Thomas Balston (30 July 1883 – 4 October 1967)Who's Who, 1968-1969, A. & C. Black, 1968, p. 144 was a director of the publishers Duckworth and Co., and a noted scholar of English book production and illustration.Collection Title: Thomas Balston Papers, 1946-1948
Rare Book Literary & Historical Papers at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014. He was also an amateur painter, having studied under Mark Gertler.Who's Who in Art, vol. 14, The Art Trade Press Ltd, 1962, p. 29

Early years and education

Balston was born at Bearsted House,

Bearsted Bearsted ( , ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish with a railway station in mid-Kent, England, two miles (3.2 km) east of Maidstone town centre. Geography The village was historically concentrated around Church Lan ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, fourth son of

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

-educated William Edward Balston and Emily Julia (née Whitehead). The Balston family had been paper-makers since the 18th century, entering business with the Whatman paper-making family. Their success in business led to social prominence and the Balstons were regarded as being amongst the gentry of their county. His paternal great-uncle was Rev. Edward Balston, headmaster of

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

from 1862 to 1868. Balston was educated at

and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

. Before being

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1909, he served as tutor to Count Gianbattista Spaletti and his brother Count Cesare Spaletti in Italy. From 1912 to 1914, he was secretary to the publisher T. Fisher Unwin.

Military career

Balston was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

and an

O.B.E. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

by 1940, at which time he was a

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

on the Army's General List, having served during the

First World War 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 ...

with the 12th

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

from 1914 to 1919, as a

staff captain Staff captain is the English translation of a number of military ranks: Historical use of the rank Czechoslovakia In the Czechoslovak Army, until 1953, staff captain (, ) was a senior captain rank, ranking between captain and major. Estonia T ...

with the 96th Infantry Brigade from 1915 to 1917, and as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General to the 3rd Division and 3rd Brigade from 1917 to 1918 and 1918 to 1919 respectively. His service in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

came to an end when he was invalided out after three months due to suffering from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, having been called to Southern Command as a staff captain.

Book illustration

At Duckworth from 1921 to 1934, Balston promoted the work of English

wood engravers Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin that ...

. He produced several books on the history of the subject.

Death

Balston died in 1967. He bequeathed his collection of pictures, drawings, and prints to

The Art Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...

, the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, the Ashmolean Museum and other public institutions in Britain.Portrait of Thomas Balston by Mark Gertler
The Art Fund, 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.

Papers

Papers from Thomas Balston relating to the Sitwells, published by Duckworths, are held at Washington State University. A small collection of Balston papers relating to John Martin are held at the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library.

Selected publications

*''Sitwelliana. 1915–1927. A Handlist.'' Duckworth, London, 1928. (Compiler) *''The Life of Jonathan Martin, Incendiary of York Minster: With Some Account of Richard and William Martin''. London: Macmillan, 1945. *''John Martin, 1789–1854. His Life and Works''. Duckworth, London, 1947. *''The Wood Engravings of

Robert Gibbings Robert John Gibbings (23 March 1889 – 19 January 1958) was an Irish Artists, Irish artist and author who was most noted for his work as a wood engraver and sculptor, and for his books on travel and natural history.Martin J. Andrews, ''The Lif ...

''. Art and Technics, London, 1949. (Later edition Dent) *''English Wood Engraving, 1900–1950''. Art and Technics, London, 1951. *''William Balston: Paper Maker, 1759–1849''. Methuen, London, 1954. *''The Housekeeping Book of

Susanna Whatman Susanna Whatman (born Susanna Bosanquet) (23 January 1753 – 29 November 1814) was a British writer on household management who came to notice about 200 years after her birth. Life Susannah was born in 1753 in Hamburg. She was the daughter of ...

1776-1800''. Geoffrey Bles, London, 1956. (Editor) Wood engravings by Frank Martin. *''James Whatman: Father & Son''. Methuen, London, 1957.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balston, Thomas 1883 births 1967 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of New College, Oxford English publishers (people) Officers of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Military Cross Gloucestershire Regiment officers People from Bearsted British Army personnel of World War I English barristers English art historians 20th-century English businesspeople Military personnel from Kent British Army personnel of World War II