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George Wallis

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65-544: George Wallis FSA (1811–1891) was an artist, museum curator and art educator. He was the first Keeper of Fine Art Collection at South Kensington Museum (later the Victoria & Albert Museum ) in London. George Wallis, son of John Wallis (1783–1818) and his wife Mary, née Price (1784–1864), was born at Wolverhampton on 8 June 1811. His father died early, and George Wallis was adopted by his grand-uncle, John Worralow, who

130-613: A 2.75 inches (69.85 mm) bore, a 12 pounds 11 ounces (5.75 kg) projectile and a range of about 6 miles (10 km). The spirally-grooved projectile was patented in 1855. This was rejected by the British Army, who preferred the guns from Armstrong , but was used in the American Civil War. While trying to increase the bursting strength of his gun barrels, Whitworth patented a process called "fluid-compressed steel" for casting steel under pressure and built

195-460: A Whitworth Senior Scholarship was agreed by the trustees to support Postgraduate Research leading to a MPhil , PhD or EngD . Richard Copley Christie was a friend of Whitworth's. By Whitworth's will, Christie was appointed one of three legatees , each of whom was left more than half a million pounds for their own use, 'they being each of them aware of the objects' to which these funds would have been put by Whitworth. They chose to spend more than

260-459: A cotton spinner at Amber Mill, Oakerthorpe in Derbyshire. The plan was that Whitworth would become a partner in the business. From the outset he was fascinated by the mill's machinery and soon he mastered the techniques of the cotton spinning industry but even at this age he noticed the poor standards of accuracy and was critical of the milling machinery. This early exposure to the mechanics of

325-646: A fifth of the money on support for Owens College , together with the purchase of land now occupied by the Manchester Royal Infirmary . In 1897, Christie personally assigned more than £50,000 for the erection of the Whitworth Hall , to complete the front quadrangle of Owens College. He was president of the Whitworth Institute from 1890 to 1895 and was much interested in the medical and other charities of Manchester, especially

390-1078: A good education and trained by their father at the South Kensington Museum. George Harry became the first Director of the Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery (open in 1878). Whitworth Wallis was the First Director of the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (open in 1883). He was knighted in 1912. Rosa Wallis was trained at Manchester Royal College of Art and in Berlin. She became a well-established painter of flowers and landscapes, an etcher and enameller. She travelled widely around Britain and Europe, visiting Italy, France and Austria. Between 1880 and 1930, she had at least six personal shows, exhibiting about 300 artworks. George Wallis died at 21 St. George's Road, Wimbledon, Surrey, on 24 October 1891, and

455-528: A membership of around 3,300 fellows. In June 2022, the society introduced a lower tier of "affiliate membership", open to anyone on payment of an annual subscription. Benefits include access to and borrowing rights from the society's library. A precursor organisation, the College of Antiquaries , was founded c.  1586 and functioned largely as a debating society until it was forbidden to do so by King James I in 1614. The first informal meeting of

520-900: A new steel works near Manchester. Some of his castings were shown at the Great Exhibition in Paris c.  1883 . One of the most prominent forms of his generosity was his development of the Whitworth Scholarships with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Still running to this day, this provides financial opportunities for young engineers with a strong blend of academic and practical abilities. The Whitworth Scholarship programmes still exist with 10-15 scholarships being awarded each year. The scholarships are directed at outstanding engineers who, like Sir Joseph Whitworth, have excellent academic and practical skills and

585-513: A number of Wallis' artworks. George Wallis married Matilda Condell (1818–1888) in 1842. Two of their children died in infancy. After obtaining the post of Keeper at the South Kensington Museum, the Wallises settled down permanently at 4, The Residences, South Kensington, where four surviving children – George Harry (1847–1936), Jane Kate (1849–1934), Whitworth (1855–1927) and Rosa (1857-c.1939) – were brought up. George Harry and Whitworth were given

650-468: A publication now in the public domain :  " Wallis, George (1811-1891) ". Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London ( SAL ) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and

