FIDLER, Harry

1855 - 1935

Harry Fidler was born at Teffont Magna, Tisbury, Wiltshire on 22 January 1855, ninth of the ten children of William Fidler (21 February 1807-15 June 1877), a farmer of 545 acres, and his wife Jane née Humby (1814-1882), who married at Dinton St Mary Church, Wiltshire on 3 April 1839. In 1861, Harry was a 5-year-old, living at Chilmark, Tisbury, with his parents 53-year-old William and 46-year-old Jane, with nine siblings, James Humby 19, Mary Jane 17, Flora 15, Hannah Elizabeth 13, Thomas 11, Fanny 9, Lucy Hannah 7 and Gideon 3, all born in Wiltshire. Harry's early years were spent working on the family farm and in 1901, a 45-year-old unmarried artist painter, living at Teffont Street, Teffont Magna, Tisbury, Wiltshire with his 57-year-old unmarried sister Mary, and five other unmarried siblings and he rented the old Methodist Chapel to use as a studio which he used until his marriage. He met his future wife, Scottish born Laura Barbara Sutherland Clunas (26 July 1862-7 October 1936) at Herkomer's Art School, Bushey and they married at St Matthew, Great Peter Street, Westminster in 1908. Fidler frequently included farm animals and especially working horses in his paintings and frequently used inferior quality canvas and inadequate ground which meant that his work may require early restoration. A member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the Royal Society of British Artists and exhibited several large canvases at the Royal Academy 1891-1935 also exhibiting at the Paris Salon; New English Art Club and in 1930 had a solo exhibition at the Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool also exhibited at the Ipswich Art Club including from The White House, Stoke, Andover, Hampshire in 1932, an oil 'Plough Land Plight'. Harry Fidler died at The White House, Stoke, Andover on 10 May 1935, aged 79 and a memorial exhibition of both Harry's and his wife's work was held at the Arlington Gallery, London in 1936. He signed his work 'Fid', 'H. Fidler' or 'Fidler' in block letters.
Note: his birth year is often given incorrectly as 1856

Royal Academy Exhibits
from Teffont Magna, Salisbury
1891 1629 Christmas Eve '90 - etching/drawing
         1636 A Fruitful Land - etching/drawing
         1659 'Hark! hark! the dogs do bark' - etching/drawing
         1672 'The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh' - etching/drawing
         1675 Victimised by Golf - etching/drawing
from Merry Hill, Bushey, Hertfordshire
1897 1681 'The true succes is to labour' - etching/drawing
from Abbott's Ann, Andover, Hampshire
1909 281 Winter is over
1910 510 The Last of the Grey Mare
1913 652 The White Hen
from The White House, Stoke, Andover
1915 878 The Cow Boy
         890 Peace
1916 920 ?
         1580 Ploughing the Potato Field - watercolour
1918 88 The Master of the Wheat-field is Master of the Earth
1920 172 Going Home
1922 305 Morning
         681 The Wheat Field
1923 336 The Finish
1924 532 Wheat Harvest
         588 Winter is over
1925 407 A March Morning
1928 626 The Load
1930 640 The Apple Cart
         683 Interned
1932 143 The Binder
         341 A Lucky Boy
1933 404 'The plough is our hope'
1934 315 The Hen with one Chick
the late
1935 253 Energy
         397 St Ives Fruit Cart

---

Works by This Artist