iii. Sir Francis Graham Moon

Thomas Henry Gladwell - Picture label and business card

Subsequently, Arthur set up at 1 Pall Mall Place in 1872 before moving to 106, The Strand in 1875. Both Henry William and Arthur’s galleries prospered, each becoming successful enterprises in their own right.

As with many younger brothers, (Alfred) Thomas remained with this father at the Cheapside branch helping to run the business as his father grew older, initially specialising in the stationery and print selling departments before introducing the selling of musical scores as a further arm to the business.

Henry and his wife Sussanah had provided Thomas with his first grandchild on the 5th of October 1857, also named Henry William (Harry), and many more were to follow. Thomas was an inspirational and imposing figure to his grandchildren. They must have had the same sense of awe and wonder when they visited his gallery that we did when we visited our grandfather in his gallery as we were growing up. Thomas took great delight in sharing his knowledge and telling them fabulous stories of his life and experiences. He certainly left an everlasting impression on Harry.

By the time of Thomas’s death in 1879, the business had firmly established itself as one of the leading art galleries and frame makers in London. Thomas’s vision and pioneering, entrepreneurial spirit had made him a wealthy man. He left an estate valued at just under £16,000 (well over five million pounds in today’s money).

He bequeathed the freehold of the gallery in Gracechurch Street, the manufactory in Borough High Street and the superb business which he had founded, nurtured, and made such a success of, to his three sons who had joined him in the art business. He died safe in the knowledge his enterprise was in good hands. Thomas’ sons - Henry, Arthur, and (Alfred) Thomas had some big shoes to fill, yet they took on the mantle of running the extensive enterprise with the same vigour and innovation which their father had taught them.

They focused on the main gallery at 20-21 Gracechurch Street, renaming it Gladwell Brothers in 1880 and hosting regular exhibitions there. Their extensive network of fine artists continued to expand and through their connections with the importers of the European-made stereoscopes they started to venture further and further into European art circles in search of more variety and quality to tempt their clientele.

The last quarter of the nineteenth century saw a marked shift from the aristocratic collecting of previous centuries to a much more plutocratic base. The Industrial Revolution had brought with it the opportunity to amass great wealth and its associated trappings. The Gladwell Brothers were in the best position to take advantage of this thirst for fine things and wholeheartedly embraced it. Their varied experience and common goal made them a formidable force.

Excellently trained by their father, the brothers’ skills complimented each other well. Henry William had a nose for business and was very personable. Arthur and Alfred were great at the marketing and promotion side and their clients came from far and wide to see the exhibitions that they put on. They very cleverly created an aura of exclusivity at their exhibitions, and yet they made everyone feel at home. They promoted a lifestyle and a dream that everyone aspired to and wanted to be part of.

The First Impressionist Exhibition of 1874 and the growth of international fine art dealers who travelled between continents opened the art market to a much wider audience. The Gladwell Brothers’ connections with European dealers and publishers such as the dealer Théodore Vibert, the publisher Alfred Cadart, and the dealer Adolphe Goupil were vital in maintaining their position as one of the most ground-breaking, interesting, and knowledgeable art galleries in London.

The brothers saw that there was an everincreasing appetite for original oil paintings and watercolours and that the tastes of the time were changing, and so they subtly and elegantly introduced more and more originals from the best artists of their day into their exhibitions. The European element that they added complimented both their historical selection of European prints and their original works of art from the leading British artists. It was a natural transition and ensured that the gallery remained relevant whilst retaining the quality for which it was renowned.

The Next Generation: Henry William Gladwell(1834-1893) Arthur Edward Gladwell(1836-1889) Alfred Thomas Gladwell(1841-1906)

(4th October 1811 - 1879 Lambeth) Christened in St. Sepulchre on 9th Febryary 1812 m. Mary (née Fox) from Bromley at Lambeth Parish Church, 1st June 1833 Lived at 124, Kennington Park Road Had a Gallery T.H.GLADWELL at 19 & 21 Gracechurch Street from 1834 and at 87 Gracechurch Street from 1846 and at Newington Causeway Publishers, Printsellers, Carvers, Gilders and Picture Frame Manufacturer and City Stereoscopic Depot at 87, Gracechurch Street manufactory at 3 Mint Street 1837-1839 then Borough High Street from 1839

Henry William Gladwell

(1834 Lambeth -1893) m. Sussanah Warnes on 6th August 1856 Lived at 104 High Road, Lee, Lewisham Has gallery at 11 Poultry in 1858 5 Ludgate Street in 1859 Arther Edward Gladwell

(1836 -1889) Gallery at 106 The Strand until at least 1875 1 Pall Mall Place in 1872 Charles Gladwell

(1839-1870) Scholar

Henry William Gladwell

(5th October 1857- 2nd November 1927)

