Walter Shaw Sparrow

Sparrow was born in 1862, younger son of James Sparrow JP FGS (1824–1902)[3] and his wife Caroline (1828–1904),[4] of Gwersyllt Hill, near Wrexham, Wales.[5] In 1855, James Sparrow had become proprietor of Ffrwd Works,[6] a large colliery, ironworks and brickworks between Brymbo and Cefn-y-bedd which he expanded into one of the most prominent businesses in North Wales.[7] During his boyhood Sparrow got to know many of his father's colliers, furnacemen, blacksmiths, carpenters and farm workers, and gained a respect and admiration for the men he described as "so big, strong, simple-hearted, and kind".[1] He made a study of the cruel conditions endured by coal miners and the fact that nationally over a thousand colliers were killed every year in accidents, and this engendered in him a desire to see fairness for working men.[1]

Sparrow started school at Chester College, which, he recounts, was "devoted to science", and opened his eyes to botany, chemistry and physiology. His early drawing lessons there were based on observation from nature.[8] After Chester College he went to Newton Abbott College in South Devon, where Arthur Quiller-Couch was one of his contemporaries.[8] He distinguished himself with a first prize in political economy and for his drawing skills.[8] He also mentions his admiration for the watercolour painting skills of the headmaster's wife, whom he got to know during an illness at the college.[9]

During the long school holidays at home in his early teens (1875–1879), he spent some time with professional artist William Joseph J. C. Bond, who was staying with the family. Bond painted in oils, and Sparrow learnt techniques from him, and insight into pigments and varnishes and problems with their stability.[9] It was after discussing with Bond and with Walter's uncle, the architect George T. Robinson, that his father decided to approve Walter attending the Slade School of Fine Art in London, where he studied under artist Alphonse Legros for fifteen months.[9]

In 1880, his father decided to send him to Brussels to study at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts under Jean-François Portaels, Joseph Stallaert and Joseph van Severdonck.[5] Before starting his studies there, he went with his parents on an artistic and historical tour of Belgium,[9] after which he remained in Brussels for seven years, but returned home for holidays.[9] He established a small studio in Brussels at the suggestion of van Severdonck, and was supported by money from home, but earned extra income by giving drawing classes and English lessons, as well as selling a few paintings and writing four little articles which were accepted for publication in The Globe newspaper by the then editor, Ponsonby Ogle.[8]

Sparrow returned to London in spring 1888, where he took two rooms in Kennington Park, initially with his brother Wilfrid.[8] He played some minor roles in theatre productions, including some Shakespeare plays,[9] and joined F. R. Benson's Shakespearean company, whose leading actresses included Ada Ferrar and Constance Featherstonhaugh (who later married Benson).[1]

In April 1891 Sparrow married the actress Ada Ferrar (born Ada Bishop, 1864–1951). The officers and workmen of the Ffrwd Works, his father's colliery, presented the couple with a "very chaste silvered tea and coffee service" with their best wishes.[10] During the 1890s and into the 20th century Ada continued to feature prominently on the cast of many theatrical productions. Very soon after their marriage, in May and June 1891, the magazine Theatre commended her performance as Alida in The Streets of London by Dion Boucicault at the Royal Adelphi Theatre in London.[11] From 1896 to 1899 she took part in many productions with a group of actors on an extended overseas tour, performing as far afield as Australia and New Zealand, returning to England in September 1899.[12] Her performance as Mercia in Wilson Barrett's The Sign of the Cross was particularly well received.

1899 proved to be a turning point for Sparrow. The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society were featuring a William Morris retrospective at their sixth exhibition at the New Gallery, Regent Street, London,[13] and Sparrow produced publicity for this in The Studio magazine.[9] After the exhibition, he was appointed assistant art editor of The Studio, a post in which he continued for the next four and a half years.[2]

Sparrow's father died in 1902 and in 1904 the Ffryd works closed due to difficult business conditions.[7] Little trace of the industrial complex remains.[14]

After leaving The Studio, Sparrow founded and edited the Art and Life Library",[2] writing a series of books on art, architecture and furniture for over thirty years and contributing numerous articles to magazines and newspapers. One of his first books, Women Painters of the World, is still a useful work of reference. He particularly admired the work of Frank Brangwyn, who produced the illustrations for several of his books.[9] In 1925 Sparrow wrote Memories of life and art through sixty years, an account of his life up to that point, described as "discursive and somewhat unmethodical in treatment," but "not lacking in interest and entertainment, for Sparrow had met most of the most important figures in the professional circles of his time."[2] However, he is best remembered for books on British sporting artists and took delight in researching what he called "family news" from parish registers, wills and other documents, in the process discovering several errors in previously accepted information on them.[2] His literary style has been said to create "a charmed sphere of refined diction and cultivated thought".[1]