Alfred Crowdy LOVETT (1863 – 1919) – British soldier and very prolific artist

Alfred Crowdy Lovett was born in Croydon, Surrey, UK in the early months of 1863.  His parents were James Crowdy Lovett and his wife, Ellen Hawkins Lovett, nee Bevan.   Alfred was baptised in St James church, Croydon on September 5th 1863. He first appeared on the census of 1871 aged 8 and living at Addiscombe Road, Holly Mount, Croydon with his parents and brothers.

In 1882 Alfred became a Lieutenant in the 4th Bn. The East Surrey Regiment. 

By the 1901 census, he was aged 38, single and a Captain in the Infantry. The census was for the parish of Sandhurst, Berkshire.

In the second quarter of 1903, Alfred married Fannie Rumsey in Maryleborne London.  He served during WW1, commanding the 1st Gloucestershire Regiment at the retreat from Mons in 1914.  

Alfred’s military career was distinguished and he was gazetted twice. On 16/02/1915 (gazette date) he was made a Companion of the order of the Bath, and on 3/02/1919 in the King’s Birthday Honours he was awarded a CBE. He was by then a Brigadier General and on the “general staff”.

Alfred Crowdy Lovett  “died of illness in the U. K. and was buried in Manor Road Cemetery grave ref. the oval.17. At his death he is listed as having served in the General Staff & the Gloucestershire Regiment, which he joined in 1883. 

Medals:

Silver Star, Victory and British War Medals

C.B. C.B.E. Mentioned in Dispatches

As well as being a distinguished soldier, Alfred Crowdy Lovell was a talented artist, his work being shown at the Royal Academy.   He also wrote books:

“India and the War” (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1915) and

“The Armies of India painted by A.C. Lovett ; described by G.F. MacMunn” ;-with foreword by Earl Roberts (Adam and Charles Black, London, 1911)

Alfred is remembered in Manor Road Cemetery and on the WW1 Roll of Honour at Whitgift School where he was a pupil. 

Roll of Honour at Whitgift School

Sources:

https://www.scarboroughcemeteries.co.uk/database/lovett-alfred-crowdy/

https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Lovett%2C%20Alfred%20Crowdy%2C%201862%2D1919

https://glosters.tripod.com/1919off.html

https://www.google.com/search?q=alfred+crowdy+lovett&rlz=1C1CHBD_en-GBGB794GB794&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwidlND7ldH5AhWQa8AKHSAFD6UQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1280&bih=824&dpr=1

George Mayer-Marton (1897 – 1960) - Hungarian artist

self portrait

While researching yesterday, I found a Hungarian artist who served in WW1 - George Mayer-Marton (3 June 1897 – 8 August 1960) - a Hungarian artist who was a significant figure in Viennese art between the First and Second World Wars, working in oil, watercolour and graphics. 

Mayer-Marton was born György, or Georg in German, in Győr, Kingdom of Hungary in 1897, and grew up during the final years of Austro-Hungary. He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War. From 1919 to 1924 he studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, and also visited Ravenna in Italy

Following his emigration to England in 1938, he changed the spelling of his forename to George on British naturalization. He continued to paint in watercolour and oil. He pioneered the technique of Byzantine mosaic in the UK. In 1952, he took up the post of Senior Lecturer in the department of painting at the Liverpool College of Art and introduced the new subject of mural art.  I could not find any WW1 paintings by him but I feel he should be remembered.

Alfred Edmeades "Fred" Bestall, MBE (1892 – 1986) - British artist

With thanks to Historian Debbie Cameron for this information  

 

Alfred Edmeades Bestall wrote and illustrated the “Rupert Bear” cartoon stories for the London “Daily Express” newspaper from 1935 to 1965.   The original creator of the Rupert Bear stories was British artist Mary Tourtel (born Mary Caldwell on 28 January 1874 – 15 March 1948). In 1900 she married an assistant editor of “The Daily Express”, Herbert Bird Tourtel. 

The initial purpose of the Rupert Bear stories which began on 8th November 1920, was to win sales from rival  newspapers “Daily Mail” and “Daily Mirror”.

Alfred won a scholarship to the Birmingham Central School (later College) of Art and later attended the London County Council (LCC) Central School of Arts and Crafts in Camden. He served in the First World War as an MT (motor transport) driver in the British Army in Flanders, transporting troops, ammunition and stores in a range of vehicles including converted double-decker London B-Type buses, often under enemy fire. Following the war, Bestall finished his studies at the Central School of Art and was hired to illustrate books by Enid Blyton

Additional information from

https://www.beddgelerttourism.com/Rupert/