Sculptor. William Silver Frith. Born Leicester. Other London work: Metropolitan Life Assurance Company building in Moorgate; Imperial College, South Kensington; Two Temple Place.
William Silver Frith was born on 30 April 1850 in Leicester, Leicestershire, the second of the four children of Henry Frith (1820-1863) and Elizabeth Frith née Chapman (b.1818).
He was shown as aged 10 months when the census was undertaken on 30 March 1851 and was living at 16 Regent Street, Leicester, with his parents and his elder brother Henry Chapman Frith (1848-1914), together with a female house servant. His father was described as a wood and stone carver.
On 14 September 1856 he was baptised, together with his two younger siblings: Elizabeth Mary Frith (1853-1935) and John Clarke Frith (1857-1933), at St James's Church, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, where in the baptismal register their family were shown to be living in Faulkner Street, Gloucester and that their father was a sculptor.
In the census that was compiled on 7 April 1861 he was shown as aged 11 years and residing in a property in Brook Street, Barton St Mary, Gloucester, with his parents and his three siblings: Henry Chapman Frith; Elizabeth Mary Frith and John Clarke Frith. His father was listed as a sculptor in wood and stone employing two masons, one boy and one apprentice.
He was listed in the census that was taken on 2 April 1871 as aged 20 years and a wood carver who was boarding at 6 Oakden Street, Lambeth, Surrey (now Greater London), the home of Mr & Mrs Joseph Plews.
The census that was collected on 3 April 1881 shows him as aged 30 years and a sculptor residing at 336 Clapham Road, Lambeth.
On 12 April 1882 he was initiated as a Freemason in The Zetland Lodge No.1005 that met at the New Inn Hotel, Northgate Street, Gloucester. Masonic registers held at the United Grand Lodge of England, Freemasons' Hall, 60 Great Queen Street, London, WC2 show that he was aged 30 years, a sculptor who was living at 336 Clapham Road, London SW.
On 7 November 1888 he married Isabella Jane Dumbrill (1869-1959) in St Mary's Church, Battersea, Surrey (now Greater London), where in the marriage register he is shown as aged 37 years, a bachelor and a sculptor living at 134 Milkwood Road, Herne Hill, Surrey (now Greater London), the son of Henry Frith, a sculptor, whilst his wife is described as aged 19 years, a spinster and a minor who was residing at 84 Orbell Street, Battersea, the daughter of John Neville Coleman Dumbrill, a professional cook.
He was recorded on the census that was obtained on 5 April 1891 as aged 39 years and a sculptor who was living at 1 Ashurst Street, Battersea, London, with his wife and their son Edgar Silver Frith (1890-1974), together with a female general servant.
Electoral registers from 1892 to 1894 show his residence to be 1 Ashchurch Street, Battersea and that he was also occupying Elgin Studios, Trafalgar Square (later renamed as Chelsea Square), Chelsea, London. He was still occupying these studios from 1895 to 1898 but his abode was recorded as 108 Bridge Road, Battersea.
Electoral registers from 1898 to 1907 show him occupying 2 Bowerdean Street, Fulham, London and he was recorded as residing there when the census was conducted on 31 March 1901. He was listed as aged 51 years and a sculptor who was living with his wife and their five children: Edgar Silver Frith; Anita Isabel Frith (1892-1914); Margarita Lucy Frith (1893-1984) Hubert William Frith (1896-1971) and Alan Roberts Frith (1900-1918), together with a female general domestic servant.
Electoral registers from 1908 show him listed at , Putney, London and when he completed his census return form on 2 April 1911 he described himself as aged 61 years and a sculptor who was living in a ten roomed property at 57 Rusholme Road, with his wife and five of their children: Edgar Silver Frith - a student assisting in his father's business; Anita Isabel Frith - a student; Margarita Lucy Frith - at school; Hubert William Frith - at school and Alan Roberts Frith - also at school, together with a female domestic servant. He claimed that his wife had given birth to seven children who were all still alive.
He is shown on the census return form that he completed on 19 June 1921 as aged 71 years, 2 months, and a sculptor whose business premises were Elgin Studios, Trafalgar Square, Chelsea. He was still residing at 51 Rusholme Road, Putney, with his wife, their son Edgar Silver Frith - a sculptor also trading at Elgin Studios, Chelsea, his daughter-in-law Margaret Mary Frith née Gough (1886-1956), his grandson Derrick Silver Frith (1915-1998) and his daughter Margarita Lucy Frith, together with a boarder.
His death was registered as aged 74 years in the 3rd quarter of 1924 in the Wandsworth Registration District, London. Probate records confirm that his address remained as 51 Rusholme Road, Putney and that he died on 15 August 1924. His in Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium, Stag Lane, London, SW15 3DZ. Probate was granted on 15 January 1925 to his son Edgar Silver Firth and his effects totalled £1,706-1s-6d.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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