“Harry”

m. Caroline Beatrice née Arney (1857-1943) on 31st March 1879 in Deptford St. Lived at 104 High Road, Lee, Lewisham Susannah Eleanor Gladwell

(1859-1876) Died after falling from her horse on Blackheath - mentioned in the letters of Vincent Van Gogh Mary Louise Gladwell

(1859-) Twin sister of Susannah

Henry William Gladwell

(1st April 1880 - 27th July 1882) Died aged 2 - buried at Nunhead Cemetary Beatrice Mary Gladwell

(12th November 1883 - ) m. Eustace Vivian Paul Connolly Ernest Arney Gladwell

(22nd October 1885 -1967) m. Doreen née Brown Art Dealer - Cheapside, Hammersmith Knightsbridge and 22 High Street Chiswick Had 3 daughters T.H.Gladwell

(1834-1879) Gallery at 20 & 21 Gracechurch Street Manufactory at Mint Street then 156 Borough High St. City Stereoscopic at 87 Gracechurch Street

Alfred Thomas Gladwell

(1841 Lambeth -1907) Worked as a Stationer and Publisher for his father until 1871, then a seller of music and books. Stereoscopic Department at 87 Gracechurch Street Mary

b. 1846 Scholar Lived 12, Walerand Road and later with Alfred there

Gladwell’s New Gallery Gladwell & Company

(1891-1893) Gallery at 73 Old Broad Street and 1891- 5 Fenchurch Street Gladwell Brothers

(1880-1891) Gallery at 20 & 21 Gracechurch Street Manufactory at 156 Borough High St.

Jessie Arthur Gladwell

(1866-) Edward Ernest Gladwell

(1876-)

Charles Victor Gladwell

b. 31st December 1891 m. Mary Emigrated to Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Had 3 sons Algernon Leighton Gladwell

(12th January 1893-16th August 1977) Joined Gladwell & Company in 1909 bought Henry Graves & Company in 1926 then sold Gladwells to Herbert Fuller in 1964 Had 2 wives and sons Gladwell Brothers

(1891-1907) Gallery at 20 & 21 Gracechurch Street Manufactory at 156 Borough High St. Then at 164 Fenchurch Street Then at 8 Eastcheap

Gladwell & Company

(1891-2012) 20 & 21, Gracechurch Street until 1893 70 & 71, Cheapside 1893-1924 68, Queen Victoria Street 1924-2012 5, Beauchamp Place 2012227 Regent Street between 1892-1924

Henry William Gladwell

(5th October 1857- 2nd November 1927) “Harry” m. Caroline Beatrice née Arney (1857-1943) on 31st March 1879 in Deptford St. Lived at 104 High Road, Lee, Lewisham Henry William Gladwell

(1834 Lambeth -1893)

m. Sussanah Warnes on 6th August 1856 Lived at 104 High Road, Lee, Lewisham Has gallery at 11 Poultry in 1858 5 Ludgate Street in 1859

Susannah Eleanor Gladwell

(1859-1876) died after falling from her horse on Blackheath at 16 Mary Louise Gladwell

(1859-) Twin sister of Susannah Jessie Arthur Gladwell

(1866-) Decorator Edward Ernest Gladwell

(b.24/09/1876)

Arthur

b.1870 Died as a young child aged 1 or 2 Arther Edward Gladwell

(1836 Lambeth - 26/09/1899)

m. Sarah Jane Foan (1839-1870) Worked as a Stationer and Publisher for his father until 1871, then a seller of music and books. Stereoscopic Department at 87 Gracechurch Street

Florence

b.1873 Tailoress Ada

b.1874 Seamstress Ernest

b.1875

Musician and pianoforte tuner Mary

b.1879

Alfred Thomas Gladwell

(1841 Lambeth -1906)

m. Mary Worked as a Stationer and Publisher for his father until 1871, then a seller of music and books. Worked in the business longer than his older brother Henry 87 Gracechurch Street

Lucy

b.1873 Academic Pauline

b.1873 Milliner Helena

b.1873 Coiffeur The brothers knew that they had to keep their exhibitions interesting for their clientele, and so throughout the 1880s they consistently broadened their range.

The 1880s saw the brothers cement the business’ position as the leading art gallery in the City of London. However, Arthur’s untimely death in 1889 at the age of fiftytwo sadly broke up the superb partnership the brothers had, and the remaining brothers lost a little of their joie de vivre.

Family Men

Henry’s Family

Henry had joined the family business when he was sixteen and as the eldest son had learnt the business from this father, Thomas. He was a driven and successful young man and he found love at a young age. He married Sussanah Warnes when he was twentytwo on the 6th of August 1856. They lived at 104 High Road, Lee, Lewisham and had five children. Their firstborn Harry arrived in 1857, just after Henry’s apprenticeship and training had finished, and just before he started his own gallery on Ludgate Hill. Then along came twin girls Susannah and Mary in 1859, before Jessie Arthur arrived in 1866, and Edward Ernest a few years later.

