The story behind 'F.Moore'

The Cheltenham Flyer signed 'F.Moore'
Printed by The Chad Valley Co. Ltd., Harborne 1934 (Author's collection)

Introduction

This page is the result of a little bit of research we started into the artist whose signature appears on the image used for the 'Cheltenham Flyer' jigsaws made by Chad Valley and sold by the Great Western Railway. A full size copy of this image, printed by Chad Valley on heavy art paper and with a wide border taking it to about 24½" x 19¼" overall, was also made available from 1934. Tucked away in the bottom right hand corner of the picture is the signature F.Moore
Signature on the 150 piece jigsaw picture in red.

We decided to find out a little but more about this artist, and although we couldn't find anything else published by the Great Western Railway bearing that signature, it turns out that a great many colour illustrations in railway magazines, books and postcards are similary signed in the bottom right corner. So who exactly was this prolific artist?

It was discovered that 'F. Moore' was not the name of a real artist, but rather the name adopted by the Locomotive Publishing Company, which employed the services of the rather reclusive Edwin Thomas Rudd to do the actual painting. Rudd appears never to have signed his own name to a work, and accounts differ as to whether he was responsible for the entire output of 'F. Moore', or whether others may have been involved from time to time and not all the colour pictures published by the Locomotive Publishing Company appear to be signed. It seems likely that Rudd was exclusively the artist until possibly the early 1930s, following which his output diminished and other artists were commissioned to continue production, all still under the name of 'F.Moore'.

Origins of F.Moore

In the final years of the 19th century two brothers, Arthur Robert Bell and Arthur Morton Bell, both apprentices of the Great Eastern Railway at the company's Stratford Works, started a railway photo library as a hobby. They acted as 'middle-men' between the increasing number of amateur photographers of railways and the growing number of enthusiasts and publishers seeking such material. A third brother, Walter John Bell, and another apprentice, A.C.W. Lowe, joined them and 1896 saw the group launch Moore's Monthly Magazine, the first widely available railway magazine. The magazine was renamed The Locomotive Magazine from its 13th issue in January 1897, later to become The Locomotive, Railway Carriage & Wagon Review
Edition from January 14, 1928.

In an article written for Railway World by V.R. Webster in 1985 there is mention of a fourth brother, Francis Moore Bell. It seems that it is he who was credited with starting Moore's Monthly Magazine and it were his initials that provided the trade name 'F. Moore'. This brother quickly vanished from the scene however and nothing else is known, although one fleeting reference was found indicating he had died by 1908.

The Locomotive Publishing Co., Ltd.

Established in 1899 by the same group, the Locomotive Publishing Company Limited began at 9 South Place, Finsbury, moving within the year to 102 Charing Cross Road and then in 1903 to 3 Amen Corner, London. Amen Corner is at the west end of Paternoster Row where it joins Ave Maria Lane, near St Paul's Cathedral, an area which had a long association with the publishing trade in London. This building had been built as a private residence during the rebuilding of the area following the Great Fire of London in 1666. After being bombed out during the London Blitz of 1940, they moved to Horseferry Road. In 1956 the company was sold to Ian Allan Publishing and so relocated to Surrey. In 1992 the archive, together with its associated rights, was acquired by the National Railway Museum, with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

Postcards

The company licensed or sold both colour and monochrome images, taken from the growing library, to private collectors and for use in magazines and books, on postcards and cigarette cards, and for jigsaws and art prints. The company first sold its photographs as large monochrome prints but also began to produce postcards, often in themed sets.

~~ Click or tap on any card thumbnail below to see a magnified version of the back ~~

LMS "Royal Scott" express, hauled by engine No. 6100
"Times" Photo. Unsigned painting credited to F.Moore
Published by The Locomotine Publishing Co., Ltd.
"Flying Dutchman" G.W.R., near Slough
Painting signed F.Moore
Printed in England and published by Raphael Tuck & Sons
M.R. 4-4-0 Express, No. 999.
Painting signed F.Moore
Published by The Locomotine Publishing Co., Ltd.
N.S.R. 4-4-0 Express Passenger Locomotive No. 86
Painting signed F.Moore
Printed by Richard Tilling, 106, Great Dower Street, London

North Eastern Railway 360
The Locomotive Magazine Series. No. L195L
Published by The Locomotive Publishing Co., Ltd.
Highland Railway "Lovat"
F.Moore's Railway Photographs


North Eastern Railway, "Aerolite" locomotive
Published for the Railway Museum, York
by The Locomotine Publishing Co., Ltd.
Down Continental Boat Express, London to Newhaven
Produced for the SOUTHERN RAILWAY
by the Locomotive Publishing Co., Ltd.

