#CHARLES WADE ARCHIVE#

Photographic portraits at this time show him in period costume from his own growing collection, in poses and settings reminiscent of postcards depicting the theatre stars he saw perform, such as Sir Henry Irving, Sir John Martin-Harvey, and Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson.

Wade was drawn to the theatre, attending historical dramas at the Ipswich Lyceum and, later, in London. He found Bisshopp an uninspiring architect, though, and was grateful when H. The town provided a rich and varied collection of buildings to study and sketch, and Wade spent many happy hours at the harbour, markets, and antique shops. In 1901 Wade was indentured to the diocesan architect Edward Fernley Bisshopp in Ipswich. Later in life he was to call schools ' Graveyards of Imagination' and ' Factories of Boredom' ( Wade, Notebooks, vol. His ' chief joy' was carpentry ( ibid., 64) the only other lesson he enjoyed was drawing. From 1893 Wade boarded in Eastbourne, first briefly at Timsbury School, then at St Andrews, and from January 1897 until December 1900 at Lorne House, Uppingham School. This ' Heavenly Palace of faraway Cathay' ( ibid., 44) ignited his passion for collecting craftsmanship and greatly influenced the interiors he would later create at Snowshill Manor, where many of the ' old family relics' came to be housed. Of particular significance to him was a Cantonese shrine cabinet that was only opened on Sundays. Having no young companion at home and finding no stimulation and friendship in his grandmother, Wade's creativity and imagination took refuge in characters, objects, and scenes found along the quayside and in the town, as well as in ' old family relics of interest and value' ( Wade, Days Far Away, 43) half-hidden in the house. In 1889 Wade was sent to live with ‘Grannie Spencer’ at 15 Wellesley Road, Great Yarmouth, to allow his attendance at Miss Haddon's Little School. His grandfather Solomon Abraham Wade, originally a successful dry goods supplier on St Kitts in the West Indies, had acquired sugar cane plantations on the island that established the family's fortune. He had two younger sisters, Mary Constance (Connie) (1884–1942) and Olive Muriel (1885–1958). Wade, Charles Paget ( 1883–1956), collector and illustrator, was born at 9 Scotts Lane, Shortlands, near Bromley, Kent, on 13 February 1883, the son of Paget Augustus Wade (1849–1911), a part-owner of sugar plantations, and his wife, Amy Blanche (1858–1943), daughter of Charles Spencer, a Worcestershire curate.

#CHARLES WADE ARCHIVE#

Charles wade