The Lost Companions and John Ruskin's Guild of St George: A Revisionary History

265 Pages·2014·5.683 MB·English

by  Mark Frost

The Lost Companions and
John Ruskin’s Guild of St George
Anthem Nineteenth-Century Series
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Clare Pettitt – King’s College London, UK
Adrian Poole – University of Cambridge, UK
Jan-Melissa Schramm – University of Cambridge, UK
The Lost Companions and
John Ruskin’s Guild of St George
A Revisionary History
Mark Frost
Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com
This edition first published in UK and USA 2014
by ANTHEM PRESS
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Copyright © 2014 Mark Frost
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of both the copyright
owner and the above publisher of this book.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Frost, Mark, author.
The lost companions and John Ruskin’s Guild of St George : a
revisionary history / Mark Frost.
pages cm. – (Anthem Nineteenth-Century Series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-78308-283-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Ruskin, John, 1819–1900. 2. Guild of St. George. I. Title.
PR5263.F76 2014
828’.809–dc23
2014020313
ISBN-13: 978 1 78308 283 4 (Hbk)
ISBN-10: 1 78308 283 6 (Hbk)
Cover image: Gravestone of William Graham, St Leonard’s Church,
Ribbesford, Bewdley, courtesy of the author.
This title is also available as an ebook.
To my wonderful family, and most especially to Becky, whose love, patience, and support
since I started out on the old road with Ruskin cannot be measured; and to all lost
companions, past and present.

CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Frequently Cited Sources xiii
Introduction 1
Chapter One Roots 15
Chapter Two Glimpsing Eden: 1867–70 53
Chapter Three ‘At Least a Beginning’: 1871–75 61
Chapter Four Opportunities: 1875–77 107
Chapter Five Dreams and Nightmares: 1878–81 153
Chapter Six The Long Decline and the Great Dispute: 1882–1900 197
Afterword 221
Appendix Companions of the Guild of St George: Early Lists 225
Notes 227
Bibliography 233
Index 239

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig. 1. Timeline of Guild Schemes, 1871–91 (Mark Frost and Rob Worrell).
Fig. 2. John Ruskin, Saint George and the Dragon, after Carpaccio. 1872. Sepia, pencil, and
ink with white highlights on paper. Guild of St George Collection, Sheffield.
CGSG00191.
Fig. 3. William Harrison Riley, June 1902. Yale Sterling Memorial Library. MS417.
Fig. 4. Opening page of letter, William Buchan Graham to William Harrison Riley, 23
January 1888. Yale Sterling Memorial Library. MS417.
Fig. 5. John Guy c.1870. Figures 5–10 are from Howie and Leyland, A Guy Family
History, and included by kind permission of John Guy’s living descendants.
Fig. 6. Mary Eliza Hey c.1870.
Fig. 7. John Guy with his children, Lottie, Nellie, George, and John Beecher, Leeds,
1883.
Fig. 8. George, John, John Beecher, Nellie, and Lottie Guy, Auckland, c.1895.
Fig. 9. George, Nellie, Mary Elizabeth, Lottie, and John Guy, Haslett Street, Auckland,
c.1901.
Fig. 10. John Guy, 1920s.