his fellow artists when it was unveiled. He was awarded the first gold medal bestowed by the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1924, although he had previously, in 1908, declined the offer of the presidency of that body. Thornycroft's last major work was the tomb effigy of Bishop Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs which was shown at the Royal Academy in 1925 and subsequently installed in Coventry Cathedral. Thornycroft became increasingly resistant to new developments in sculpture, although his work of the early 1880s helped to catalyse sculpture in the United Kingdom towards those new directions. In sum, he provided an important transition between the neoclassical and academic styles of the 19th century and its fin-de-siècle and modernist departures. A blue plaque commemorates Thornycroft at 2b Melbury Road, Kensington, his studio designed by his lifelong friend the architect John Belcher, c. 1892. Family In addition to his parents, Thornycroft's grandfather John Francis was also a distinguished sculptor. His brother, Sir John Isaac Thornycroft, became a successful naval engineer; their sister, Theresa, was the mother of the poet Siegfried Sassoon; Theresa and sisters Alyce and Helen Thornycroft were artists. In 1884, Hamo married Agatha Cox, who was fourteen years his junior. At a dinner in 1889, Agatha was introduced to Thomas Hardy, who later described her as "the most beautiful woman in England" and admitted that she was one of the models for the title character in his novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Agatha and her husband were interested in the concept of "artistic dress", and a dress worn by her (presumed to be her wedding dress) is held in the costume collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, donated by their daughter, Mary Elfrida Thornycroft, who was also his biographer. Selected public works 1878 to 1889 1890 to 1899 1900 to 1909 1910 to 1925 Other works Lord Mayo, 1876, Kolkata, India, bronze equestrian statue, relocated to Barrackpore Thomas Clarkson, 1877, St Mary's Church, Playford, Suffolk, memorial relief in marble Thomas Gray, 1885, Chapel of Pembroke College, Cambridge, marble bust and bronze relief Sir John Goss, 1886, St Paul's Cathedral, marble panel within a larger monument by John Belcher Henry Bradshaw, 1887, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, marble bust General Gordon, 1889, Melbourne, Australia, bronze statue on pedestal George Leveson-Gower, exhibited 1895, unveiled 1896, Central Lobby, Houses of Parliament, marble statue Marble statue of Sir Steuart Bayley, completed 1894, erected 1896 Kolkata, located in