gennepher

By gennepher

A family of Sculptors and Stonecutters...

This gravestone says

JOHN BROMLEY
SCULPTOR OF KESWICK
WHO DIED FEBRUARY 1911
ALSO OF
MARY ELIZABETH
WHO DIED 29 MARCH 1917
AGED 83 YEARS

At the top of the gravestone is the images of the tools of a sculptor.

The information about the Bromley family of sculptors, of which this gravestone is John Bromley ll, is below from...

A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660-1851

Details of Sculptor

SurnameBromley familyAlternative SurnameFirst Nameof KeswickInitial of SurnameBYear of Birth/BaptismFlourishedYear of DeathBiographical DetailsJohn Bromley I 1772-1841
William Bromley 1811-1861
John Bromley II 1833-1911
Joseph Bromley 1839-1906
A Cumbrian family of sculptors and stonecutters. John Bromley I was born in Beckermet, Cumberland, the son of a weaver, and chose to become a stone cutter and engraver. It is not certain where he served his apprenticeship but it may have been in Whitehaven, where several monumental masons were established and where he set up in business in 1792. In 1794 he married Elizabeth Ashburner, the daughter of a well-to-do farmer. Bromley specialised in slate headstones, a material that was ideal for fine engraving and had excellent weathering qualities. He rarely signed his work, but Hughes claims that his distinctive style is easily recognised and that he may well have earned a reputation as a carver of coats of arms. Several heraldic headstones testify to his skill . He died on 20 June 1841 and is buried at Crossthwaite. His obituary in the Cumberland Pacquet describes him as a celebrated stone cutter, with a remarkably retentive memory and a developed sense of humour (CP, 22 June 1841....I was unable to get more than a blur from this newspaper article example)
The business was taken over by his sixth son, William Bromley, who was apprenticed to his father and married a dressmaker, Mary Wilson. Two of the finest slate headstones ever produced in the county came from the Bromley workshops during his lifetime. Both incorporate panels of partially free-standing sculpture: Joseph Dover’s headstone has a central panel depicting Hope, flanked by two side panels, one containing a dove with an olive leaf and the other a paschal lamb . The other, commemorating Joseph Cherry, has a central panel filled with a carving of Time with a Tree of life and a ruined building, and side panels with books on the themes of Eternity and Transience .
William’s sons, John Bromley II and Joseph Bromley, continued the business, trading as J & J Bromley. During this period the firm was responsible for memorials over a wide area, including 50 in Cockermouth alone. By 1871 there was sufficient work to employ seven men and two boys. The last member of the family business died in 1957. 

   
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I must apologise. I have cotton wool for a brain today and all I can do is cut and paste as I have done above for facts above. It is the best I can do.

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