William John Seward Webber was born in Exeter in January 1842.[6][7] His brother was Charles Benjamin Warwick Webber (Plymouth ca.1854 – Plymouth 1881).[5][8][9] His sister was dressmaker Edith Alice Maria Webber (Stonehouse 1863 – Barnet 1949).[10][11] In 1851 William J.S. Webber was a scholar living at the Emigrants' Home in St Andrew, Exeter, with his maternal grandparents.[2] By 1861 he was a carver living with his parents at the Emigrants' Depot, Newport Street, Exeter.[5] Between 1870 and 1871 he lodged at 205 Tottenham Court Road, London, as a student, describing himself as a sculptor's assistant and student of sculpture at the Royal Academy.[6][12]
Webber attended school at Plymouth.[13] He was apprenticed as a carver, and after that he trained for two years at the studio of John Gendall (1790–1864),[14] at the same time attending Exeter School of Art.[6] He moved to London in 1864 to study at the West London School of Art, where he qualified to attend the Royal Academy.[14][15] He then studied at the Royal Academy School, gaining First Medals in 1871 and 1873, and a scholarship.[13] He graduated in 1875.[6]
↑Webber is buried in Grove Road Cemetery, Harrogate, in section G, plot 1372. His unmarked grave is near the tall Dickinson memorial. He is buried on the non-Anglican side of the cemetery, with the Roman Catholics, non-conformists etc.
↑The meetings attended by Webber were probably those of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union, the main local naturalists' group.
↑A depiction of The Warrior and Wounded Youth was engraved and published in the Art Journal in December 1880. The size of the 1878 version was 40 x 20 in. (101.6 x 50.8 cm.)
↑Seward was Webber's maternal family name, so W.R. Seward was likely a relative.
↑J.N. Fitch is possibly John Nugent Fitch, an artist and contemporary of Webber.
↑In the Warrior and Wounded Youth statuette, the warrior is Hercules wearing his attribute, the lionskin cloak, on his back. See photograph on 1st Dibs
References
↑"Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 14 July 2021. Deaths Jun 1857 Seward William John Plymouth 5b 183
12Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851 HO107 piece 1879 folio 850 page 1
↑"Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 13 July 2021. Deaths Dec 1874 Webber William Rowe 59 Tavistock 5b 233
1234Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861 RG09 piece 1446 folio 54 page 21
12345678910111213141516171819202122"Mapping the practice and profession of sculpture". sculpture.gla.ac.uk. University of Glasgow History of Art and HATTII. 2021. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
↑"Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 13 July 2021. Births Mar 1842 Webber William Tiverton X 281
↑"Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 14 July 2021. Births Sep 1853 Webber Charles Benjamin Warwick Plymouth 5b 226
↑"Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 14 July 2021. Deaths Sep 1881 Webber Charles Benjamin W. 28 Plymouth 5b 137
↑"Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 14 July 2021. Births Sep 1863 Webber Edith Alice Maria E Stonehouse 5b 282
↑"Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 14 July 2021. Deaths Mar 1949 Webber Edith A.M. 85 Barnet 5a 810
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Scott, W. Herbert (1902). Pike, WT (編). Central West Riding of Yorkshire at the opening of the 20th century, contemporary biographies (1 ed.). Brighton, UK: WT Pike & Co. p. 253.