715-410: A successful application for a charter of incorporation was sought by its long-serving vice president Joseph Ayloffe , which allowed the society to own property. The society began to gather large collections of manuscripts, paintings, and artefacts, housing such gifts and bequests while a proper institution for them did not exist. The acquisition of a large group of important paintings in 1828 preceded

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780-556: Is a registered charity . It is based at Burlington House in Piccadilly , a building owned by the UK government . The modern membership of around 3,300 fellows mostly consists of archaeologists and historians, who can use the post-nominal letters FSA after their names. Fellows of the society are elected by existing members of the society and are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FSA after their names. The election procedure

845-692: Is considered one of the earliest examples of a sniper rifle , used by some Confederate forces during the American Civil war. Whitworth was created a baronet by Queen Victoria in 1869. Upon his death in 1887, Whitworth bequeathed much of his fortune for the people of Manchester , with the Whitworth Art Gallery and Christie Hospital partly funded by Whitworth's money. Whitworth Street and Whitworth Hall in Manchester are named in his honour. Whitworth's company merged with

910-410: Is selective and fellowship is regarded as recognition of significant achievement in the fields of archaeology, antiquities, history or heritage. A nomination must be made by an existing fellow and endorsed by between five and twelve other fellows. A secret ballot of the membership is then held; to be successful a candidate must receive two "yes" votes for every "no" vote. As of 2022, the society has

975-606: The Antiquaries Journal . In 1843 the society took the decision to publish some of its proceedings in a second periodical in a smaller format, initially unillustrated, which could appear on a more frequent basis than Archaeologia : it was entitled Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London . The first part appeared in 1844 (containing papers delivered in 1843), and this first series continued until 1859, by which time four volumes had appeared. A second series

1040-566: The Manchester School of Design and he later gave them both private classes. He attended the Royal Manchester Institution; practised painting; became connected with the local Manchester industry, and it was then and there that he met the great engineer Joseph Whitworth (1803–1887) who became his lifelong friend. In 1837, he returned to Wolverhampton and worked for local japanners Ryton and Walton painting

1105-661: The Royal Academy entitled Making History: Antiquaries in Britain 1707–2007 . The tercentenary was also marked by two substantial publications: a collection of seventeen scholarly essays on the parallel themes of the history of the society itself and changing interpretations of the material relics of the past over the three centuries of its existence; and the illustrated catalogue of the exhibition, which included fifteen shorter thematic essays by various expert contributors. The society faced controversy in 2019, when its council

1170-531: The Whitworth Scholarship for the advancement of mechanical engineering. He donated a sum of £128,000 to the government in 1868 (approximately £6.5 million in 2010) to bring "science and industry" closer together and to fund scholarships. In 1869, Queen Victoria made Whitworth a baronet . In January 1887 at the age of 83, Sir Joseph Whitworth died in Monte Carlo where he had travelled in

1235-486: The steam hammer ) and Richard Roberts . Whitworth developed great skill as a mechanic while working for Maudslay, developing various precision machine tools and also introducing a box casting scheme for the iron frames of machine tools that simultaneously increased their rigidity and reduced their weight. Whitworth also worked for Holtzapffel & Co (makers of lathes used primarily for ornamental turning ) and Joseph Clement . While at Clement's workshop he helped with

1300-564: The 'Art Journal,' besides delivering a vast number of lectures on design and kindred subjects. On 7 March 1878 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA). Although George Wallis abandoned early an idea of a professional artistic career, he continued practising drawing, painting and etching as a hobby. In the collections of Victoria & Albert Museum , Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery , Wolverhampton Art Gallery , Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery , there are

1365-436: The 1830s, using engineer's blue and scraping techniques on three trial surfaces. Up until his introduction of the scraping technique, the same three-plate method was employed using polishing techniques, giving less accurate results. This led to an explosion of development of precision instruments using these flat-surface generation techniques as a basis for further construction of precise shapes. His next innovation, in 1840,

