Industrious Victorian artist, Henry Edward Tidmarsh, was most well-known for his topographical paintings of London and Manchester, and for his illustrations for newspaper articles and books. He was a skilled and highly versatile artist; working monochromatically and in full colour, and depicting cityscapes and figurative scenes with ease. Henry Edward Tidmarsh was born on the 4th of February 1854 in Islington to a family of devout Methodist carpenters. His father, Joseph, was the owner of Tidmarsh & Sons, a firm of carpenters and blind makers. Today Tidmarsh & Sons is still an active company and continue to make blinds. He was one of five siblings.
His two brothers joined the family firm, however, Henry Tidmarsh wanted to pursue a career in the arts, and aged 18 he enrolled at the National Art Training School in Kensington, now the Royal College of Arts.
Once he had completed his education he embarked on a career as mural painter, with his first job to paint murals in a new public building in Sheffield. During the 1880’s H E Tidmarsh became a successful illustrator for several publications; The Graphic, The Illustrated London News, and Cassell’s Magazine. He produced drawings for these publications in ink and wash, and monochromatic watercolour.
He was an ardent Methodist and by 1889, aged 35, he became local preacher. Henry Edward Tidmarsh was teetotal, a pacifist, an ethical socialist and a keen follower of vegetarianism.
Alongside working as an illustrator for publications, H E Tidmarsh had started painting topographical watercolour scenes of London and Manchester. He exhibited his watercolour paintings between 1880-1918. Twenty of his paintings were displayed at the Royal Academy of the Arts in exhibitions between 1887-1918. Amongst those paintings were; ‘Westminster Abbey’, displayed in the watercolour room in 1896, and ‘London from Tower Bridge’, displayed in the black and white room in 1902.
Between 1880-1918 he exhibited artwork at; the Royal Society of Artists Birmingham, the Dudley Gallery and the New Dudley Gallery, Manchester City Art Gallery, the Royal Society of British Artists and the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours.
In 1902 H E Tidmarsh married his first cousin, Ellen Louise Tidmarsh, who was a nurse. They had waited to be married because of the blood relationship until Nellie could no longer have children. They moved from Islington to Barnet.
He continued to create artwork for reproduction in print in the format of book illustration. He was commissioned by the publishers Cassell’s to illustrate a three-volume book with topographical illustrations of Manchester. He produced over 150 pen and wash illustrations for the book which was published in 1896.
Henry Edward Tidmarsh died peacefully on the 19th of March 1939, aged 85.
A large collection of H E Tidmarsh’s topographical artworks can be viewed at the Guildhall, London, by appointment.
Further Reading: Ralph Hyde, The Streets of London: Evocative Watercolours by H. E. Tidmarsh, London: Scorpion, p10)
