Edward Hull (1823 – 3 February 1906) was a British illustrator and

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

ist who exhibited at the Royal Academy in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He was the brother of

William Hull William Hull (June 24, 1753 – November 29, 1825) was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and was appointed as Governor of Michigan Territory (1805–13), gaining large land cessions from several Am ...

, another well known illustrator and

painter.Houf, Simon. ''The Dictionary of 19th Century British Book Illustrators'', p. 186 (Antique Collectors' Club Ltd, 1999)

Biography

Hull was born in

Keysoe Keysoe is a village located in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. Historically part of the Stodden hundred in Bedfordshire, part of Keysoe was originally located in Huntingdonshire. Today the village forms part of the Bolnhurst an ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the fourth son (and sixth child) of a farmer, James Hull, who became a Moravian missionary to Manchester. He was an engraver who also painted many watercolours and, in later life, became known as a book illustrator. He was employed from 1855 to 1861 by '' The Illustrated Times'', a successful London weekly, and was an illustrator for several books such as ''Stratford on Avon'' by

Sidney Lee Sir Sidney Lee (5 December 1859 – 3 March 1926) was an English biographer, writer, and critic. Biography Lee was born Solomon Lazarus Lee in 1859 at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London. He was educated at the City of London School and at ...

(published around 1890) and ''The Laureate's Country'' (a book on

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

) by Alfred J. Church, published around the same time. Hull symbolises the spirit of illustration in the 19th century. The great illustrators such as Phiz (who illustrated many of Dickens's books) are well known. Hull represents the many who plied their trade in periodicals and books before the advent of photography in the early 20th century. Hull was also a wood-engraver as recognised by his inclusion in Rodney Engen's ''Dictionary of Victorian Wood Engravers'' (1990). Hull lived most of his life in London. He travelled widely in England as his paintings and illustrations show. He married and had two daughters and three granddaughters. He died on 3 February 1906 and is buried in St Peters Church at

Sharnbrook Sharnbrook is a village and civil parish located in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. The settlement was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a parish within the Hundred of Willey but was probably first developed in Saxon ti ...

, Bedfordshire. The Royal Academy shows a number of Hull's paintings being exhibited there to 1874. The earliest one shown from 1827 is by another Edward Hull, a son of Thomas Henry Hull – a well-known miniaturist – and originally thought to be a relative of Edward Hull (1823–1906), but they are no longer thought to be related. The two are often confused. There is also another Edward Hull who was a furniture maker and shop owner who was a close friend of

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

(the designer of much of the interior of the House of Commons). He also lived in London at the same time but is also not related.

References

Illustrated books

* Church, Alfred J.
The Laureate's Country: a description of places connected with the life of Alfred Lord Tennyson
' - Seeley & Co Ltd. 1891. * Lee, Sidney.
Stratford-on-Avon
' - Seeley & Co Ltd. 1885. *Hull, Edward.
William Cowper Album
' - Produced for Frederick Cosens (a wealthy sherry merchant) in 1889 and re-published to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of Cowper's birth on 15 November 1981. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hull, Edward 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters English illustrators 1823 births 1906 deaths English watercolourists People from the Borough of Bedford 19th-century English male artists 20th-century English male artists