Roger Oldham

• Born  :  9 February 1871 at Lincoln.
• Married :  1904 Dorothy, the second daughter of Charles Scorer of Lincoln.
• Died   :  3 March 1916

Roger Oldham was born on 9 February 1871 at Lincoln, the fourth of a family of six sons and one daughter of Richard and Louisa Oldham. In 1874 the family moved to Sale, Cheshire. Roger Oldham was educated at Manchester Grammar School before being articled to the Manchester architect Charles Henry Heathcote between 1887 and 1891. In 1891 he moved to London, chiefly, it seems, to study at the Royal Academy (Schools?). In 1896 he commenced independent practice in Manchester. He was a devoted Christian with idealistic views on the importance of art and was much influenced by the works of Ruskin, Moore, Browning and Newbolt.

He was probably best known to the public as an artist of undoubted talent, in which a certain quaint inventive fancy, quite his own, constituted the dominant note. This agreeable quality was best seen in his series of illustrations for his “Manchester Alphabet,” an exposition of whose playful humour continues to delight. He also illustrated   T A Coward’s “Picturesque Cheshire,” testifying to his power with the brush and pencil.

Roger Oldham died on 3 March 1916, and was laid to rest in Brooklands Cemetery on Monday 6 March.

Address
1903    Roger Oldham, The Studio, 403 Temple Chambers, 33 Brazennose Street, Manchester

Residence
1896    Roger Oldham, “Brookside,” Brooklands, Sale (Architectural Review 1896ii)
1911    Roger Oldham, “Brentwood” 20 Park Avenue Timperley (Slater)