George Blackall-Simonds (1843-1929)
Winner of the Great People of Reading with 85 votes
"Mr G. Blackall-Simonds was a man who might have had a life of comparative ease. Instead of
that he insisted on designing his own career, surrendered himself to the study of art, and his
ability as a sculptor was recognised in his being entrusted with several of Reading’s most notable
memorials."
Obituary from the ‘Berkshire Chronicle’, December 1929 |
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The second son of George Simonds, he was born in Bridge Street in Reading on October 6th 1843.
He became one of the earliest pupils at St Andrews College, or Bradfield College as it became
known later. The Simonds family, most famous for their brewery in Reading (now part of the
Courage group) were important local landowners owning Bradfield House, which was the inheritance
of George’s mother. They had supported the foundation of the college from the beginning and
George was the nineteenth pupil, attending from 1852-6, while his brother Blackall was the first
pupil. Instead of going into the family firm George decided to become an artist. He studied at
the Royal Academy of Arts, Dresden from 1858-63. Then he went to Brussels where he worked for a
year with Louis Jehotte (1804-84), a well-known sculptor. He then moved to Rome for around
twelve years, where he met an American, Gertrude Prescott, whom he married in 1877 in London.
Simonds first developed his skill as a sculptor in marble busts and miniatures, first
exhibiting in the Royal Academy in 1866. He was to show another 44 works there over
the course of his career. Simonds developed to become a leading light in the Victorian
attempt to master the Renaissance arts of casting bronzes from wax moulds. While proponents
of British "New Sculpture" such as Alfred Gilbert used these techniques to make a more
naturalistic and realistic form of sculpture, Simonds used it in an older classic style. His
long stay in Italy allowed him to learn directly the lost-wax casting techniques of Italian
craftsmen at first hand while studying Renaissance bronzes. Simonds was dedicated to the
study of his craft claiming that an artist should be able to carry out all the stages of
production himself rather than relying on assistants. According to Benedict Read, Victorian
Sculpture (Yale University Press, 1982): "It is possible that Simonds could claim primacy
amongst English artists in the revival of lost-wax casting method".
These techniques led him to create probably his most famous sculpture ‘The Falconer’
(1872); a version was displayed at the Royal Academy in 1875. The original statue went to
Trieste while a larger replica was made for Central Park in New York where it is a noted
landmark, and a number of others were made later. One is now in a park in Beverly,
Massachusetts, another in the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead. Simonds was particularly
interested in falconry, helping to revive the sport and was later President of the Falconers Club.
On his return to England in 1877 he first lived in London. While there he helped found
and became the first Master of the Art Workers Guild for two years (1884-5). This important
institution was part of the Arts and Crafts movement and attempted to bring different
art forms together and emphasized teaching and learning crafts and skills from wherever they
might come while ignoring class distinctions. Simonds was a well-known figure in the London
art world and knew other leading Victorian artists such as William Morris and Sir Lawrence
Alma-Tadema.
During this time he created the works for which he is best known in Reading. He started his
artistic connection with the town by creating a marble bust of H. B. Blandy, Mayor of
Reading, which was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1880 and is still in the Town Hall. His
next work for the town remains one of Reading’s most famous features. The Maiwand Lion in
the Forbury Gardens celebrates the valiant last stand of the Royal Berkshire Regiment at the
Battle of Maiwand in Afghanistan in 1880. A massive 31 feet long it
took two years to design and complete. Lord Wantage unveiled it in
December 1886. According to an urban legend current in Reading the sculptor of the lion got
the stance of the legs wrong and a real lion would fall over. Realising his mistake after he
creating it he committed suicide. Recent investigation by staff at Reading Museum and H.
Godwin Arnold and Sidney M. Gold reveals that Simonds’ work on lion anatomy was in fact
correct, being based on careful observation of real lions, not to mention the fact he
actually had another forty-three years to live.
Next Simonds created the statue of Queen Victoria still outside Reading Town Hall which
was set up in 1887 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. The statue of George
Palmer, now in Palmer Park, was unveiled in Broad Street on November 4th 1891 on the same
day Palmer was given the freedom of the town. It was moved to the park in 1930 due to
traffic congestion. The statue caused some controversy at the time; in portraying Palmer
wearing a top hat and carrying an umbrella, Simonds defied the usual artistic conventions
though it conveyed Palmer’s practical character. There are a number of busts and other works by
Simonds in Reading Museum which you can see today.
