated figure of a boy, St James’s Park, London (1863), and a statue of Lord Palmerston (commissioned by the government), Westminster Abbey, 1870. A marble statue of 'The Hon. Francis Henry Campbell' is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, it has been dated from about 1872, it shows a standing young boy with kilt, sporran and spats holding a landing net and leaning on a tree stump. The statue is probably related to 'The Hon A. Campbell, youngest son of the Earl of Cawdor' which Jackson exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1867.
Locations
Address 2 Dorchester Place London | View on map
1851 (Circa) - 1860 (Circa)
Address 16 Maida Vale London W | View on map
1860 (Circa) - 1867 (Circa)
Address also given as Maida Hill, however Maida Vale recorded in Census Returns of 1861
Address 17 Newman Street Oxford Street London | View on map
1861 (Circa) - 1863 (Circa)
Address 29 Maida Vale London | View on map
1869 (Circa) - 1900 (Circa)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1851 - 1878
Exhibited 14 times, between one and four works per year, thirty works in total.
Exhibited at The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Annual Exhibition, 1861-1951
1865
Institutional and Business Connections
Represented Victoria and Albert Museum
The Museum acquired a marble statue of 'The Hon. Francis Henry Campbell' by Jackson in 1969 (Museum number: A.191-1969)
Personal and Professional Connections
Assistant to John Thomas
1843 - 1851
When John Thomas received the commission to create the statues and ornamental carvings for the new Palace of Westminster, London, he appointed Jackson as his chief assistant
Mother/father/parent of Robert Jackson jnr
Descriptions of Practice
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
'Sculptor'
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
'Sculptor in practice'
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Sculptor' employer
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
'Sculptor' working at home
Listed under Sculptors Post Office London Directory, 1860 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
p. 1803
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, 1861
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841
Both Robert Jackson and his father, also Robert Jackson 'Stonemason'. Please note this identification is likely but nevertheless provisional.
Sources
A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851
2009
pp. 663-4
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841
2004
HO107
Piece number 788
Book number 3
Folio number 7
Page number 9
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2004
HO107 piece 1490 folio 620 page 7
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
2004
Class: RG9; Piece: 5; Folio: 81; Page: 37; GSU roll: 542554
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
RG11 piece 7 folio 32 page 58
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
RG12 piece 4 folio 131 page 18
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2001
RG13 piece 7 folio 132 page 18
Post Office London Directory, 1860 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1860
p. 1803
Post Office London Directory, 1900 Post Office/Kelly London Directories
1900
p.2371
Citing this record
'Robert Jackson', 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=msib6_1235668438, accessed 30 Mar 2023]
