Henry Justice Ford (1860–1941) was a prolific and successful English artist and illustrator, active from 1886 through to the late 1920s. Sometimes known as H. J. Ford or Henry J. Ford, he came to public attention when he provided the numerous beautiful illustrations for Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, which captured the imagination of a generation of British children and were sold worldwide in the 1880s and 1890s.

Early years

After education at

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, independent, day and boarding school in the English public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school whi ...

and

Clare College Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

, Cambridge - where he gained a first class in the Classical Tripos in 1882 - Ford returned to London to study at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

and later, at the Bushey School of Art, under the German-born

Hubert von Herkomer Sir Hubert von Herkomer (born as Hubert Herkomer; 26 May 1849 – 31 March 1914) was a Bavarian-born British painter, pioneering film-director, and composer. Though a very successful portrait artist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered fo ...

Career

In 1892, Ford began exhibiting paintings of historical subjects and landscapes at the

Royal Academy of Art The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

exhibitions. However it was his illustrations for such books as ''The Arabian Nights Entertainments'' (Longmans 1898), ''Kenilworth'' (TC & EC Jack 1900), and ''A School History of England'' by C. R. L. Fletcher and

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

(Clarendon Press 1911) that provided Ford with both income and fame.

Family

Richard John Cuninghame (1871-1925), by Henry Justice Ford

His parents were Katherine Mary Justice and William Augustus Ford; his paternal grandfather was

George Samuel Ford George Samuel Ford (1790–1868) was a bill discounter (money lender) and solicitor who took interest in the financial affairs of many gentlemen of the period including the Lords Lichfield, Chesterfield, Suffield and the Count d'Orsay. A passi ...

, a well known

bill discounter Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

. His father (a solicitor by profession) and many of his family were cricketers. His father wrote a number of articles and books on the subject, and Ford's brother, Francis Ford (1866-1940), played for England in an Ashes series in Australia. At the age of 61, Ford surprised his friends by marrying a woman some thirty-five years younger. She was Emily Amelia Hoff (née Rose), a widow whose first husband had been killed in the

Battle of Neuve Chapelle The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–13 March 1915) took place in the First World War in the Artois region of France. The attack was intended to cause a rupture in the German lines, which would then be exploited with a rush to the Aubers Ridge a ...

in March 1915. Following the marriage in Kensington Register Office in February 1921, Henry and Emily Ford settled down in Bedford Gardens, Kensington for several years and, in 1927, the couple adopted a child, June Mary Magdelene Ford. The seated model in Henry Justice Ford's painting 'Remembering Happier Things', now in the collection of the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery, Bournemouth, bears a strong resemblance to Ford's wife, Emily.

Hobbies

His love of the game led Henry Justice Ford to play cricket regularly with the playwright JM Barrie's Allahakbarrie Cricket Club. This in turn led to Ford providing the well-known map of Kensington Gardens in Barrie's 'The Little White Bird.' He also designed the costume for the character of

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

when Barrie's play was staged in the West End for the first time in 1904. Ford's wide-ranging interests brought him into contact and friendship with many well-known figures of his time, including the writers PG Wodehouse, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and AEW Mason.

Gallery

File:Allerleirauh by Henry Justice Ford (1892) 02.jpg, ''

Allerleirauh "Allerleirauh" ( en, "All-Kinds-of-Fur", sometimes translated as "Thousandfurs") is a fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Since the second edition published in 1819, it has been recorded as Tale no. 65. Andrew Lang included it in ''The Gree ...

.'' The Green Fairy Book. (1892) File:Snow Queen by Henry Justice Ford.png, ''The Snow Queen takes Kay in her sledge.'' The Pink Fairy Book. (1897) File:H. J. Ford - What came of picking jessamine.jpg, ''What came of picking jessamine.'' The Grey Fairy Book. (1900) File:HJ Ford's Morgan Casts Away Excalibur's Scabbard.jpg, ''Morgan Casts Away Excalibur's Scabbard.'' King Arthur: The Tales of the Round Table. (1902) File:Mermaid by H. J. Ford.jpg, ''Listen listen said the mermaid to the prince.'' The Brown Fairy Book. (1904) File:Dragon by Henry Justice Ford.jpg, ''The End of the Dragon.'' The Red Romance Book. (1905) File:Fairies by H.J. Ford.jpg, ''How the Fairies came to see

Ogier the Dane Ogier the Dane (french: ; da, ) is a legendary paladin of Charlemagne who appears in many Old French '' chansons de geste''. In particular, he features as the protagonist in ''La Chevalerie Ogier'' (ca. 1220), which belongs to the ''Geste de D ...

.'' The Red Romance Book. (1905) File:Marie Antoinette and Mozart.png, '' Marie Antoinette and Mozart''. The Book of Princes and Princesses. (1908) File:Indians 2 by HJ Ford.jpg, ''Indians.'' The Strange Story Book. (1913) File:Hj ford 2.jpg, ''The Chariot of Freya.'' Tales of Romance. (1919) File:H. J. Ford, Arthur meets the Lady of the Lake and gets the Sword Excalibur.jpg, ''Arthur meets the Lady of the Lake and gets the Sword Excalibur.'' Tales of Romance. (1919)

References

External links

* * * *
Works by Henry Justice Ford
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 pub ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Henry J. 1860 births 1941 deaths English illustrators English children's book illustrators 19th-century illustrators of fairy tales