Other good examples of his work outside Reading which can still be seen today include:
- A monument to Sir Joseph Bazzalgette, Chief Engineer on the Metropolitan Board of Works,
(1889) on the Victoria Embankment.
- Funerary monument to John Collingwood Bruce (1896) in the Cathedral of St Nicholas at
Newcastle upon Tyne.
- Monumental Statue of Raja Kali Krishna Bahadur(1809-1874) (1882). In Rabindra Kanan, Calcutta.
- A marble statue of the god Dionysos riding a tiger (1878-9). Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead.
Simonds decided to officially retire from working at sculpture in 1903. His retirement was far
from quiet, as he felt it was time to join the family business and spent the next
twenty-six years involved in brewing. He joined the board of directors of H & G Simonds in
1903 and became chairman in 1910. On the death of his brother in 1905 he took up residency
in Bradfield House and also adopted Blackall as an extra name by deed poll as a sign of
respect. His period of chairmanship saw an expansion in the company through the purchase of
a number of other firms. By 1929 H & G Simonds was selling 32 million bottles of beer a year
as well as its huge production of draught ale and spirits. Much of this expansion can be
perhaps credited to the long-term business experience of the other directors and the Vice
Chairman, but George was a successful mediator between them at meetings and a much-loved
figure with staff. He had an active old age in other respects; in 1927 at the age of 84 he
went to India and participated in falconry with Indian princes. Only ten days before his
death he presided over a board meeting to sign the Simonds annual report and accounts. He
was also particularly happy that 1929 had finally seen the granting of a Royal Warrant to
the company.
In his spare time Simonds was an active sportsman throughout his life, especially in
boating as well as falconry, and was also a keen Mason in a number of lodges. He was also
active in politics and was for many years the President of Reading Conservative Association.
One terrible tragedy struck in his old age: his only son, Lieutenant George Simonds of
the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers, died in the first few weeks of World War One. After
the war George came out of retirement to design one of his last large scale works, the
inspiring Bradfield war memorial (1922) which remembered his son amongst others who had fallen.
The works by Simonds in Reading Museum now include a brand new work bought at auction in Febuary 2005.
This is The Four Seasons, (1890) a low relief copper panel exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1891.
Comments by some who voted for him
Evelyn Simonds - Please register my vote for George Blackall Simonds, a talented sculptor
whose works still delight the eyes of Reading people, and others in far-flung places such as
India, New York, in large cities and small villages such as Bradfield. Did you know there is
a charming bas-relief of his high up on a wall in the vestry of St. Andrew's Church in Bradfield
where he worshipped? It is not often mentioned, nor easily found but worth a visit if you are
in that area.
I wish to register a vote for George Blackall Simonds, a talented sculptor and astute business
man. I believe he helped to put Reading on the map both from an artistic angle, and from a
discerning beer-drinker's point of view, although nowadays his name is more associated with
his famous sculptures around the world than Simonds' beer which has ceased to exist! What on
earth does "Scottish Courage" mean to anyone beyond Reading, but the statue of the Falcon in
New York's Central Park is one of the charming unpublicised delights of that great city. Simon Sandbach
Please record my vote for: GEORGE BLACKALL SIMONDS as Reading's Greatest Citizen. He was an
amazing sculptor - witness his statue of Queen Victoria in the town and his magnificent cast
bronze lion in Forbury Gardens as a memorial to the Berkshire Regiment. His inspired Chairmanship
of the brewers H&G Simonds, a major employer for years in Reading, should not be forgotten
either, nor should his skill in falconry nor the fact that he was a founder and first Master of
the Art Workers Guild. What a man - no contest! Charles Shea-Simonds
Simonds has no entry in the DNB but you can find out more from the following places.
Information about the
Maiwand Lion and the battle it commemorates from Reading Museum.
Find out from Reading Museum more about
Simonds Brewery and its role in Reading’s history.
Other External Links to more information:
David Nash Ford's Royal Berkshire History
Biography of George Blackall Simonds.
The website of New York Central Park celebrates his popular ‘The Falconer’ statue with this
Biography of George Blackall Simonds.
Find out more about the
Simonds family from Arborfield History Society.
Also see these books available in Local Studies for more on the Brewery:
T.A.B. Corley, Road to Worton Grange (1980)
H. Godwin Arnold and Sidney M. Gold, George Palmer Sculptor (unpublished manuscript - 1999)
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