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1430-436: The 1990s (vols 109 and 110, published in 1991 and 1992 respectively). The society's tercentennial collection of essays of 2007 was technically published as vol. 111 of Archaeologia . No print volumes have been published since. In January 2023, Archaeologia was relaunched as an occasional digital journal, to serve as a vehicle for open access research papers of a length falling above the upper limit of c. 10,000 words for

1495-828: The Cancer Pavilion and Home, of whose committee he was chairman from 1890 to 1893, and which later became the Christie Hospital . Part of his bequest was used to construct the Whitworth Institute in Darley Dale. The university's Whitworth Art Gallery (formerly the Whitworth Institute) and adjacent Whitworth Park were established as part of his bequest to Manchester after his death. Nearby Whitworth Park Halls of Residence also bears his name, as does Whitworth Street , one of

1560-670: The Society: Sir Joseph Whitworth Sir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet (21 December 1803 – 22 January 1887) was an English engineer , entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. In 1841, he devised the British Standard Whitworth system, which created an accepted standard for screw threads . Whitworth also created the Whitworth rifle , often called the " sharpshooter " because of its accuracy, which

1625-768: The W.G. Armstrong & Mitchell Company to become Armstrong Whitworth in 1897. Whitworth was born in John Street, Stockport , Cheshire, where the Stockport Courthouse is today. The site is marked by a blue plaque on the back wall of the courthouse. He was the son of Charles Whitworth, a teacher and Congregational minister, and at an early age developed an interest in machinery . He was educated at Idle , near Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire ; his aptitude for mechanics became apparent when he began work for his uncle. After leaving school Whitworth became an indentured apprentice to his uncle, Joseph Hulse,

1690-563: The centres of the tea trays. He designed the shape of a tray which was named "Victoria" after the young queen and became very popular. In 1841, Wallis moved to London to join the School of Design at Somerset House where he won one of the six scholarships offered by the Board of Trade. From 1843, he served as Headmaster in several Schools of Design organised by the Government. In 1843 he

1755-434: The copperplate used in the printing of the folio editions. The prints were often large and appealing, and were intended to satisfy popular demand for archæological subject matter; their quasi-scientific illustrations were often inset with multiple viewpoints of architectural details. A fellow of the society, Richard Gough (director 1771 to 1791), sought to expand and improve publication of the society's research, motivated by

1820-560: The country, the Library holds an outstanding collection of British county histories , a fine collection of 18th- and 19th-century books on the antiquities of Britain and other countries and an exceptionally wide-ranging collection of periodical titles (British and foreign) with runs dating back to the early to mid-19th century. In 1718, the society began to publish a series of illustrated papers on ancient buildings, sites, and artefacts, mainly those of Britain and usually written by members of

1885-664: The establishment of the National Portrait Gallery by some 30 years. A gift of Thomas Kerrich , which included portraits of Edward IV , Mary Tudor , and two of Richard III , reveal anti-Tudor bias in their later portrayal. Following the London Blitz , the society organised many of the excavations of Roman and medieval ruins exposed by the bombing of the City , with annual surveys performed every year between 1946 and 1962. Among other finds, they discovered

1950-547: The excellence of his designs and was financially very successful. In 1850, then a President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers , he built a house called 'The Firs' in Fallowfield in south Manchester designed by Edward Walters . In 1854 he bought Stancliffe Hall in Darley Dale, Derbyshire and moved there with his second wife Louisa in 1872. He supplied four six- ton blocks of stone from Darley Dale quarry, for

2015-506: The first minutes at the Mitre Tavern, Fleet Street , are dated 1 January 1718. The first secretary of the revived society was William Stukeley . Those attending these early meetings examined objects, gave talks, and discussed theories of historical sites. Reports on the dilapidation of significant buildings were also produced. The society was also concerned with the topics of heraldry , genealogy , and historical documents. In 1751,

