T. W. Walshaw

T. W. Walshaw

Thomas Whaite Walshaw (1862 – after 1901) was an English watercolourist of the latter half of the nineteenth century.

His Background

The Edgar Tavern - T. W. Walshaw.

Thomas Walshaw was born in the Tranmere district of Birkenhead in Cheshire in the summer of 1862.^[1] His father was Robert Walshaw, who had been a lodger with John and Sarah Whaite and was to marry Martha Whaite, their daughter.^[2] Robert Walshaw was originally from Yorkshire and was a watch jobber and later a watch and clock maker of modest renown. Martha was a milliner. After marrying, his parents moved to 46 Victoria Road in Birkenhead, where Thomas was born, their only child.^[3] Thomas trained as an architect, and the family moved together to 43 Whetstone Lane in Tranmere.^[4] Thomas finally left home in his late twenties or early thirties to pursue his career in the city of Chester, where he found lodgings at 86 Lower Bridge Street, the picturesque building on the corner of Shipgate Street, now known as "Ye Olde Edgar".^[5] There are no further census records for Thomas after 1901 and the evidence from shipping lists between Liverpool and America, whilst containing a Thomas Walshaw, are inconclusive, and further evidence is needed.

His Work

His paintings of his time in Chester are mostly detailed street scenes, and etchings after his watercolours were produced by Meesons of Eastgate and advertised in local newspapers.^[6]

His focus is often clearly identifiable by inclusion of street signs and well-known buildings accurately rendered. To the left is his view of Bridge Street from the vantage point of steps leading above the Old Valults public house on the corner of CommonHall Street. The foreground building is 30 Bridge Street whilst the longer view is of the Rows, a popular shopping centre then as well as now. In the distance is St Michaels Church, now a heritage centre. The timber-framed buildings for which Chester is justly famous are very evident here, as is the architectural background of the artist in the details of his observation and recording.

To the right is his view of Newgate Street from the junction with Pepper Street. In the distance is Chester cathedral, and the signage up on the building in the foreground proclaims this as the premises of James Storrar and Son, the first of a very long line of successful veterinary surgeons and farriers.^[7] The sunlight and shadows are well described within his relatively limited palette of browns and blues.

Typically these images are informal and yet intimate, and there is a lively warmth in his work with structures well textured. His treatment of figures is often quite summary, and yet each is provided with a character suited to the surroundings. The people stopping to talk, the window shoppers, the lady with a dwarf, the farrier and his assistant, even a lame dog, all are there in these beautiful old Chester street scenes.

References