Allan Wyon (1843–1907) was an English medallist and seal-engraver. John Forrest bookplate

Life

He was the son of

Benjamin Wyon Benjamin Wyon (9 January 1802 – 21 November 1858) was a British engraver of seals, and medallist. Life Born in John Street, Blackfriars, London, on 9 January 1802, he was the second son of Thomas Wyon the elder. He received instruction from h ...

, and the younger brother of

Joseph Shepherd Wyon Joseph Shepherd Wyon (28 July 1836 – 12 August 1873) was a British medallist and seal-engraver. Life Born in London on 28 July 1836, he was the eldest son of Benjamin Wyon. He was educated by his father, and studied in the Royal Academy Schoo ...

and

Alfred Benjamin Wyon Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

. He went into the family arts, and for a time supported his brother Joseph in medal-work. From 1884 till his death he carried on in London the business of the Wyon firm of medallists and engravers founded by his grandfather,

Thomas Wyon the elder Thomas Wyon the elder (1767–1830) of the Wyon family was an English engraver of dies, who became Chief Engraver of the Seals. Life He was the eldest of the four sons of George Wyon, an engraver. Around 1796, he went into business in Birmingh ...

. From 1884 to 1901 Wyon held the post of engraver of the royal seals, a post that had been successively held by his father and his two elder brothers. He was a fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

(elected 1889) and of the

Numismatic Society of London The Royal Numismatic Society (RNS) is a learned society and charity based in London, United Kingdom which promotes research into all branches of numismatics. Its patron was Queen Elizabeth II. Membership Foremost collectors and researchers, b ...

(elected 1885), and was at one time treasurer and vice-president of the

British Archæological Association The British Archaeological Association (BAA) was founded in 1843 and aims to inspire, support and disseminate high quality research in the fields of Western archaeology, art and architecture, primarily of the mediaeval period, through lectures, con ...

. Wyon died at Hampstead on 25 January 1907.

Works

Wyon made the episcopal seals for the archbishops of Canterbury and York; the seal for the secretary of Scotland in 1889, and the

Great Seal of Ireland The Great Seal of Ireland was the seal used until 1922 by the Dublin Castle administration to authenticate important state documents in Ireland, in the same manner as the Great Seal of the Realm in England. The Great Seal of Ireland was used fro ...

in 1890. The great seal of Queen Victoria of 1899 was not his, but the work of

George William de Saulles George William de Saulles (4 February 1862 – 21 July 1903) was a British medallist. He designed the obverse of coins of the United Kingdom and its colonies under Queen Victoria and King Edward VII. Life He was born on 4 February 1862 at Villa St ...

. Among Wyon's medals were: *

Sir Joseph Whitworth Sir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet (21 December 1803 – 22 January 1887) was an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. In 1841, he devised the British Standard Whitworth system, which created an accepted standard for scre ...

(commemorating the Whitworth scholarships founded 1868); * the Royal Jubilee medal of 1887; *

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

(Royal Society medal, first awarded 1890); *

Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...

, circ. 1902. He signed in full as "Allan Wyon". Wyon also compiled and published ''The Great Seals of England'' (1887, with 55 plates), a work begun by his brother Alfred.

Family

Wyon married in 1880 Harriet, daughter of G. W. Gairdner of Hampstead, and had three daughters and two sons; the elder son was

Allan G. Wyon Allan Gairdner Wyon FRBS RMS (1882 – 26 February 1962) was a British die-engraver and sculptor and, in later life, vicar in Newlyn, Cornwall. Many of his works are memorials with a number located in British cathedrals. Other, more decorative, ...

, and the younger was

Guy Alfred Wyon Guy Alfred Wyon (15 October 1883 – 2 March 1924) MD, BSc. was an English pathologist, researcher and lecturer, focusing mainly on bacterial growth and producing papers on the subject. Before the First World War he was a house physician and ...

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyon, Allan 1842 births 1907 deaths English medallists English engravers Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London