Articles with the tag: The Arts


Robert Simpson, Composer and Writer, 1921 – 1997

Robert Simpson, Composer and Writer, 1921 – 1997

Robert Wilfrid Levick Simpson, internationally renowned as one of the most prolific 20th century composers of symphonies and chamber music, was born at 21 Rosefield Street Leamington in March 1921, where his parents, as officers of the Leamington Spa Corps of the...
Thomas Baker, 1808 – 1864

Thomas Baker, 1808 – 1864

  Although known  professionally as ‘Baker of Leamington,’  Thomas Baker was born in Harborne, Birmingham, the son of the headmaster of Harborne Free School. He studied in Birmingham under the artist Joseph Vincent Barber, (who had business...
Beatrice Whitby, Novelist, 1855-1931

Beatrice Whitby, Novelist, 1855-1931

Beatrice Janie Whitby was born in Ottery Saint Mary, Devon where her father Charles was in medical practice. The family numbered three daughters and five sons, the oldest of whom, a professional soldier, was killed in the Afghan war of 1880, almost at the same time as...
John Ruskin (1819 to 1900)

John Ruskin (1819 to 1900)

  Was the remarkable life of this man saved by the mineral waters of Leamington Spa at the age of 21? John Ruskin was a writer, artist, art critic and polymath who was precocious at all stages of his life. He championed J M W Turner, the Pre-Raphaelites, Gothic...
Graham Jones – woodcarver – revisits Jephson Gardens

Graham Jones – woodcarver – revisits Jephson Gardens

On August 2 and 3, during the Leamington Studio Arts in the Park festival, 2014, Wood carver and sculptor, Graham Jones, was seen at work in Jephson Gardens. In 2013 Graham was commissioned by Warwick District Council to create a number of wood sculptures from...