SULMAN, Thomas (1832-1900) — London
Draughtsman and wood-engraver. Produced numbers of panoramic bird’s-eye views, e.g. London from the south side of the Thames 1861, engraved by Robert Loudan; Bird’s eye view of Glasgow 1864; Liverpool from the Mersey 1865, engraved by Mason Jackson; Edinburgh 1868; St Thomas’s Hospital, Lambeth, seen from the south-east with the Palace of Westminster in the background, a plan and scale beneath 1871; New York from Bergen Hill: Hoboken 1876, engraved by Loudan; bird’s eye street maps for various editions of Herbert Fry, ‘London in 1880 : illustrated with bird’s-eye views of the principal streets’ 1880 (and variant titles to 1924); The A.B.C. pictorial plan of London 1892; “W. & D.” Bird’s-eye view of textile London 1897, for the Warehouseman and Draper, etc. Known also for illustrations, designing ornamental borders, etc. A number of drawings of business premises, etc., registered for copyright are in NA. Worked as a topographical and architectural draughtsman for the Illustrated London News 1859-1888, as well as working for numerous other publications, including the City Press. He also wrote articles on art history for Good Words in the 1890s.
Born in London 11 Jul 1832 and baptised 2 Sep 1832 at St. Mary Islington, the son of Thomas Sulman (1807-1881), a watchmaker of Colebrook Row, and his wife Mary Killingworth (1807?-1878), who had married the previous year. Educated at the City of London School and apprenticed to William Henry Prior (1812-1882), the well-known artist and illustrator. Recorded as a draughtsman on wood in the 1851 census, living in Islington with his parents and some younger siblings. His father was at that time employing fifteen hands. He studied at the Working Men’s College from its inception in 1854, where he was a pupil of both John Ruskin and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and later Edward Burne-Jones and Ford Madox Brown — the lessons vividly remembered in Sulman’s ‘A memorable art class’, written for Good Words in 1897. His marriage to Mary Ann Johnston (1839-1922), with whom he had several children, was registered at Islington early in 1860. Although previously enjoying good health he was found suffering from paralysis in his bath and died a week later on 21 Nov 1900 without regaining consciousness. His funeral was held at All Saints Finchley and his remains transferred to Brookwood, Woking, Surrey, where a memorial to Sulman and his wife survives. “Mr. Sulman was a French scholar, a Positivist by creed, a voracious reader of history, and a life-long abstainer. To the last-named cause, indeed, he always attributed his almost perfect freedom from ailments of every kind” (Hendon & Finchley Times, 30 Nov 1900). “Another sad death from paralysis was that of a very estimable artist, Mr. Thomas Sulman. One of the most industrious and conscientious of workers, Mr. Sulman held fast to a high standard of life, and is mourned not only by his sorrowing family, but by many rising artists who first acquired skill under his careful tuition in his New Court Studio, Carey Street. He was for many years on the staff of The Illustrated London News, to which he contributed numbers of comprehensive bird’s-eye views of the chief cities, as well as a remarkably fine Panorama of London. It is to be earnestly hoped that the artistic connection Mr. Sulman formed will be continued prosperously, as his business at New Court is to be carried on for the benefit of his family” (The Sketch, 12 Dec 1900). Probate on effects of £3,840.6s.1d was granted to his widow 31 Dec 1900. His daughter Dora Sulman (1867-1939) continued the business for a time and is known as an artist and illustrator in her own right.
— 15 King Edward Street, (home) — 1851-1855
— 22 Tavistock Terrace, Upper Holloway (home) — 1861-1865
22 Essex Street, Strand — 1869-1870
16 Essex Street, Strand — 1870-1886
— 3 Chetwynd Road (home) — 1871-1874
— 49 Chetwynd Road (home) — 1881-1889
11 New Court, Carey Street — 1887-1900
— Underwood, Nether Street (home) — 1891-1900
BNA. Census 1851-1891. Engen (1985). Houfe. Hyde. LHD. LMA. NA. Smith. Tooley.