Harrison Weir
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Harrison William Weir (5 May 18243 January 1906), known as "The Father of the
Cat Fancy The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
", was a British artist. He organised the first
cat show A cat show is a judged event where the owners of cats compete to win titles in various cat registering organizations by entering their cats to be judged after a breed standard. Both pedigreed and companion (or moggy) cats are admissible, althoug ...
in England, at the
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, London, in July 1871. He and his brother, John Jenner Weir, both served as judges in the show. In 1887 Harrison Weir founded the National Cat Club and was its first President and Show Manager until his resignation in 1890.


History

Weir was born at
Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...
, Sussex, on 5 May 1824. In 1866 Weir started working on his Victorian gothic home "Weirleigh", in the village of
Matfield Matfield is a small village, part of the civil parish of Brenchley and Matfield, in the Tunbridge Wells borough of Kent, England. Matfield was awarded the title of Kent Village of the Year in 2010. Buildings and amenities St Luke's Church is ...
, Kent. Weirleigh was later bought by the
Sassoon family The Sassoon family, known as "Rothschilds of the East" due to the immense wealth they accumulated in finance and trade, are a family of Baghdadi Jewish descent. Originally based in Baghdad, Iraq, they later moved to Bombay, India, and then emig ...
and was the birthplace of
Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both describ ...
in 1886. The house still stands today. After selling Weirleigh, Weir lived at Poplar Hall,
Appledore, Kent Appledore is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village centre is on the northern edge of the Romney Marsh, 12 miles (19 km) south-west of Ashford town. The northerly part of this village is Appledor ...
, where he died on 3 January 1906.


Career

Weir was educated at Albany Academy, Camberwell, until 1837 when he became apprenticed to George Baxter, the colour-printer. Weir worked in every branch of Baxter's business, his main work being printing off the plates. From Baxter he learned to engrave and draw on wood and taught himself during his spare time to draw birds, mammals, and other subjects from nature. in 1842
Herbert Ingram Herbert Ingram (27 May 1811 – 8 September 1860) was a British journalist and politician. He is considered the father of pictorial journalism through his founding of ''The Illustrated London News'', the first illustrated magazine. He was a ...
founded ''
The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...
'' and employed Weir as a draughtsman on wood and engraver from the first issue and for many years thereafter. In 1845 Weir made a first exhibition consisting of an oil painting of a wild duck, "The Dead Shot", at the
British Institution The British Institution (in full, the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom; founded 1805, disbanded 1867) was a private 19th-century society in London formed to exhibit the works of living and dead artists; it w ...
. During his career he was an occasional exhibitor at the Royal Academy, the Suffolk Street, and other galleries. On his election in 1849 as member of the New Society of Painters in Water-colours—now the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours—he exhibited mainly there, altogether 100 pictures. Weir was a natural history artist and provided some of the illustrations for the Rev
John George Wood John George Wood, or Rev J. G. Wood, (21 July 1827 – 3 March 1889), was an English writer who popularised natural history with his writings. Life and work Early life and ordination John George Wood was born in London, son of the surgeon J ...
's ''Illustrated Natural History'' (1853), served as chief illustrator for Charles St John's ''Wild Sports and Natural History of the Highlands'', and designed all of the illustrations for
George Fyler Townsend George Fyler Townsend (1814–1900) was the British translator of the standard English edition of ''Aesop's Fables''. He was the son of George Townsend and was educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge -DCL 1876. He was Vicar ...
's ''Three Hundred Æsop's Fables'' (1867). He also provided illustrations for many of the books of the natural history author
Sarah Bowdich Lee Sarah Bowdich Lee (née Wallis) (10 September 1791 – 22 September 1856) was an English author, illustrator, traveller, zoologist, botanist, and pteridologist. Information Sarah Lee was born on 10 September 1791, the only daughter of John Eglint ...
. Weir was enormously prolific and popular as a book illustrator and worked not just for ''The Illustrated London News'', but for many illustrated papers, including the ''Pictorial Times'', '' The Field'' and ''Pictorial World''. In some cases, such as ''The Poetry of Nature'' (1867), he compiled the books he illustrated. He was both author and illustrator of ''Every Day in the Country'' (1883) and ''Animal Studies, Old and New'' (1885). In literary society, Weir's close friends included
Douglas Jerrold Douglas William Jerrold (London 3 January 18038 June 1857 London) was an English dramatist and writer. Biography Jerrold's father, Samuel Jerrold, was an actor and lessee of the little theatre of Wilsby near Cranbrook in Kent. In 1807 Dougla ...
,
Henry Mayhew Henry Mayhew (25 November 1812 – 25 July 1887) was an English journalist, playwright, and advocate of reform. He was one of the co-founders of the satirical magazine ''Punch'' in 1841, and was the magazine's joint editor, with Mark Lemon, in ...
, Albert Smith, and Tom Hood the younger, and Weir knew
Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
and other eminent literary men. In 1889, Weir wrote ''Our Cats and All About Them'' describing and illustrating the pedigree varieties of the time. This was the first pedigree cat book. The final third of Weir's book is various explanations and commentary on a multitude of feline-related topics, ranging from cat-derived proverbs, to feline Shakespearean theatre to Belgian cat-racing. Weir was a keen animal fancier and his illustrations of domestic cats, dogs and poultry are probably best known. He was an experienced breeder of cats, carrier pigeons, and poultry and for thirty years often acted as a judge at the principal pigeon and poultry shows. He wrote and illustrated the exhaustive book ''Our Poultry and All About Them'' (1903), and much earlier in 1867 illustrated
William Bernhard Tegetmeier William Bernhardt Tegetmeier FZS (4 November 1816 – 19 November 1912) was an English naturalist, a founding member of the Savage Club, a popular writer and journalist of domestic science. A correspondent and friend of Charles Darwin, Tegetme ...
's ''The Poultry Book''. Weir also had interest and experience in gardening and the cultivation of fruit trees and for many years contributed letters, articles, and illustrations to various gardening periodicals. Messrs. Garrard & Co. engaged him to design trophy cups for Ascot, Goodwood, and other annual horse races. In 1891 Weir was granted a civil list pension of £100 per year.


