Eli Marsden Wilson, A.R.E., A.R.C.E. (24 June 1877 – 13 November 1965) was an English artist whose best known works are in

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

and

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzo ...

, covering a wide range of subjects. He had works exhibited at the

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

Biography

Eli Marsden Wilson was born on 24 June 1877 at

Ossett Ossett is a market town in the Wakefield district, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated between Dewsbury, Horbury and Wakefield. At the 2021 census, the town had a po ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, the only son of Alfred Wilson, a foreman beamer in the textile industry, and Emma (''née'' Marsden).'Obituary: Eli Marsden Wilson', ''Ossett Observer'', 20 November 1965. Eli and his five sisters were encouraged in the arts and each played a musical instrument. Wilson received his initial formal artistic education at the

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

College of Art before moving to the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

where he became a pupil of the master etcher Sir Frank Short.Stephen Wilson (2017)
Eli Marsden Wilson A.R.A., A.R.C.A. 1877 - 1965
''Ossett - the history of a Yorkshire town'' website; accessed 23 July 2024. In mid-year 1905 Eli Wilson and Hilda Mary Pemberton were married in London. Hilda was an artist with an interest in etching, the daughter of civil engineer Frederick Blake Pemberton and his wife Lucy. She was six years older than her husband and the couple had no children. From 1905 Wilson began to produce etchings and mezzotints of towns and lowland landscapes which he exhibited at the

, the first of which was an etching 'The Market, Ossett', depicting a scene from Victorian times.Eli Marsden Wilson
''Prifysgol Aberystwyth University'' website; accessed 23 July 2024. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers (A.R.E.) in 1907. Wilson exhibited at the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, as well as the

Paris Salon The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...

and exhibitions and galleries in other European countries and America.
Notable Londoners, an Illustrated Who's Who of Professional and Business Men
' (1922), London: London Publishing Agency, page 15; accessed 20 July 2024. In London he lived in Chelsea and later relocated to Acton. Wilson's religious family background was Wesleyan Methodist. He became a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

embracing

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

beliefs and was also a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. In 1916, with the stalemate and massive casualties on the Western Front during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

was introduced in Britain specifying that men aged 18 to 40 years were liable to be called up for military service. In late 1916 Wilson, then aged 38, was conscripted into the army. He appealed to the local tribunal for exemption on the grounds that he was a Quaker and a pacifist, but was refused. The army had created the Non-Combatant Corps in order to find an acceptable place for

conscientious objectors A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or freedom of religion, religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for ...

, but Wilson's commitment to pacifism was absolute and he refused to comply with the call-up notice. He was arrested and taken to the local barracks. When he refused to put on a uniform Wilson was court martialled and imprisoned from February 1917 to March 1919, first at

Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough ...

and then at

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite that forms the uplands dates from the Carb ...

.Scarborough Grand Spa Hall 1 (Series 35: Episode 5 of 25)
an
Etchings by Eli Marsden Wilson
''BBC One'' website, episode first broadcast on 4 November 2012; accessed 24 July 2024. After being released from prison Wilson began to rebuild his career. In September 1922 he was commissioned by Princess Marie Louise to produce miniature

s for

Queen Mary's Dolls' House Queen Mary's Dolls' House is a dollhouse, doll's house built in the early 1920s, completed in 1924, for the British queen Mary of Teck. It was designed by architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, with contributions from many notable artists and craftsmen o ...

, at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

. In the late-1920s Wilson was commissioned to paint a four-panel frieze depicting prehistoric England, which was installed in the Geological section of the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

. The museum also holds several of his oil paintings, 'Scene in Wealden Times' (during the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

period) and a pair of paintings depicting the Nant Ffrancon Valley in

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

geological epoch. During the Great Depression the market for etchings declined and Wilson turned to easel painting. In 1931 Wilson submitted four separate stamp designs to the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

government, though none were accepted. Wilson served as Chairman of the Ealing Art Group from 1935 to 1947. Wilson and his wife moved to a cottage in

Blewbury Blewbury is a village and civil parish at the foot of the Berkshire Downs section of the North Wessex Downs about south of Didcot, south of Oxford and west of London. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it t ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

(now in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

). Hilda died in 1957 and Wilson's pupil, Mary Cockburn, subsequently became his live-in companion. Eli Marsden Wilson died at his home, 9 Faraday Road, Acton, London, in November 1965, and was cremated at

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes, London, Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes ...

, London, on 19 November. Administration of his estate was granted to Edward Clay, a descendant of Wilson's sister Annie.Probate record: Wilson, Eli Marsden, England & Wales National Probate Calendar, 1966.

Notes

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References

External links

BBC clip of Antiques Roadshow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Eli Marsden 1877 births 1965 deaths People from Ossett People from Acton, London People from Blewbury English etchers People associated with the Natural History Museum, London English pacifists English Quakers English conscientious objectors Alumni of the Royal College of Art