Railway Views

In addition to the postcards and magazine already mentioned, the Locomotive Publishing Company also sold another monthly magazine Locomotive Engineering and many other ad-hoc publications. One such is the Railway Views series of booklets. Each of these booklets contained eleven images covering both British and foreign subjects. Our booklet is noted as being number 3, and whilst it is not known how many went on to form the complete series there were at least eight. A number of their other publications are advertised on the inside rear cover. Although undated, it is possible to deduce from the address quoted that it must date from between 1900 and 1903. The first booklet in the series had the views printed only on the right hand page, with all subsequent ones being consistent with this one in our collection.

~~ Click or tap on the booklet thumbnail to see a gallery of its pages ~~

Other sale items

The Locomotive Publishing Co. Ltd. produced or sold a wide range of other items. These included new and second-hand technical books, model locomotive paper weights and sectional drawings of locomotives. Illuminated talks were very poular and the Great Western Railway had available for hire a large selection of their own 'Lantern Slides'. The Locomotive Publishing Company advertised that it too had an extensive collection from which sets of typically 6, 12 or 24 could either be hired or purchased. One large set of 50 slides recorded the Darlington Centenary of 1925.

~~~~~~ ooooooOOOoooooo ~~~~~~

Edwin Thomas Rudd

Other researchers refer to the artist as Thomas (or Tom) Rudd, which was his middle name, but all census records seen show him as Edwin Rudd, or sometimes Edwin T.Rudd so we will stick with that. Edwin Rudd would appear to have been a quiet and rather reclusive person who beavered away producing a prodigious volume of work for his employers, sometimes two or more paintings in one week as well as undertaking private commissions. It would be interesting to know how much he was paid by LPC for his efforts but it would be no more than a fraction of the returns his employer obtained from such widespread use of the images he produced for them. He worked from a studio at his home near Clapham Common but later, at the behest of his employers, also worked at their premises.

Rudd's pictures were painted on top of card-mounted black and white photographs usually measuring about 10"x15" but sometimes postcard sized or even smaller. He did a lot more than simply add colour to the images and he displayed considerable skill when it came to reimagining the sky or surrounding countryside for example. His eye for detail and the use of correct railway liveries was very accurate, but printing technology of the time tended not to do justice to the original work. A small number of his originals have survived in the collections of the Science Museum and the National Railway Museum.

Not a lot is known about Edwin Rudd himself, but it is certain that he was born in King's Lynn in February 1861 and died in the latter part of 1940. Going back to the 1881 census we find an Edwin Rudd recorded as being the eldest of seven siblings, born in 1861 in King's Lynn. His father, also Edwin Rudd, was noted as being an artist/photographer. Young Edwin's entry shows that he was an artist's assistant which hints at where he learnt the skills he would later use to great effect. The family were living at 24 Cumberland Street in Islington but had moved to 2 Romilly road by the time of the 1891 census. Father and eldest sons are shown as being artist/photographer and artist/sculptor respectively. Two brothers were both photographers and the three sisters shown as being milliners/dressmakers which had been their mother's trade. By the time of the 1901 census Edwin senior is shown as being widowed, but still occupied as an artist/sculptor with his son, Edwin T.Rudd, and daughter, Mary A.Rudd, living with him at 96 Henley Road in Islington. The younger Edwin is also shown as being an artist, with father and son both working on their own account. Reference to the census of 1911 shows Edwin T.Rudd as a Locomotive Picture Painter, then aged 50, and Mary A.Rudd, aged 47, as being brother and sister living at 6 Mossbury Road in Battersea. They were both single at the time and it is understood that neither married. Personal experience shows that interpreting census data can be misleading, but it all seems to fit in this case.