Thomas Brock

Sir Thomas Brock KCB RA (1 March 1847  22 August 1922) was an English sculptor and medallist, notable for the creation of several large public sculptures and monuments in Britain and abroad in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.[1] [2] His most famous work is the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, London.[2] Other commissions included the redesign of the effigy of Queen Victoria on British coinage, the massive bronze equestrian statue of Edward, the Black Prince, in City Square, Leeds and the completion of the statue of Prince Albert on the Albert Memorial.[3][4]


Thomas Brock

Born1 March 1847
Died22 August 1922(1922-08-22) (aged 75)
London, England
Resting placeMayfield, East Sussex
NationalityBritish
Alma mater
  • School of Design, Worcester
  • Royal Academy Schools
Known forSculpture, coin design

Biography

Brock was born on 1 March 1847 in Worcester.[2] He was the only son of a painter and decorator and attended the Government School of Design in Worcester, after which he undertook an apprenticeship in modelling at the Worcester Royal Porcelain Works.[5] In 1866 he became a pupil of the sculptor John Henry Foley and also enrolled in the Royal Academy Schools, where he won a gold medal for sculpture in 1869.[5][6] He met and befriended Frederic, Lord Leighton, whose emphasis on realism and naturalism in sculpture led Brock to become part of the New Sculpture movement and to develop his talent for sympathetic and realistic portraiture.[4] After Foley's sudden death in 1874, Brock finished several of his commissions, including the monument to Daniel O'Connell in Dublin and a large bronze equestrian statue of Lord Canning for Kolkata.[5][7][8] It was his completion of Foley's statue of Prince Albert for the Albert Memorial which first brought Brock to prominence and secured his position as an establishment sculptor.[7][6][9] He also assisted in the casting of Lord Leighton's greatly influential 1877 sculpture An Athlete Wrestling with a Python.[10]

Brock was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1883 and became a full member in 1891.[6] He was a founding member, and the first president, of the Society of British Sculptors.[11]

Thomas Brock in his studio, 1889

Brock's group The Moment of Peril (now in the garden of Leighton House) was followed by The Genius of Poetry, at the Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen. A plaster model for Eve was shown at the Royal Academy in 1898; a marble version (1900) is in the collection of the Tate and Brock also cast some smaller bronze replicas and other imaginative works that mark his development.[12] His portrait works include busts, such as those of Lord Leighton and Queen Victoria, statues, such as Sir Richard Owen and Henry Philpott, bishop of Worcester, and sepulchral monuments such as that of Lord Leighton in St Paul's Cathedral.[1][6][11]

Brock made statues of Victoria to celebrate her golden and diamond jubilees and also designed the depiction of her "veiled" or "widowed" head, used on all gold, silver and bronze coinage between 1893 and 1901.[11]

In 1901 Brock won the commission to make a colossal equestrian statue of Edward the Black Prince for Leeds City Square. The same year, he was given perhaps his most significant commission, the vast multi-figure Imperial Memorial to Queen Victoria, to be erected in front of Buckingham Palace.[9] The unveiling of this memorial took place on 16 May 1911,[13] and according to legend King George V was so moved by the excellence of the memorial that he called for a sword and knighted Brock on the spot.[9] In any event, it was on the same day that the Lord Chamberlain’s Office notified The London Gazette that the king had ordered that Brock be appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.[14]

From 1914 to 1919 Brock returned to the post of president of the Society of British Sculptors.[11]

Brock married in 1869 and had eight children. He died in London on 22 August 1922 and is buried at Mayfield, East Sussex.[4]

Public monuments

1875–1889

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
Date TypeMaterialDimensions DesignationWikidata Notes

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Richard Baxter St Mary's, Kidderminster 1875 Statue on pedestalMarble and granite Grade II Originally in the Bull Ring, Kidderminster and moved to its present site in March 1967.[15][16][17][18]

