ON Thursday May 11, 1916, the artist Edward Hobley left his Penrith home to paint cloud effects in the High Winder area of Ullswater in the Lake District. When he didn’t return home that night the alarm was sounded and a search organised. Two local scouts searching Swarth Fell found an old entrance to a lead mine, and a few yards inside they found the dead body of the artist. He had removed his collar and tie and cut his throat with a razor. He was 49.

Edward Hobley was the eldest of three sons to Frederick and Mary. Edward, born in 1866 at Wallingford, Berkshire. He came to Bradford in 1870, where his school-master father had found employment.

Edward left local school at 14 and was apprenticed to a draper. But his real interest was art; he attended evening classes at Bradford School of Art, winning the Brown Silver Medal. He was awarded a scholarship to study at the National Art Training School (now The Royal College of Art) in London.

He made good progress, gained his Art Master’s Certificate, and spent time studying art in Paris. On his return to Britain he began to exhibit his paintings widely. His landscape, portrait and rural genre paintings were praised for attention to detail, English-Impressionist style, and luminous colour palette. He also effectively captured plays of light and shade, best seen in his painting, A Shaft of Light displayed at the Royal Academy in 1898, later purchased by Liverpool Corporation.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Cumberland Hills by Edward Hobley. Pic: Colin NevilleCumberland Hills by Edward Hobley. Pic: Colin Neville (Image: Submitted)

On the crest of a wave, he was appointed Art Master at the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Penrith, and in 1899 married Annie Vipond. Edward quickly established himself as a leading artist in the town, giving talks and receiving portrait commissions from local dignitaries, and commissions to produce watercolour paintings of the Lake District to promote tourism. Life was going well.

But in 1911 he set off one day to climb the Fells above his home to sketch and paint the landscape. The weather closed in and Edward became disoriented and lost. When finally he reached safety he suffered a breakdown, physically and mentally. In the following years there were recurring bouts of ill health and his mental condition worsened, as he experienced religious delusions. He continued to receive commissions but these began to tail off as his change in behaviour became more apparent.

At the start of the 1914-18 war Edward and Annie had five children, all under 16. As the war advanced it took its toll on the town, particularly on past students Ernest had taught. His mental condition worsened as he dwelt on the human impact of the war. By May 1916 he’d reached the end of his tether.

After his body was recovered, the verdict by the coroner’s inquest was that he had taken his own life, “while his mind was unbalanced”. For Annie, this was a double family tragedy, as her elder sister, Frances, had also committed suicide by poison some years before. Ernest left around £455, worth around £27,000 today, but this wouldn’t last a mother with five children too long. To provide for the family, 186 of Ernest’s paintings were sold at auction, raising £346, and grants by the Artist’s Fund supported the children’s education.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Hobley artwork image,Annie Hobley and four of their five children, painted by Edward a year or so before he died. Pic: Colin Neville Hobley artwork image,Annie Hobley and four of their five children, painted by Edward a year or so before he died. Pic: Colin Neville (Image: Submitted)

Edward Hobley’s artwork can be found today in many private collections and in galleries, including Bradford Museums and Galleries collection, and at Liverpool, Penrith and Gateshead.

* Colin Neville profiles Bradford artists past and present on his website, www.notjusthockney.info