Thomas Wilkinson Wallis

Thomas Wilkinson Wallis (4 February 1821–26 August 1903) was a British woodcarver, sculptor, artist, surveyor and public health inspector of the Victorian era referred to as "the Grinling Gibbons of the 19th-century".

[2][4] When the family was made almost bankrupt through an unsuccessful ship-owning venture, aged 9, and after just three years of a rudimentary education, Wallis began a series of menial and unpleasant jobs including working as an errand boy before serving an apprenticeship from 1834 to 1841 as a carver and gilder to Thomas Ward in Hull.

The first three of the seven years were unpaid, and, during this period, acutely aware of his lack of education, Wallis began a life-long membership of the Mechanics' Institute.

By his sixteenth birthday, he had demonstrated sufficient skill and maturity to be allowed to assist Ward in carrying out work at Burton Constable Hall.

After completion of his seven years, and having accepted Ward's offer of the position of journeyman at 24 shillings (£1.20) per week, in 1841 Wallis was engaged to carve a 'Dragon Chair' to a design by Lady Constable.

In 1850 Wallis received a silver medal for his wood carving from the Royal Society of Arts, and in the same year he became Honorary Curator of Louth Mechanics’ Institute.

[8] In 1858 Wallis damaged his eyes while observing an eclipse through inadequately smoked glass, and fear of permanently losing his sight caused him to finally abandon his career as a carver in 1874.

An 1853 carving by Wallis in limewood depicting his by now common theme of a woodcock, partridge and a snipe hanging by their feet from two intertwined branches, the whole mounted and encased in a glass display cabinet is in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.