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William Rathbone V Sefton Park, Liverpool 1877 Statue on pedestal with plaquesPortland stone & bronze Grade IIQ26333129 Statue by John Henry Foley, pedestal by Brock[19]

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A Moment of Peril Rosenborg Castle Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark 1880 Sculpture groupBronze Q57542450 Replica of the original in the gardens of the Leighton House Museum in London.[20]

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Statue of Robert Raikes Victoria Embankment Gardens, London 1880 Statue on pedestalBronze and stone Grade IIQ19967451 [10][21][22]

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Sir Rowland Hill Vicar Street, Kidderminster 1881 Statue on circular pedestalMarble and granite Grade IIQ26392153 [18][23][24][25]
Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai 1884 StatueMarble Moved in 1965 from north end of Oval, Mumbai[8]

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, London 1884 BustMarble [11][4][26]

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William Menelaus National Museum Cardiff 1884 BustMarble72.4cm [27]

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Colin Minton Campbell London Road, Stoke-on-Trent 1887 Statue on pedestalBronze and stone5.05m high [18][28]

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Queen Victoria Shire Hall, Worcester 1887 Statue on pedestalMarble and granite Grade IIQ26669257 [18][29]

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Statue of Henry Bartle Frere Whitehall Gardens, London 1888 Statue on pedestalBronze and granite3.4m tall Grade IIQ21286428 [10][30][22][6]

1890–1899

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
Date TypeMaterialDimensions DesignationWikidata Notes

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Queen Victoria Houses of Parliament, Cape Town, South Africa 1890 Statue on pedestalGranite pedestal Q20614583
Daniel O'Connell St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, Australia Erected 1891 Statue on pedestalBronze [31]

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Bishop Henry Philpott Worcester Cathedral 1892 Seated statue on pedestalMarble and stone [11][32][33]
Lord Arthur Hervey Wells Cathedral post-1894 Chest tomb with effigy & puttiMarble and stone Grade I [11][34]
Richard Owen Natural History Museum, London 1896 Statue on pedestalBronze and marble [11][35]

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Memorial to Sir Augustus Harris Catherine St. facade of Theatre Royal, Drury Lane 1897 Wall mounted drinking fountain and sculptureGranite and bronze Grade I Memorial architect: Sidney R. J. Smith [36]

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William Lewis, 1st Baron Merthyr Upper Thomas Street, Merthyr Tydfil 1898 Statue on pedestalBronze and granite Grade IIQ29489929 [18][37]

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Henry Tate Tate Britain 1898 BustBronze533 x 584 x 356mm [38]
Thomas Hughes Rugby School 1899 Statue on pedestal [39]

1900–1909

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
Date TypeMaterialDimensions DesignationWikidata Notes

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Queen Victoria Victoria Square, Birmingham 1901, recast 1951 Statue on pedestalBronze and stone Q47460184 Recast by William Bloye from Brock's original marble statue in 1951[40]

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Statue of Queen Victoria Grand Avenue, Hove Unveiled 1901 Statue on pedestalBronze and marble Grade IIQ26482744 [18][41][42]

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Lord Frederic Leighton memorial St Paul's Cathedral, London 1902 Effigy on pedestal & plinth with supporting figuresBronze and coloured marbles [43]

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Queen Victoria Carlton House Terrace, London Unveiled 1902, relocated 1971 StatueMarble1.9m tall Q19927909 [10]

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Queen Victoria Bitts Park, Carlisle 1902 Statue on pedestal & stepsBronze and granite Grade IIQ26513391 [44][45]
Royal Scots Fusiliers memorial Burns Statue Square, Ayr 1902 Statue on pedestalBronze and granite Category BQ17834558 [46][47]

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Edward, the Black Prince Leeds City Square 1903 Equestrian statue on pedestalBronze and granite Grade II*Q17533834 [18][48][6]

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Queen Victoria Belfast City Hall. 1903 Statue on pedestal and steps with sculpturesMarble, Portland stone, bronze Grade AQ17778520 [49][50]

