Putney's Other Hugh Thom(p)son
Ulster born illustrator associated with classic editions of Austen, Dickens and JM Barrie
Hugh Thomson's illustrations from Dickens and Pride and Prejudice
June 16, 2023
Rather like the detectives in the Tin Tin series, there is another Thom(p)son with associations with the local area.
Hugh Thomson (no p) was a famous Ulster-born book illustrator (1860-1920) who lived in Putney from 1884-1892.
His various homes were in Bevan Villas, Lower Richmond Road, Erpingham and Schubert Roads. Another Putney connection comes from the fact that his biography was co-written by Walter Jerrold the son of the playwright Douglas Jerrold who is remembered by Jerrold House in Commondale near where Jerrold’s old house (now a school) once entertained Charles Dickens.
He may not be a household name like Ardizzonne, Rackham or Tenniel but “the pen and ink drawings by Hugh Thomson can be said with reasonable justification to mark the beginning of a new era in English book illustration’ (Edward Hodnett, Five Centuries of English Book Illustration, Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1988 ). He was at the vanguard of optimistic, sentimental illustrators who revolted against the more cynical charms of Aubrey Beardsley.
He may have always been the mildest of men and was often ill but his precocious talent soon meant he moved from Coleraine to Belfast and from there to London. A bumpy start soon blossomed through regular work with the English Illustrated Magazine at £4 a week. Major publishers, among others, Macmillan and Kegan Paul soon took note. This allowed him to move from Kennington to more salubrious Putney. Here he not only enjoyed the open spaces but rowing, at one point rowing his new bride all the way to Teddington. His son John went to St Paul’s.
Although his career did not end on a high note , he illustrated 65 books and is forever associated with editions of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and JM Barrie as well as the pictures that appeared on boxes of Quality Street. Although he worked 100 years after their first publication his illustrations, of Jane Austen works are considered the most desired.
Hugh Thompson
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