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Although not an artist in the sense that he produced pictorial paintings, this member was truly an artist in the branch of art in which he specialised, namely, mediaeval script. He was elected to the Tribe in 1908 at a time when there were only two types of members, the artists known as Working Members and Honorary Members. In fact he was mainly responsible for the formation of the Blue Feathers, for he was also a very talented pianist. He lived at 4, Royal York Villas, Clifton, and as a boy attended the Bristol Grammar School and, on leaving, entered banking. At the time of his election he was the Manager of a local branch of Lloyds. He was a regular and active member in the Wigwam and became very familiar as he uttered a loud “sh” to members who talked while a Blue Feather was performing. Charlie Thomas portrayed him in a caricature and entitled it simply “Sh”. The first and only occasion that he was able to display his talent with brush and pen, was in the illuminated address in the Bongie Portfolio, a beautiful example of superb craftsmanship. He was not with us for long, for in 1914 he was transferred to Burton on Trent and the Artists, in recognition of his services to the Tribe, collaborated in presenting him with a Portfolio to which they all contributed, just as they did for “Bongie” and “Rossy” later on. In 1940 he died aged sixty. His early death deprived the City of a very fine document for he was unable to complete a work which he had started as a boy and hoped to complete on retirement. This was a Missal which, when finished, he intended to present to Bristol Cathedral, of script copied from early monks, the highly decorative capitals at the opening of each paragraph were his own design. After his death his brother presented it to the Tribe together with the Presentation Folio both of which are in our possession as very honoured treasures. (Cecil Broome)
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