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Edward James Harland Belfast City Hall 1903 Statue on pedestalStone Q17778453 [51]

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William Ewart Gladstone St John's Gardens, Liverpool 1904 Statue on pedestal, relief panel with 2 statues at baseBronze Grade IIQ26333153 [18][52]

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William Ewart Gladstone North transept, Westminster Abbey, London 1904 Statue on pedestalMarble [4][53][54]

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Sir John Everett Millais Tate Britain, London 1905 Statue on pedestalBronze and Portland stone6.7m tall Grade IIQ27080819 [10][55][56]

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Sir Henry Tate Brixton Oval, London 1905 Bust on pedestalBronze and stone Grade IIQ27087718 [18][57]

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Statue of Queen Victoria Queen's Park, Bangalore 1906 Statue on pedestalMarble and sandstone Q22116770 [8][58]

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Queen Victoria Queens Gardens, Brisbane, Australia 1906 Statue on pedestalBronze and stone [59]

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General John Nicholson Royal School Dungannon, County Tyrone 1906 Statue on pedestalBronze and stone Grade B+Q17861889 Originally erected in Kolkata, moved to Delhi then relocated to Dungannon in 1960.[60][61][62][8]

1910–1919

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
Date TypeMaterialDimensions DesignationWikidata Notes

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Statue of Sir Henry Irving Charing Cross Road, London 1910 Statue on pedestalBronze and Portland stone Grade IIQ18162015 [10][63]
Edward VII King Edward VII Galleries, British Museum 1911 BustGilded bronze77cm by 78.3cm Marble copy in Buckingham Palace[64][65]

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Victoria Memorial, London The Mall, London Unveiled 1911, completed 1924 Sculpture on pillar with statues and fountainsMarble, bronze, Portland stone Grade IQ1333411 [10][18][66][6][67]

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William Lewis, 1st Baron Merthyr Aberdare Park, Aberdare 1913 Statue on pedestalBronze and granite Grade IIQ29489480 [68]

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Navigation Admiralty Arch, London 1908–1913 Wall-mounted statuePortland stone Grade I [69]

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Gunnery Admiralty Arch, London 1908–1913 Wall-mounted statuePortland stone Grade I [69][70]

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Statue of Captain James Cook The Mall, London 1914 Statue on pedestalBronze and Portland stone Grade IIQ17514442 [18][10][71][72]
Joseph Lister Westminster Abbey, London 1915 Portrait medallionMarble [4]

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Edward VII Queen's Park, Toronto 1919 Equestrian statue on pedestalBronze and stone Originally erected in Delhi, India, relocated to Canada in 1969 as a gift of the government of India.[73][8]

1920 and later

Image Title / subject Location and
coordinates
Date TypeMaterialDimensions DesignationWikidata Notes

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Titanic Memorial, Belfast Belfast City Hall 1920 Statue group on pedestalStone Q7809806 [50]

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Edward VII Macquarie Street, Sydney, Australia 1921 Equestrian statue on pedestalBronze and stone Brock won the commission in 1915, but the work was not finished and delivered until 1921.[74]

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Queen Victoria Victoria Memorial, Kolkata, India 1921 Statue on pedestalMarble Q92360284 Completed 1917, unveiled 1921[8][75][76]
Captain Charles Grant Seely St Olave's Church, Gatcombe, Isle of Wight. 1922 Sculpture on box tombMarble and stone Q93239404 Brock's final completed work.[77][78]

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Memorial to Joseph Lister Portland Place, London 1924 Bust on column with sculpturesBronze and granite Grade IIQ21541736 [79]

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War memorial Queen's University, Belfast 1924 Statue group on pedestalBronze and granite Q66459168 [80]

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Joseph Lister National Portrait Gallery, London 1927 BustBronze Cast 1927 from a 1912-13 plaster work.[81]

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Robert Raikes Gloucester 1930 Statue on pedestalBronze and stone A copy of Brock's 1880 statue in London[18][82]