Interests and activities

As a show judge, Weir was especially interested in cats, poultry, and pigeons, and these animals, along with dogs and rabbits, seem to be favourites in his art. In addition to gardening, fruit growing, field naturalist studies, and poultry breeding, Weir belonged to many clubs: the
Savage Savage may refer to: Places Antarctica * Savage Glacier, Ellsworth Land * Savage Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Savage Ridge, Victoria Land United States * Savage, Maryland, an unincorporated community * Savage, Minnesota, a city * Savage, Mi ...
, Whitefriars,
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, Horticultural, Wigwam, Hamburgh, etc.


Family

Harrison Weir was married three times: first, in 1845 to Ann, older daughter of John Frederick Herring, Sr., the famous painter of racehorses; second, to Alice, youngest daughter of T. Upjohn,
M.R.C.S. Membership of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (MRCS) is a postgraduate diploma for surgeons in the UK and Ireland. Obtaining this qualification allows a doctor to become a member of one of the four surgical colleges in the UK and Ireland, namel ...
, of Norfolk; and third, upon Alice's death in 1898, in 1899 to Eva, daughter of George Gobell of
Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...
, Sussex. Eva became his widow. Weir had two sons, Arthur Herring Weir (1847–1902) and John Gilbert Weir, and two daughters.


Selected works

As writer or editor, and illustrator: * ''Every Day in the Country'' (1883) – diary * ''Our Cats and All About Them: Their Varieties, Habits, and Management; and for Show, the Standard of Excellence and Beauty, Described and Pictured'' (1889) * ''The Poultry Book'' (1912), by "many expert American breeders" and Weir, eds. Willis Grant Johnson and George O. Brown As illustrator only: * ''Cat and Dog, or Memoirs of Puss and the Captain'', Julia Maitland (Grant and Griffiths, 1854), , * ''The Poetry of Nature'' (1868) – poems selected by Weir


References


External links

* * * * *
Works by Harrison Weir
at
Toronto Public Library Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pu ...
* * *
National Cat Club (UK) official website


* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, Harrison 1824 births 1906 deaths British male artists Cat fanciers Members of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours British illustrators British children's book illustrators People from Lewes People from Matfield