(1825 - 1892)
Sculptor Thomas Woolner was born in Suffolk but later moved to London. From 12 he was apprenticed to painter Charles Behnes, followed by his brother, sculptor William Behnes. In 1842 he entered the Royal Academy Schools, where he met Rossetti. With Rossetti, Millais, Holman Hunt and others he formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848. He emigrated to Australia in 1852 to try gold prospecting, later working as a sculptor in Melbourne. After receiving no major commissions, he returned in 1854 and persuaded Tennyson to sit for him. He produced architectural work, public statues, church memorials and imaginative pieces in England and throughout the Empire. He was elected RA (1874) and appointed Professor of Sculpture (1877). He died at 66.