Other works

See also

References

  1. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Brock, Thomas" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 623.
  2. Ian Chilvers (2004). The Oxford Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860476-9.
  3. Mark Stocker (3 January 2008). "Brock, Sir Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32080. Retrieved 5 June 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. "Thomas Brock - shaping the 'New Sculpture' movement". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  5. University of Glasgow History of Art / HATII (2011). "Sir Thomas Brock RA, KCB, PRBS, HRSA". Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851–1951. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  6. Susan Beattie (1983). The New Sculpture. Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art / Yale University Press. ISBN 0300033591.
  7. "Sir Thomas Brock RA (1847–1922)". Royal Academy. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  8. Mary Ann Steggles & Richard Barnes (2011). British Sculpture in India: New Views & Old Memories. Frontier Publishing. ISBN 9781872914411.
  9. Martina Droth, Jason Edwards & Michael Hatt (2014). Sculpture Victorious: Art in the Age of Invention, 1837-1901. Yale Center for British Art, Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300208030.
  10. John Blackwood (1989). London's Immortels. The Complete Outdoor Commemorative Statues. Savoy Press. ISBN 0951429604.
  11. "Thomas Brock PPRSS (1847–1922)". Royal Society of Sculptors. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  12. "Sir Thomas Brock: Eve, 1900". Tate. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  13. "Victoria Memorial Is Unveiled by King George". Dundee Evening Telegraph. No. 10699. British Newspaper Archive. 16 May 1911. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
  14. The London Gazette, Issue 28496, 19 May 1911, p. 3816
  15. The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, Nikolaus Pevsner, 1968 p207
  16. Kidderminster Since 1800, Ken Tomkinson and George Hall, 1975, pp. 209–210.
  17. Historic England. "The Baxter Monument (1100091)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  18. Jo Darke (1991). The Monument Guide to England and Wales. Macdonald Illustrated. ISBN 0-356-17609-6.
  19. Historic England. "Statue of William Rathbone (1073451)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  20. "A Moment of Peril". The Victorian Web. 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  21. Historic England. "Statue of Robert Raikes (1066179)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  22. Gomme, George Laurence (1910). Return of Outdoor Memorials in London. London: London County Council.
  23. Historic England. "Statue of Sir Rowland Hill (1100054)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  24. The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, Nikolaus Pevsner, 1968 p208
  25. "Sir Rowland Hill (1795-1879)". Thomas Brock. Victorianweb.org. 20 August 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  26. "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  27. "Art Collection Online: William Menelaus". Amgueddfa Cymru. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  28. "Statue of Colin Minton Campbell (1827-1885)". Public Monument and Sculpture Association. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  29. Historic England. "Statue of Queen Victoria Approximately 15 metres to west of Shire Hall (1389833)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  30. Historic England. "Statue of Sir Bartle Frere (1066176)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  31. "St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne". Australia's Christian Heritage. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  32. The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, Nikolaus Pevsner, 1968, p. 312.
  33. "Monument to Bishop Philpot". The Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  34. Historic England. "Cathedral Church of St Andrew, Chapter House and Cloisters (1382901)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  35. John C. Thackray (1995). A catalogue of portraits, paintings and sculpture at the Natural History Museum, London. Mansell, London.
  36. Historic England. "Theatre Royal Drury Lane and attached Sir Augustus Harris Memorial Drinking Fountain (1357276)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  37. Cadw. "Statue & Plinth to Sir W.T. Lewis (11476)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  38. "Sir Henry Tate". Tate Britain. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  39. Public sculpture of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull by George Thomas Noszlopy, pp. 28–29.
  40. George T. Noszlopy (1998). Public Sculpture of Britain volume 2: Public Sculpture of Birmingham including Sutton Coldfield. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 0-85323-682-8.
  41. Historic England. "Statue of Queen Victoria (1187555)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  42. Barbara Pezzini (24 May 2019). "Classical beauty to expressive wisdom: the changing image of Queen Victoria". Art UK. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  43. Jason Edwards, Amy Harris & Greg Sullivan (2021). Monuments of St Paul's Cathedral 1796-1916. Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-1-78551-360-2.