They used to marvel at their father and uncles’ galleries, but most of all at the ‘grand’ gallery of their grandfather on Gracechurch Street which they used to visit as small children. It was such a fascinating world full of wonder and beauty, and it enthralled Harry and left a lasting impression.

By the early 1800s, the family had moved to a handsome house at 73 Old Broad Street and Henry would take the short walk through the city to the Gracechurch Street gallery every day.

Yet, tragedy was to strike on the 17th of August 1876 when the eldest of their twin daughters Sussanah was out riding her horse on Blackheath common. Just seventeen years of age, and ‘full of life, with dark eyes and hair’ she fell from her horse and took a bad knock to the head, dying a few hours later. Harry’s friend Vincent van Gogh happened to be over in England to visit the family when this occurred and he documents the immense grief that overtook them, in his letters to his brother Theo.

Sussanah’s twin sister Mary and her younger brothers Jessie and Edward never really recovered from the loss of their sister. They were still living at home in their late twenties and early thirties when their father died. The only one to have flown the nest was Harry some fourteen years previously.

Indeed, in Henry’s will he makes provision to look after the three younger children and makes little mention of Harry who has already taken on the mantle of the Gladwells business from his father, with his own successful branch in Fenchurch Street. Henry owned the freehold and the leasehold of 20 and 21 Gracechurch Street and in his will he dictates that this should be used to provide an income for his three remaining dependent children and his wife.

Arthur’s Family

Arthur focused on his business and that of the gallery for much of his young life and didn’t wed until much later at the age of thirty-three, when he married Sarah Jane Foan on the 29th of September 1870. Sarah was a seamstress and a tailoress some eight years Arthur’s junior and she was keen to start a family. They were also to have five

children, their firstborn Arthur arrived later that year, but very sadly died as a young child. Then Florence arrived in 1873, Ada followed the next year, Ernest another year later and then Mary four years after that.

The family lived initially above Arthur’s gallery at 106, The Strand, but as business at Arthur’s gallery thrived, and in the late 1870s he and his wife bought a separate house at 24 Great Ormond Street where they spent ten happy years.

Sadly in 1889, Arthur was to die quite suddenly at the young age of fifty-two. It was devastating for the whole of his family and it broke up the excellent partnership that the Gladwell Brothers had.

The heartbroken Sarah moved back to her hometown of Bridport, where she started her own clothing shop. Their daughters Florence and Ada went with their mother, and then followed in her footsteps to become a tailoress and a dressmaker. Ernest had a gift for music and used it to start a career, first as a pianoforte tuner and then a professional musician. None of Arthur’s children followed him into the business and his gallery on the Strand was assumed into his brother’s business.

Alfred’s Family

The youngest of the three brothers to go into the business was Alfred. He followed in his brothers footsteps and joined the family business at the age of sixteen, working his way up through the various departments. He started his employment at the manufactory on Borough High Street and in time became the Head of the Stereoscopic department at 87 Gracechurch Street. He added music and books to his gallery’s repertoire during the 1870s and his little corner of Gracechurch Street became a great success.

Alfred lived at home with his parents until his marriage to Lucy Elizabeth Sophia Brammall in 1871. Lucy was the daughter of Thomas and Sussanah Brammall, well-todo folks from Gloucester. Alfred was thirty at the time and like Arthur, he had put all his energy into the family business. Lucy was six years younger than Alfred and they started a family later that year with the birth of the first of three daughters: Lucy. Pauline and Helena followed at two-year intervals after that.

The family lived near to their relatives at 16 Dartmouth Terrace in Blackheath, and Alfred used to make the daily commute to the gallery on Gracechurch Street.

Tragedy struck when the children were just eleven, nine and seven when their mother Lucy died in late 1882. Alfred was left to bring up the children by himself.

Juggling home life and his work, Arthur and his sister Mary, who was also a widower, moved in together so that Mary could help to bring up all their children, and Arthur could focus on work. Mary was a great help to him, enabling Alfred to continue to support their families through the gallery. Arthur continued to run Gladwell Brothers after the deaths of his middle brother in 1889 and his elder brother in 1893. He carried on working right up until his death in 1906, but as was the form in those days, none of his daughters came in to work at the gallery; Lucy became an academic, Pauline a milliner and Helena became a coiffeur.

Of the twelve children that the three Gladwell brothers had, it was only Harry that came through to run the business and become our next giant. Born the eldest of four children, Harry knew from a very young age that he wanted to be involved in the art business. Brought up as a hard-working, inquisitive, and religious lad, he yearned to join his father and uncles in the business.

