alfred garth jones (1872–1955) was an english artist and illustrator who worked mainly in woodcut, pen and ink line art drawing and watercolour.at that time, thomas jones was a mechanical draughtsman although he later progressed to become an engineering lecturer.in the united kingdom census 1881, alfred is listed (aged 8) with the rest of his family (ada, mary, thomas, alfred, ernest, robert, maud and later percy) which was resident in moss side, then a manchester suburb.at age 18, alfred was still living with his parents and was studying art in manchester.it seems that within a few years he had moved to london in order to advance his career in the arts.this was most probably in order to become a student at the national art training school in south kensington, an institution that would become the royal college of art in 1896.the march 1901 edition of the poster and art collector publication included an article entitled 'some remarks on the work of alfred garth jones' (by the editor).this describes how jones continued his training by attending the slade school of fine art as a pupil of professor fred brown.he then extended his studies in paris at the académie julian where he was directed by jean-joseph benjamin-constant and jean-paul laurens, before returning to england in 1894.on 15 december 1898 alfred married harriette napier osborne (a farmer's daughter b 10 december 1875 in marden, kent) at the parish church (now chelsea old church) in the parish of st. luke, chelsea, london.the ceremony was attended by alfred's father, thomas, and by harriette's mother, lydia napier osborne (née hardy).by the time of the united kingdom census 1901 the couple were living on the king's road, chelsea.in 1911, alfred and harriette were living in wandsworth with their 5-year-old daughter, barbara garth jones.the census of that year records that harriette had by this time given birth to two children.brian garth jones had been born in 1902 but had died aged four.the census forms in the united kingdom were then required to be completed by the head of the household, for that individual address, and this document bears the name and signature 'alfred garth jones'.the reason for choosing this name is not known, but may have been influenced by the welsh ancestry of his forefathers.his earlier works were signed a garth jones (or a g j), although later this was shortened to garth jones.jones' illustrations were used in several notable publications around the start of the 20th century, including works by tennyson, h.g.wells, john milton, conan doyle and carmen sylva.in 1894, the first examples of jones' illustrations appeared in 'the tournament of love' by william theodore peters and 'fairy tales from classic myths for boys and girls' by charles h smith.two years later, jones edited the beam, a bi-monthly magazine published by students of the national art training schools.there were only three editions produced between january and may 1896.from 1896 to nearly the end of 1899, alfred was design master at the lambeth school of art.in 1898, he produced a woodcut portrayal of the bound samson in a collection of john milton's poems.by 1901, jones' reputation was sufficient that he was selected, along with harold nelson, by elisabeth of wied (queen consort of carol i of romania) to illustrate the english edition of a book of verse (a real queen's fairy book, published by george newnes ltd) which she had written under the pen name of carmen sylva.in france at around the same time, jérôme doucet (1865–1957) chose jones to be the illustrator for his 'contes de la fileuse' (tales of the spinner).
alfred garth jones | deathplace | london <tsp> alfred garth jones | birthplace | england <tsp> alfred garth jones | birthplace | manchester <tsp> alfred garth jones | deathplace | sidcup
at that time, thomas jones was a mechanical draughtsman although he later progressed to become an engineering lecturer.in the united kingdom census 1881, alfred is listed (aged 8) with the rest of his family (ada, mary, thomas, alfred, ernest, robert, maud and later percy) which was resident in moss side, then a manchester suburb.at age 18, alfred was still living with his parents and was studying art in manchester.on 15 december 1898 alfred married harriette napier osborne (a farmer's daughter b 10 december 1875 in marden, kent) at the parish church (now chelsea old church) in the parish of st. luke, chelsea, london.