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2080-599: The first nationally standardised system; its adoption by the railway companies, who until then had all used different screw threads, led to its widespread acceptance. It later became a British Standard , " British Standard Whitworth ", abbreviated to BSW and governed by BS 84:1956. Whitworth was commissioned by the War Department of the British government to design a replacement for the calibre .577-inch Pattern 1853 Enfield , whose shortcomings had been revealed during

2145-586: The historic scene at the Field of the Cloth of Gold . The paper for this series required a larger size than was available, the manufacturer James Whatman was instructed to create a sheet 31 in × 53 in (790 mm × 1,350 mm); the name given to this format is "Antiquarian". The engraving of the plate, measuring 4 ft 1 in (1.24 m) by 2 ft 3 in (0.69 m), required two years to complete. The standard printing for this series

2210-467: The hope of improving his health. He was buried at St Helen's Church, Darley Dale , Derbyshire. A detailed obituary was published in the American magazine The Manufacturer and Builder . He directed his trustees to spend his fortune on philanthropic projects, which they still do to this day. Whitworth popularised the three-plates method for producing accurate flat surfaces (see Surface plate ) during

2275-471: The industry forged in him the ambition to make machinery with much greater precision. His apprenticeship at Amber Mill lasted for a four-year term after which he worked for another four years as a mechanic in a factory in Manchester . He then moved to London where he found employment working for Henry Maudslay , the inventor of the screw-cutting lathe , alongside such people as James Nasmyth (inventor of

2340-601: The late 19th century. He resigned from the Manchester School of Design in 1846, as he could not agree with proposed changes in the educational programme. From 1852–1857, George Wallis was the Headmaster of the Birmingham School of Design , where one of his students was Bernard Walter Evans . In 1853 he was also the head of the only school of rifle design in Britain and as an acknowledged expert in

2405-606: The lions of St George's Hall in Liverpool . He was conferred with Honorary Membership of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland in 1859. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1857 . A strong believer in the value of technical education, Whitworth backed the new Mechanics' Institute in Manchester (later UMIST ) and helped found the Manchester School of Design . In 1868, he founded

2470-583: The main streets in Manchester city centre , running from London Road to the south end of Deansgate. Near 'The Firs' a cycleway behind Owens Park is called Whitworth Lane. In Darley Dale is another Whitworth Park. In recognition of his achievements and contributions to education in Manchester, the Whitworth Building on the University of Manchester 's Main Campus is named in his honour. In 1923,

2535-450: The major archaeological research library in the UK. Having acquired material since the early 18th century, the Library's present holdings number more than 100,000 books and around 800 currently received periodical titles. The catalogue include rare drawings and manuscripts, such as the inventory of all Henry VIII 's possessions at the time of his death. As the oldest archaeological library in

2600-493: The manufacture of Charles Babbage 's calculating machine, the Difference engine . He returned to Openshaw , Manchester, in 1833 to start his own business manufacturing lathes and other machine tools, which became renowned for their high standard of workmanship. Whitworth is attributed with the introduction of the thou in 1844. In 1853, along with his lifelong friend, artist and art educator George Wallis (1811–1891), he

2665-622: The matter of small arms, he was appointed to a Royal Commission ostensibly to attend the Exhibition of Industry in the City of New York but particularly ‘to compare side by side the military weapons of the two countries’ along with his friend Joseph Whitworth. In 1855, he organised in Birmingham an Exhibition of Works of Industrial Art as an experiment in the circulation of artworks from central depositories around regional museums. George Wallis

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2730-587: The modern Society of Antiquaries occurred at the Bear Tavern on The Strand on 5 December 1707. This early group, conceived by John Talman , John Bagford , and Humfrey Wanley , sought a charter from Queen Anne for the study of British antiquities; its projected ventures included a series of 35 books to be issued. The proposal for the society was to be advanced by Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford , but his dismissal from government caused it to become idle. The formalisation of proceedings occurred in 1717, and

