Friday, November 3, 2023

Henry Buckle (1882 - 1964) – British artist, illustrator and photographer

Henry Charles H. Buckle was born in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, UK on 19th January 1882.  His parents were John Buckle, a Verger, and his wife, Susan, nee Hill.

Henry trained as a Whitesmith. In 1907, he married Emily Hannah Rollings.

During the First World War, Henry served as 2746 Lance-Corporal Henry Buckle, in the 1/5th (Territorial) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment from March to October 1915 in Belgium and France.  Henry was under enemy fire and the trench he was in collapsed on him, his legs were badly injured and he was discharged from active duty in August 1916.

The 1921 Census shows Henry, his wife and their daughter Alice Florence Buckle, who was born in 1908, living in Harrogate, Yorkshire (West Riding).  By 1939, the family were still living in Harrogate and by then Henry was a photographer with Alice helping him as a photograhic retoucher.

“A Tommy's Sketchbook: Writings and Drawings From the Trenches”. Incorporating the First World War Diary of 2746 Lance-Corporal Henry Buckle, 1/5th (Territorial) Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment.     Foreword by Jack Russell, MBE, FRSA, the former international cricketer and respected artist. This book was edited by David Read, the Historian of the Gloucestershire Regimental Museums.

NOTES:

A Verger is an official in a church who acts as a caretaker and attendant.

A Whitesmith is a metalworker who does finishing work on iron and steel such as filing, lathing, burnishing or polishing. The term also refers to a person who works with "white" or light-coloured metals, and is sometimes used as a synonym for tinsmith.

Sources: Find my Past, FreeBMD and

https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/browse/http%3A-_--_-data.open.ac.uk-_-led-_-source-_-Diary%2Bof%2BLance-Corporal%2BHenry%2BBuckle%2C%2B20%2BApril%2B1915-_-1399974736801

http://the1926foundation.org/mbdb/books/6992