William Brassey Hole, RSA

William Brassey Hole RSA (7 November 1846 – 22 October 1917) was a Scottish Victorian painter, illustrator, etcher, and engraver, known for his industrial, historical and biblical scenes.

An Englishman by birth and a member of a well-known West Country family, he was brought up in Edinburgh by his widowed Scottish mother and spent his life in Scotland.

From ODNB:

In 1897, on Anderson's recommendation, Hole was appointed by the board of trustees for fisheries, manufactures and improvements in Scotland to carry out the mural decoration of the central hall of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, on a theme illustrating Scottish history. It took Hole three years to complete the work; in preparation, he toured France and Italy with the chemist Sir Henry Roscoe to study the traditional technique of spirit fresco and modern European decoration. He painted a grand frieze of figures from the Stone Age to Carlyle proceeding to the seated figure of Caledonia, with, in the first floor ambulatory, large panels illustrating Scottish history from St Columba to James IV. Two more panels illustrated war and peace through the arts of music and poetry. Here the dramatic, illustrative style mixed decorative arts and crafts with the formality and colour range of Puvis de Chavannes. He also designed the zodiacal ceiling, reflecting his interests as a keen amateur astronomer. In 1900 his original proposal to continue the historical panels on the ground floor walls was dropped, but nine scenes were privately subscribed for the dining room of the Edinburgh city chambers between 1902 and 1910 and concluded the cycle of national art.

Family

• Parents: Richard Brassey Hole, Ann Burn Hole, (of Edinburgh) (born Fergusson)
• Wife: Elizabeth Lindsay - Marriage 18 July 1876 Scotland, United Kingdom
• Children: Jenny Hole, Dora Hole, Richard Hole, Gilbert Hole, Elsie Hole, Arthur Hole

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Ceiling of the Great Hall of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery

References

• "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NDBK-2P2 : 5 February 2023), William Fergusson Hole, 1846. Name William Fergusson Hole Sex Male Father's Name Richard Brassey Hole Father's Sex Male Mother's Name Annie Burn Mother's Sex Female Event Type Christening Event Date 13 Dec 1846 Event Place Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom Event Place (Original) St. Thomas', Salisbury, Wiltshire, England
• "England, Wiltshire, Church Records, 1518-1990", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6DS1-46RV : 25 February 2022), William Terousson Hole, 1846. Name William Terousson Hole Residence Place The Row Father's Name Richard Brossey Hole Father's Sex Male Father's Occupation Physician Mother's Name Annie Bera Mother's Sex Female Event Type Baptism Event Date 13 Dec 1846 Event Place Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom Event Place (Original) Salisbury, St Thomas, Wiltshire, England Document Type Bishop's Transcripts
• Charlotte Ferguson, head of household, in the 1851 Scotland Census < AncestrySharing > Address London Street B
• "British Newspaper Archive, Family Notices," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPZW-GXWW : 17 April 2019), Richard Brassey Hole, Esq MD, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom; records extracted FamilySearch and images digitized by FindMyPast; citing Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom, 28 Jul 1849, The British Newspaper Archive, Ireland; FHL microfilm .
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grange,_Edinburgh#Superiors
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/9K44-74B
• Hole, William Fergusson Brassey (1846–1917) at ODNB. Elizabeth S. Cumming https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/100749 Published online: 08 October 2009
• https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/william-b...
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_National_Portrait_Gallery