George Blackall Simonds (6 October 1843 – 16 December 1929) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and director of H & G Simonds Brewery in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in the

county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

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. His grandfather was Reading brewing and banking entrepreneur,

William Blackall Simonds William Blackall Simonds (1761–1834) was a brewer and banker in the English town of Reading. He founded both H & G Simonds Brewery, which merged with other breweries to form Courage, Barclay, Simonds & Co in 1960, and J & C Simonds Bank, one ...

. He added Blackall to his name after the death of his brother, Blackall Simonds II, in 1905. He was brother-in-law of the portrait painter, John Collingham Moore, and cousin of the botanist,

George Simonds Boulger George Simonds Boulger (1853–1922) was an English botanist. Boulger wrote articles as the Kew Gardens Correspondent of ''The Times'', and other works on botany and natural history. Life George Boulger was born at Bletchingly, Surrey, the son o ...

. He served as the inaugural Master of the

Art Workers' Guild The Art Workers' Guild is an organisation established in 1884 by a group of British painters, sculptors, architects, and designers associated with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The guild promoted the 'unity of a ...

in 1884-85. His best known works are '' The Falconer'' (1873) in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

(US) and the ''

Maiwand Lion The ''Maiwand Lion'' is a sculpture and war memorial in the Forbury Gardens, a public park in the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. The statue was named after the Battle of Maiwand and was unveiled in December 1886 to commemor ...

'' (1886) in the

Forbury Gardens Forbury Gardens is a public park in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The park is on the site of the outer court of Reading Abbey, which was in front of the Abbey Church. The site was formerly known as the Forbury, and one o ...

(UK). 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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, including his son, a lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion,

South Wales Borderers The South Wales Borderers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for 280 years. It came into existence in England in 1689, as Sir Edward Dering's Regiment of Foot, and afterwards had a variety of names and headquarters. In ...

. In 2005, users of

Reading Borough Libraries Reading Borough Libraries are responsible for public library provision in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. History Despite the Public Libraries Act 1850 it was not until the 1870s that serious thought was given to the creation of a free ...

, voted him winner of the 'Great People of Reading' poll.

Works

File:The_Falconer_sculpture_in_Central_Park,_New_York.jpg, '' The Falconer'' File:MaiwandLion.JPG, ''

'' File:Statue of George Palmer.jpg,

Statue of George Palmer The statue of George Palmer stands in Palmer Park, in Reading, Berkshire. The statue, by George Blackall Simonds, was unveiled in 1891, though it was originally in Broad Street and only later moved to Palmer Park. The statue has been classed ...

File:Bradfield War Memorial (geograph 5239694).jpg, War Memorial, Bradfield File:Queen Victoria statue, Reading (3).JPG,

Statue of Queen Victoria, Reading The statue of Queen Victoria stands at the western end of Friar Street outside the Town Hall of Reading, Berkshire, in southern England. The statue Queen Victoria (1819–1901) was the queen of many realms in the British Empire, and Empress ...

Notes

References

External links

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation: The Falconer

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonds, George Blackall 1843 births 1929 deaths 19th-century British sculptors 20th-century British sculptors 19th-century English male artists 20th-century English male artists Artists from Reading, Berkshire English brewers English businesspeople English male sculptors Masters of the Art Worker's Guild People educated at Bradfield College People from Bradfield, Berkshire People from Westminster