2795-680: The new bore design was found to be prone to fouling and it was four times more expensive to manufacture than the Enfield, so it was rejected by the British government, only to be adopted by the French Army . An unspecified number of Whitworth rifles found their way to the Confederate states in the American Civil War , where they were called " Whitworth Sharpshooters ". The rifles were capable of sub- MOA groups at 500 yards. It

2860-466: The previously unknown London citadel ( Latin : arx ) in the northwest corner of the London Wall . The findings were summarized in 1968 by W. F. Grimes . In 1962, the society became the owner of the house and land of Kelmscott Manor , the former home of William Morris . In 2007, the society celebrated its tercentennial year (recognising the first, less formal meetings) with an exhibition at

2925-608: The public, who care little for abstract art, were taught the close connexion between the instruction of the School of Design and their private pursuits. Among his students were Welsh artist Clarence Whaite who became a lifelong friend, and William Muckley . In 1845, Wallis organised at the Manchester Royal Institution the Industrial Art Exhibition which included items made of textile, ceramics, carved wood, leather and papier-mache. In

2990-472: The qualities needed to succeed in industry, who are wishing to embark/or have already commenced on an engineering degree-level programme of any engineering discipline. As of 2018, the Scholarship pays up to £5,450 per year for up to four years in the case of a full time undergraduate. The handling and administration of the awards is now carried out by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers . Since 2006,

3055-461: The recent Crimean War . The Whitworth rifle had a smaller bore of 0.451 inches (11.455 mm) which was hexagonal, fired an elongated hexagonal bullet and had a faster rate of twist rifling [one turn in twenty inches] than the Enfield, and its performance during tests in 1859 was superior to the Enfield's in every way. The test was reported in The Times on 23 April as a great success. However,

3120-399: The resolution" and that the incident showed "need to modernise the society's statutes and governance procedures". In 2020, following comments made by David Starkey on slavery and genocide, the society announced that they were modernising their procedures for dealing with behaviour which runs contrary to their values. Starkey subsequently resigned his fellowship. The society's library is

3185-408: The same year he delivered the first systematic course of lectures on the principles of decorative art, illustrated with drawings on the blackboard. These lectures led Lord Clarendon, then President of the Board of Trade, to ask Wallis to draw up a chart of artistic and scientific instruction as applied to industrial art. This chart was recognised as the basis of for industrial art education in Britain in

3250-547: The similar 'South Staffordshire Industrial and Fine Arts Exhibition' which was held at Wolverhampton. In 1858 George Wallis joined the South Kensington Museum as Senior Keeper of the Art collection, a post which he kept for three decades and left just prior to his death. He actively fostered the system of circulating works of art, wrote in all the leading art periodicals, and was one of the earliest contributors to

3315-478: The society's meetings: in the early years these included many delivered in previous decades that had remained unpublished. Archaeologia continued to appear on a more or less regular basis until after the Second World War , but then became increasingly irregular, some of its ground having been taken by the society's other journals. Only two volumes were published in the 1980s (vols 107 and 108), and two in

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3380-406: The society, under the title Vetusta Monumenta . The series continued to appear on an irregular basis until 1906. The papers were published in a folio format, and were notable for the inclusion of finely engraved views and reproductions of artefacts. An engraver was employed by the society from its inception – the earliest were George Vertue , James Basire and successors – labouring to produce

3445-413: The steady dilapidation of examples of Gothic architecture . A later series of oversize issues was used to accommodate the format of some historical works, which the society had commissioned to be reproduced by Edward Edwards and Samuel Hieronymus Grimm in water-colour in 1771; the first issues of these were mostly done by Basire. The first of these with a reproduction of a 16th-century oil painting of

3510-416: Was 400 prints; the plates were carefully stored by the society and used occasionally to fulfil later requests; only three of the seven plates still exist. The society's first journal was Archaeologia (full title: Archaeologia; or, Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity ), of which the first volume appeared, in a quarto format, in 1770. The journal mainly contained papers that had been delivered at