He used to love visiting the Gracechurch Street gallery and was fascinated with the art and what went on there. He would beg his father to let him come to work with him and when there would listen to the tales of all the staff. Constantly reading and learning about the art market, and the history of great artists from the past, Harry was enthralled and enticed by this wonderful world.

So it was that in 1873, with his father’s guidance and at the tender age of sixteen,

Henry William Gladwell ‘Harry’ (1857-1927)

Harry Gladwell’s family: back row - Doreen (Ernest’s wife), Ernest, Beatrice, Charles; front row - Caroline, Algernon, Harry

he started work as an apprentice in his uncle Arthur’s gallery on the Strand. He would sit for hours asking questions of his father, his grandfather and his uncles working out just how every facet of the business ran. He was a sponge for knowledge and desperate to know more.

He soon moved to his father’s shop on Gracechurch Street where he continued to learn the ropes. The next step in Harry’s development was to learn how galleries were run elsewhere, and so his father secured him an apprenticeship with his friend, the dealer Adolphe Goupil in Paris.

In 1875, aged eighteen, the intrepid Harry travelled to Paris. One can only imagine how exciting this must have been – travelling overseas, exploring a new, energetic and bustling city. In the mid to late nineteenth century, Paris had become the principal European centre for artistic innovation. The streets and cafes were full of artists, writers, and musicians, all feeding off each other’s creativity; the buzz of the city must have been infectious.

Another apprentice at Goupils at the time was Vincent van Gogh, and Harry took a room in the same lodging house as Vincent. The pair hit it off immediately and became firm friends, Vincent taking the young Harry under his wing and showing him around the city. Vincent delighted in Harry’s idiosyncratic appearance, describing him as ‘thin as a stick with a pair of large red protruding ears’, and his joie de vivre. They talked about life in London and Holland and bonded over their love of food, family, art and religion. Harry and Vincent were to remain friends for many years, with each visiting the other’s family in their respective homelands.

When Vincent left Paris in late 1876 and came to London, he worked at Gladwells for Harry’s father Henry William in the gallery for a number of months.

Harry would return from Goupils in December 1877 after his two-year apprenticeship there, and he joined his father in the family

Harry Gladwell

(cont. p. 68)

Vincent Van Gogh

Harry and Vincent ‘My Worthy Englishman’

It is worth pausing our tale here to celebrate the extraordinary friendship between Harry Gladwell and Vincent Van Gogh. Harry had served apprenticeships learning the business with both his uncle Arthur in his gallery on the Strand, and his father and uncle Thomas in their gallery on Cheapside, and he was keen to further expand his knowledge. With his father’s help, he secured an apprenticeship at the family friend Adolphe Goupil’s famous gallery in Paris. So it was that in 1875, aged eighteen, the young Harry travelled to Paris to begin his time there. Harry took an apartment in Montmartre that Goupils kept for their apprentices and living in the same building was another employee of the firm Vincent Van Gogh. There was an initial curiosity between the two, with both being foreigners in the city. But Vincent took Harry, four years his junior, under his wing and they were to become firm friends. Vincent’s first impressions show the intrigue he had in the new arrival;

“As you know, I live in Montmartre. Also living here is a young Englishman, an employee of the firm, eighteen years old, the son of an art dealer in London, who will probably enter his father’s firm later on. He had never been away from home and was tremendously boorish, especially the first few weeks he was here; he ate, for example, mornings, afternoons and evenings 4-6 sous worth of bread and supplemented that with pounds of apples and pears. In spite of all that he’s as lean as a pole, with two strong rows of teeth, large red lips, sparkling eyes, a couple of large, usually red, jug-ears, and shorn head (black hair).” 11th October 1875 - A letter from Vincent to his brother Theo

Vincent was so passionate about Paris and the exhibitions and art that could be found there. He delighted in sharing this passion with his new protégé and friend guiding him in his taste of paintings. The two would often visit exhibitions and soon moved in together to share digs and save money. They got on very well and talked long into the night about art and religion. Just a few short weeks later Vincent was to write this to his brother;

“…My worthy Englishman now cooks barley porridge every morning; he got twenty-five pounds of it from his father. How I wish you could try it sometime.

I’m really very glad to have met that boy. I’ve learned from him and was able, in turn, to draw his attention to a danger that was threatening him.

He had never been away from home and, although he didn’t let it show, he had an unwholesome (though noble) yearning for his father and his home.

He yearned with a yearning that belongs to God and heaven. Idolatry is not love. He who loves his parents must follow them on life’s path. He now sees this clearly and, with some genuine sorrow in his heart, he has the courage and the desire to go on. Has Pa