Bernard Granville Baker (23 October 1870 – 12 March 1957) (known as B. Granville Baker) was a British soldier and painter specialising in military subjects. He wrote and illustrated a number of books.

Life and work

Baker was born in Pune (then called Poona) in India. He was the son of Montagu Bernard Baker, who worked for the British East India Company, and his wife Harriet Fanny Bangh. He was educated at Winchester College and the Military Academy at Dresden. He served in th
21st (Empress of India's) Hussars
in India and Burma. He fought in the Boer Wars in South Africa in 1900. In the First World War, he became a Lieutenant-Colonel and commanded a battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1918. Baker is known for his illustrations and watercolour paintings of military subjects, such as "Sir John Moore at Corunna, January 16th 1809" in the 1920s. He exhibited his paintings at Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery and the London Salon between 1914 and 1930, as well as in his home town of Beccles in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. He wrote and illustrated a number of books. ''The Danube with Pen and Pencil'' (1911) has a dedication to "My Right Good Friend and Genial Host Guido Elbogen of Schloss Thalheim, Lower Austria". Guido Elbogen (1845–1918) was the father of

Jenny Elbogen Jenny Weleminsky (''née'' Elbogen; 12 June 1882 4 February 1957) was a German-speaking Esperantist and translator who was born in Thalheim, Lower Austria and brought up there and in Vienna. Some of her translations of works by Franz Grill ...

who inherited Schloss Thalheim. Jenny, her husband Friedrich Weleminsky and son Anton Weleminsky fled the Nazis in 1939 and came to England under the guarantee of "an English ex-army Colonel" in Beccles who was Bernard Granville Baker. ''From a Terrace in Prague'' has the dedication "This book is dedicated to a wise and gentle lady who looks out upon life from a terrace", while ''A Winter Holiday in Portugal'' has "This book is dedicated to a lady, fair and gracious who lives in Lisbon". He was a Justice of the Peace for

. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

and of the Royal Historical Society. In 1897 he married Lorina Hartley, daughter of Rev A O Hartley. Lorina, who was also an artist, died in 1942. Baker died in Beccles in 1957.

Works

* ''The Walls of Constantinople'' (2 volumes, 1910) * ''The Danube with Pen and Pencil'' (1911) * ''A Winter Holiday in Portugal'' (1912) (with C. Gasquoine Hartley)A Winter Holiday in Portugal
Free e-book. ''Read Any Book''. Retrieved 3 February 2022. * ''The Passing of the Turkish Empire in Europe'' (1913) * ''The German Army from within. By a British officer who has served in it'' (1914) (with Thomas Burke) * ''Hutchinson's History of the Nations'' (1915, including ''The Sea! The Sea!'') * ''Types of the Allied Armies'' (1914–1918) (with "Oilette") * ''Soldiers of the World'' (1914–1918) (with "Oilette") * ''From a Terrace in Prague'' (1923)From a Terrace in Prague
Free e-book. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 3 February 2022. * ''Waveney''. Illustrated (1924) * ''Blithe Waters: Sheaves out of Suffolk'' (1931) * ''Old Cavalry Stations'' (1934)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Bernard Granville 1870 births 1957 deaths 19th-century British painters 19th-century English male artists 20th-century British painters 20th-century British male writers 20th-century British writers 20th-century British male artists Artists from Pune British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of World War I British male painters Green Howards officers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order English illustrators English justices of the peace English watercolourists Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Military art People educated at Winchester College People from Beccles Writers who illustrated their own writing Yorkshire Regiment officers British people in colonial India