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  45. "Queen Victoria Monument, Carlisle". History and Heritage. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  46. Historic Environment Scotland. "Burns Statue Square, South African War Memorial (Category B Listed Building) (LB21516)". Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  47. "War Memorials Register: Royal Scots Fusiliers - Burma, Sudan, Tirah Campaign, 1st Boer War and 2nd Boer War". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
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  50. "Belfast City Hall". Causeway Coastal Path. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  51. "Edward James Harland statue". Titanic Memorials. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  52. Historic England. "Gladstone Monument (1073469)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
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  54. "William and Catherine Gladstone". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  55. "Sir Thomas Brock: Sir John Everett Millais 1904". Tate. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  56. Historic England. "Statue of John Everett Millais (1222797)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  57. Historic England. "Bust of Sir Henry Tate (1434203)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  58. Meera Iyer (4 February 2013). "Empress of all she surveys". No. Bangalore. Deccan Herald. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
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  61. "The Nicholson Memorial". Madras Weekly Mail. 12 April 1906. p. 18.
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  63. Historic England. "Statue of Henry Irving, London (1357292)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  64. "Portrait bust Edward VII". British Museum. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
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  68. Cadw. "Pedestal and Statue of Lord Merthyr in Aberdare Park (10885)". National Historic Assets of Wales. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  69. "Sculpture by Thomas Brock on Admiralty Arch". The Victorian Web. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  70. "Gunnery". The Victorian Web. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  71. "The Mall, London". The Captain Cook Society. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
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  73. Wencer, David (6 December 2014). "Historicist: Here Comes the Equestrian Statue". Torontoist. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  74. "Royalty and Australian Society Chapter 2: King Edward VII". National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
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  77. Harris, Oliver D. (2018). "A crusading 'captain in khaki': Sir Thomas Brock's monument to Charles Grant Seely at Gatcombe (Isle of Wight)". Church Monuments. 33: 97–120.
  78. "War Memorials Register: Captain CG Seely". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  79. Historic England. "Lister Monument in Centre of Road opposite Numbers 71 to 81 (odd) Portland Place (1265542)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  80. "War Memorials Register: Sacrifice - Queens University". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  81. Carol Blackett-Ord. "Extended catalogue entry, Joseph Lister, Baron Lister". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  82. "Robert Raikes Statue Achievements". Gloucester Civic Trust. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  83. "A Moment of Peril, 1880, Sir Thomas Brock". Tate. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  84. Diane Bilbey with Marjorie Trusted (2002). British Sculpture 1470 to 2000 A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. V&A Publications. ISBN 1851773959.
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  86. "Plarr's Lives of the Fellows: Lee, Henry (1817 - 1898)". www.rcseng.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2021.

Further reading

  • Brock, Frederick (2012). Sankey, John (ed.). Thomas Brock: forgotten sculptor of the Victoria Memorial. Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse. ISBN 9781467883344.
  • Byron, Arthur (1981). London Statues: a guide to London's outdoor statues and sculpture. London: Constable. ISBN 9780094634305.
  • Getsy, David J. (2004). Body Doubles: Sculpture in Britain, 1877–1905. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300105124.
  • Harrold, Pauline; Rota, Una; Stainton, Thomas, eds. (1968). British Sculpture, 1850–1914: a loan exhibition of sculpture and medals sponsored by the Victorian Society, 30th September–30th October 1968. London: Fine Art Society.
  • Read, Benedict (1982). Victorian Sculpture. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300025064.
  • Sankey, John Anthony (2002). Thomas Brock and the Critics – An Examination of Brock's Place in the New Sculpture Movement (phd). PhD Thesis: University of Leeds.
  • Stocker, Mark. "Brock, Sir Thomas (1847–1922)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32080. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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