Barlow, Thomas Oldham 1824 - 1889

Nationality:
British

Thomas Oldham Barlow was an engraver and etcher, born in Oldham, Lancashire. He was the youngest child of Henry Barlow (1781–1851), an ironmonger. He was articled in 1839 to Messrs Stephenson and Royston, an engraving firm in Manchester, and went on to further training at the Manchester School of Design. He had settled in London by 1846.

Barlow helped to popularize the works of John Phillip and John Evertt Millais also worked on reproductions of J.M.W. Turner's paintings, amongst others.

Often Barlow exhibited his engravings. Between 1851 and 1890 he had shown more than forty engravings at the Royal Academy. On 28 January 1873 he was elected an associate engraver; in 1876 he became an associate of the Royal Academy, and on 5 May 1881, he was elected Royal Academician - only the fourth engraver to have been so honoured.

Other public bodies also recognised his talents. In 1873 he was elected an honorary member of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts; he was a member (and long-standing secretary) of the Etching Club, and in 1872 became director of the etching class at South Kensington.

Thomas Barlow died at his home in Kensington on Christmas eve 1889, after a short illness, and was buried in Brompton cemetery.