3575-552: Was Headmaster of the Spitalfields School of Design. He left it after less than one year. Wallis was Headmaster of Manchester School of Design in 1844–1846. In two years from the time of Mr. Wallis taking the charge, the funds of the school were flourishing; the interest taken in it by the public was great, and nearly half the Institution was occupied by the pupils, while the applications for admission were more numerous than could be accommodated. Under this management

3640-530: Was a famous maker of steel-jewellery at the time of George III. George Wallis was educated at the Grammar School from 1825 to 1827 and received initial training in japanned ware painting. He practised as an artist and art educator in Wolverhampton from 1827 to 1832, but then left for Manchester where he lived the next five years. He taught sisters Martha Darley Mutrie and Annie Feray Mutrie at

3705-480: Was a measuring technique called "end measurements" that used a precision flat plane and measuring screw, both of his own invention. The system, with a precision of one millionth of an inch (25  nm ), was demonstrated at the Great Exhibition of 1851. In 1841 Whitworth devised a standard for screw threads with a fixed thread angle of 55° and having a standard pitch for a given diameter. This soon became

3770-675: Was appointed a British commissioner for the New York International Exhibition. They toured around industrial sites of several American states, and the result of their journey was a report 'The Industry of the United States in Machinery, Manufactures and Useful and Applied Arts, compiled from the Official Reports of Messrs Whitworth and Wallis, London, 1854.' Whitworth received many awards for

3835-406: Was appointed a deputy commissioner for the Great Exhibition of 1851, and he successfully acted for several manufacturing districts and the whole of Ireland. During the period of the Exhibition he was Superintendent of the British textile division, and a deputy commissioner of juries. Later he also was actively involved in preparation and overseeing of different international exhibitions: in 1853 he

3900-730: Was buried in Highgate Cemetery on 28 October. A number of his memorabilia and artworks were given by his children to museums associated with him: the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, the Wolverhampton Art Gallery and the Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery. An exhibition in memory of George Wallis was organised at the Wolverhampton Art Gallery in 1919. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

3965-700: Was compiled 'The Industry of the United States' (1854). In 1855, he was appointed Special Superintendent of British and Colonial manufactures which were displayed at the International 1855 Exhibition in Paris. He was then actively engaged in the British section of the Paris Universal Exhibitions of 1862 and 1867. In the collection of Wolverhampton Art Gallery , there is a number of medals awarded to him by Queen Victoria , Prince Albert , and Louis-Napoleon of France. In 1869, he initiated

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4030-434: Was often called the " sharpshooter " because of its accuracy, which is considered one of the earliest examples of a sniper rifle . Queen Victoria opened the first meeting of the National Rifle Association at Wimbledon , in 1860 by firing a Whitworth rifle from a fixed mechanical rest. The rifle scored a bull's eye at a range of 400 yards (366 m). Whitworth also designed a large rifled breech-loading gun with

4095-491: Was one of the six commissioners sent by the government to the 1853 New York International Exhibition, with additional duties to analyse the development of art and manufactures in America. Wallis reported that his 5,000 miles long tour embraced "the States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Eastern Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio." From his report and that of Sir Joseph Whitworth on machinery

4160-415: Was then begun, in which 32 volumes appeared down to 1920. In 1921 Proceedings was superseded by a new annual journal, the Antiquaries Journal . This continues to the present day, volume 101 having been published in 2021. Since the end of 2001, the society has published a fortnightly online newsletter called Salon (Society of Antiquaries Online Newsletter). The following have served as Presidents of

4225-401: Was unable to pass a resolution to eject fellow Hubert Chesshyre . In 2015, a trial of the facts had reached the verdict that Chesshyre had committed child sexual abuse offences, leading to a recommendation from the Honours Committee that he be stripped of honours. The council issued a statement saying that it "regrets that a majority of those present [at the vote] did not see fit to support

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