Thomas Hammond Painting -Blakeney

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Thomas William  Hammond (1848- 1935) was born in Philadelphia. His father, William, had joined in the Californian Gold Rush in 1848, returning to his native Nottingham to marry. The young couple promptly immigrated to America but tragedy struck when Thomas, aged only four, was orphaned. His parents and a brother died in the Yellow Fever epidemic. He and his young sister were sent to Nottingham where they were raised by their grandparents who lived in Mount Street.
In 1868, aged 14, he enrolled in the Government School of Art. On the 1871 census he is described as a lace curtain designer, and in 1872 he was awarded the 'Queen's Prize for a Design of a Lace Curtain'.

Other prizes followed and in 1877 he was again awarded the Queen's Prize, this time for the design for a damask table cloth. Hammond was an indefatigable worker, and soon began to use his skills was a draftsman to record aspects of the changing town. He began showing his work at local venues in 1882 and in 1890 exhibited for the first time at the Royal Academy.