Ernest Prater (1864–1950) was a noted English artist and book illustrator, notable also for his work as a

war correspondent A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war, war zone. War correspondence stands as one of journalism's most important and impactful forms. War correspondents operate in the most conflict-ridden parts of the wor ...

and reportage artist during the

Anglo-Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

Life and works

Prater was born in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

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 ...

, of Cornish descent; his father was Joseph Prater of Crantock, Cornwall. He attended Dr. Devonshire's school in London, and began his working life as a publisher's clerk and took up drawing. His listing in ''Who's Who in Art'' for 1929 stated that his recreations included all rigorous sports. He served for a period with the 3rd

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

Artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

. He became a Boer War correspondent for ''The Sphere'', attached to General Buller's column, sending back illustrations from the battlefield. He also worked for the '' Black & White Budget'' and ''

The Graphic ''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company, Illustrated Newspapers Ltd with Thomas's brother, Lewis Samuel Thomas, as a co-founder. The Graphic was set up as ...

'' newspapers. As well as being an illustrator, he was an adept photographer. He contributed illustrations to the ''

Strand Magazine ''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...

'', ''

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed i ...

'' and '' Boy's Own Paper'' and for books published by the

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a United Kingdom, UK-based Christians, Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christians, Christian faith in the Un ...

, the

Religious Tract Society The Religious Tract Society was a British evangelical Christian organization founded in 1799 and known for publishing a variety of popular religious and quasi-religious texts in the 19th century. The society engaged in charity as well as commerc ...

, Carey Press, Sheldon Press and others. Prater specialised in illustrating boys' adventure stories. Among the well-known authors whose works he illustrated were G.A. Henty, R.M. Ballantyne, W.H.G. Kingston, Percy F. Westerman, Frank T. Bullen, Tom Bevan, Herbert Hayens and Bessie Marchant. He was noted for his painting ''The Last Pass: A Thrilling Moment in a Rugby Match. He also collaborated with

Sidney Paget Sidney Edward Paget (; 4 October 1860 – 28 January 1908) was a British artist of the Victorian era, best known for his illustrations that accompanied Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories in ''The Strand Magazine''. Life Sidney ...

, the illustrator for the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

books by

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

. One such drawing was the funeral for Queen Victoria (location unknown). In 1911 he was living at Newquay, The Leas, Westcliff in the parish of

Prittlewell Prittlewell is an inner city area and former civil parish in Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. Historically, Prittlewell is the original settlement of the city, Southend being the ''south end'' of Prittlewell. The vil ...

. His occupation is Artist Illustrator B and W. Living in the household are his wife Florence Alice Prater (née Norris) and their children Gladys Alma (11), Marie Lilian Marguerite (9), Minnie Winifred (6), Ruby Albina (3) and Raleigh Brandon (1).1911 Census He died in London on Sunday 11 June 1950, aged 86. A photograph of him appeared in ''The Sphere'' on 27 January 1900, and in ''The Year's Art'' in 1901.

References

Selected illustrated books

* Henty, G. A.
The lost heir
' (Toronto: Copp, Clark, 1899). *Lampen, Charles Dudley.
Mirango the man-eater: a tale of Central Africa
' (London, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1899). *Miller, J. Martin.
Official history of the Russian-Japanese war
' (1904). * Mathews, Basil Joseph. **''Livingstone, the Pathfinder'', illustrated by Ernest Prater (Oxford and London: Henry Frowde Oxford University Press, 1913) **
John Williams, the shipbuilder
' (Oxford and London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1915). *Padwick, C. E.
Mackay of the Great Lake
' (London: H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1917).

External links

Work by E. Prater
(Bridgeman Art library) * * *
Books illustrated by Ernest Prater
(

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Prater, Ernest 1864 births 1950 deaths 19th-century English painters 19th-century British war artists 20th-century English painters English children's book illustrators English war artists English male painters Artists from London People from Islington (district) 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists