| Administrative History | Randolph Caldecott (1846-1886) was a celebrated British artist and illustrator of books. In particular, he is credited with the transformation of children's books in the Victorian era. Children are said to have eagerly awaited the two books illustrated by him, priced at a shilling each, which came out each Christmas for eight years. His work also included illustrations of novels and accounts of foreign travel, humorous drawings depicting hunting and fashionable life and cartoons of the famous and powerful, many of which appeared in magazines such as 'Punch'. He also exhibited sculptures and paintings in oil and watercolour in the Royal Academy and elsewhere. Caldecott was born in Chester on 22 March 1846. His father was a Chester accountant: Randolph was his third child by his first wife Mary Dinah Brookes. In 1818 the family moved to Challoner House on Crook Street in Chester and then in 1860 to 23 Richmond Place at Boughton. Caldecott spent the last five years of his school life at the King's School, then based in the cathedral. He became an associate of, among others, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, George du Maurier and John Everett Millais. Randolph Caldecott died in Florida in 1886 and was buried there. A memorial to him was placed in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral in London.More information is available from the Randolph Caldecott Society's website at www.randolphcaldecott.org.uk. |