Crowhurst, George 'Angelo'

Born in Sussex, there is no evidence GEORGE CROWHURST (1795-1839) ever left the county. By 1823 he had moved to Brighton, initially working as a Writing Master. As a profilist from ca. 1828, he stepped into the vacuum left by sometime resident silhouettist George Atkinson (ca.1785-1851), who for reasons unknown departed the town. In turn both men used 40 Old Steine as a work address. A competent artist and versatile copyist, his bronzed bust line compositions are so similar to Atkinson’s that attributions without a trade label, signature or date are problematic.

 

Producing cut or painted profiles, full-length or bust-size, Crowhurst also offered works on ivory, en grisaille or coloured. However, only one work on ivory is recorded. Signed conversation pieces are painted in colours. The majority of his extant output are bronzed bustline compositions housed in papier-mâché frames. Virtually all signed works bear 40 Old Steine as a work address. Adjacent to the Royal York Hotel and facing the Steine, it was in a prime location to attract custom. As far as known, a single profile bears 11 Old Steine as an address. Crowhurst appears to have rented a studio there as stopgap due to a fire that broke out on the 22nd of November 1835 at No.40, which Crowhurst advertises as reopened for business in the BRIGHTON PATRIOT on the 7th of January 1836.

 

In 2021, an unrecorded work address '4 Poole Lane' was discovered signed by Crowhurst on the rear of a full-length silhouette. Undoubtedly it was his initial studio. Interestingly, itinerant profilist J. Neville (dec. after 1841) is recorded working at 4 and 7 Poole Lane. A dated silhouette of March 1827 locates him at the "Royal Profile Rooms, Brighton". Likely the rooms were in Poole Lane. As it's probable he was the 'Mr. Neville' recorded with the Percival Gallery in Birmingham in October 1828, it's plausible Crowhurst occupied the premises after Neville's departure, then moved to 40 Old Steine after profilist George Atkinson vacated this more fashionable address in 1828.

 

George 'Angelo' Crowhurst was the 10th of 12 children born in Framfield, Sussex to tenant farmer James Crowhurst (1749-1826) and Martha née Henty (1754-1835). Neither George nor his siblings appear christened with middle names. 'Angelo' rarely appears on his signed profiles, and not at all on printed trade labels or directory entries, suggesting he adopted the name. Certainly he had a fondness for it, as his youngest son was baptised Raphael Angelo.

 

In May 1822 he married Hannah Gurr Morris (1790-1860) in Lewes. As Hannah too was Framfield born, they were undoubtedly already well acquainted. By the beginning of 1823, he was recorded in Brighton and remained there for the rest of his life. Seven children were born to the Crowhursts between 1823 and 1835. Four died in infancy and all were christened or later buried at Brighton's St.Nicholas Church.

 

Between 1823 and 1827 Crowhurst, as evidenced by baptismal records, worked exclusively as a 'Writing Master', initially in High Street, then Devonshire Street. From 1828 his occupation is given as 'Profilist', and by February 1833, baptismal records list him an 'Artist' and his abode as 'London Road'. The abode was almost certainly 3 York Place, where he died.

 

The St.Nicholas register also records an incident of some import pertaining to Crowhurst's domestic harmony. On the 6th of November 1829, George, son of Hannah and George Crowhurst 'Writing Master', is baptised at St.Nicholas. However, exactly a fortnight later at the same church, a Susanna and George Crowhurst 'Profile Man' of Old Steine are there to baptise their son George. As 'Writing Master' and 'Profile Man' are clearly one and the same, how Crowhurst managed to square the event with wife Hannah is unknown.

 

Though long assumed to have worked into the 1840s, the BRIGHTON GAZETTE of the 7th of February 1839 records Crowhurst's death at 3 York Place on the 26th of January. Aged 44, he was interred at St.Nicholas on the 2nd of February 1839.

 

Revised 17 April 2023 (Brian Wellings)