1847 - 1922

Sir Thomas Brock (1847--1922) Sculptor. Born in Worcester where he attended the Government School of Design. In 1866 he moved to London and became a pupil of John Henry Foley. In 1867 he entered the Royal Academy Schools gaining, in 1869, the RA gold medal in sculpture for his group, Hercules Strangling Antaeus, which was exhibited at the RA in 1870. In this same year, 1870, he produced his first portrait statue, Richard Baxter, at Kidderminster. When Foley died in 1874, Brock undertook to complete many of his unfinished commissions, thereby succeeding to much of his practice. Brock’s numerous public commissions include portrait statues of Sir Bartle Frere (1888, Victoria Embankment Gardens, London), and Sir J.E. Millais (1904, John Islip Street, London -(originally in front of the Tate Gallery); the Tomb of Lord Leighton ( 1900, St Paul’s Cathedral); and an Equestrian Statue of the Black Prince (1902, Leeds), but the most prestigious was the Memorial to Queen Victoria (with Aston Webb) in front of Buckingham Palace, earning him his knighthood at its unveiling in 1911. Brock exhibited at the RA, 1868--1922, and was elected ARA in 1883 and RA in 1891. He was first president of the Royal Society of British Sculptors at its founding in 1905 and membre d’honneur of the Société des Artistes Français. He was made honorary ARIBA in 1908, honorary DCL at Oxford University in 1909, and honorary RSA in 1916. He died 22 August 1922. Sources: DNB; S. Beattie (1983); Who Was Who 1916—1928; J. Sankey (2002).