George Blackall Simonds

George Blackall Simonds (6 October 1843 – 16 December 1929[1]) was an English sculptor and director of H & G Simonds Brewery in Reading in the English county of Berkshire.[2]

George Blackall Simonds
Portrait of Simonds, 1874
Born(1843-10-06)6 October 1843
Reading, Berkshire, England
Died16 December 1929(1929-12-16) (aged 86)
Bradfield, Berkshire, England
NationalityEnglish
Known forSculpture
Notable workThe Falconer (1873)
Maiwand Lion (1886)
Statue of Queen Victoria (1887)
Statue of George Palmer (1891)

Biography

George was the second son of George Simonds Senior of Reading, director of H & G Simonds, and Mary Anne, the daughter of William Boulger of Bradfield.[1] His grandfather was Reading brewing and banking entrepreneur, William Blackall Simonds.[1] He added Blackall to his name after the death of his brother, Blackall Simonds II, in 1905.[1] He was brother-in-law of the portrait painter, John Collingham Moore, and cousin of the botanist, George Simonds Boulger. He served as the inaugural Master of the Art Workers' Guild in 1884-85.

His best known works are The Falconer (1873) in Central Park, New York City (US) and the Maiwand Lion (1886) in the Forbury Gardens, Reading in Berkshire (UK).[1]

In 1922, he temporarily came out of retirement to build the war memorial in Bradfield, the village where he lived in Berkshire. This commemorates the deaths of local men in the First World War, including his son, a lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers.[n 1]

In 2005, users of Reading Borough Libraries, voted him winner of the 'Great People of Reading' poll.

Works

Notes
  1. His son, George Prescott Blackall Simonds, died aged 33 on 26 September 1914 in the opening weeks of the war. He was among the missing and is commemorated on the La Ferte-sous-Jouarre Memorial.[3]

References
  1. Simonds, Raymond (2004). "George Blackall Simonds". Royal Berkshire History. Nash Ford Publishing. Retrieved 7 March 2007.
  2. "Simonds Brewery". BBC Berkshire. Retrieved 7 March 2007.
  3. "Casualty Details: Blackall Simonds, George Prescott". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
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