Samuel Loxton

For the Australian cricketer, see Sam Loxton.

Samuel Loxton
Born	1857 Bristol
Died	5 February 1922 Bristol
Employer	Western Daily Press
Known for	Illustrator and artist

Samuel J. Loxton (born 1857 in Bristol; died 5 February 1922) ^[1] was an English illustrator and artist who worked primarily in Bristol and the west of England for regional newspapers.

Life

A 1919 Loxton illustration of Hotwells Halt railway station.

Loxton began his career as a draughtsman for the Ordnance Survey Department but from c.1890 he contributed black and white drawings to the Bristol Observer , The Western Daily Press and the Bristol Evening News. He was best known for his architectural drawings. ^[2] He worked closely with the Bristol journalist and editor of the Daily Press, George Frederick Stone, with whom he produced a popular series of historical articles for the Observer. ^[3]

Loxton died on 5 February 1922 following a period of ill health and was buried in Canford Cemetery, Westbury-on-Trym, leaving a widow and two grown up daughters. ^[2]

Illustrations

Many of Loxton illustrations of Bristol were republished in a contemporary history of the city published in 1909 with George F. Stone. ^[4] Eighty of his illustrations of Edwardian Bristol were republished in print form in 1992. ^[5]

About 2,000 of Loxton's original drawings were left to Bristol Central Library. ^[6] The library have scanned these and made copies of them available on its Flikr site, ^[7] at resolutions ranging up to c. 200 KB. The Bristol Record Society produced higher-resolution scans of some of the images (up to 6 MB), taken from Stone's volume. ^[4] These have been uploaded to Wikimedia. Many of these images are included below in the gallery: 'Loxton's images of Bristol'.

• Gallery: Loxton's images of Bristol
• 
  Clifton Suspension Bridge under construction c.1861
• 
  Clifton Suspension Bridge under construction c.1861
• 
  Clifton Suspension Bridge finishing construction c.1861
• 
  Newspaper illustration Council House, 1893
• 
  Bristol Council House Chamber 1899
• 
  Arching Broad Weir 1907
• 
  St Augustines Bridge 1908
• 
  Colston Avenue 1905
• 
  Colston Avenue, Bristol 1907
• 
  Bristol Bridge from Welsh Back 1908
• 
  Redcliffe Church and cranes 1908
• 
  Bristol Bridge traffic 1908
• 
  The 'Dungeon' at Bristol Castle
• 
  Disease prevention in Bristol, newspaper illustration, 1900
• 
  Avonmouth Hospital Ship ward 1895
• 
  Ham Green Isolation Hospitals, 1897
• 
  Hospital Ship Avonmouth 1895
• 
  Floating Harbour, Bristol, Frome 1908
• 
  Jacobs Wells baths 1904
• 
  Jacobs Wells baths interior 1904
• 
  St Thomas church, Bristol interior 1905
• 
  Bristol public library 1889
• 
  Charity work among sailors Bristol 1892
• 
  Highbury Chapel interior 1902
• 
  Redland Park congregational chapel interior 1902
• 
  Synagogue interior, Park Row, Bristol, 1896
• 
  Synagogue, Park Row, Bristol, 1896
• 
  Bethel Ship, Bristol, 1892
• 
  Western Daily Press offices, 1858
• 
  Western College, Bristol, 1906
• 
  Western College, Bristol, staircase, 1906
• 
  Western College, Bristol, Hall, 1906
• 
  Chistmas Steps, Bristol, 1903
• 
  Christmas Steps, top, 1905
• 
  Blackboy Inn, Bristol, 1896
• 
  Blackboy Hill, 1904
• 
  King's Arms, Blackboy Hill, 1888
• 
  Portishead Dock, 1906
• 
  Portishead timber wharf, 1904
• 
  Portishead Pier, 1906
• 
  Avonmouth, 1894
• 
  Avonmouth lighthouse, 1891
• 
  St Augustine's church, 1905
• 
  Consistory Court, 1908
• 
  Three stages in travel, newspaper illustration, 1908
• 
  Gas House Ferry, 1905
• 
  Tram depot, 1908
• 
  Old Bedminster Bridge, 1908
• 
  Bedminster Bridge, 1908
• 
  Welsh Back ferry, 1905
• 
  Bristol Bridge from the east, 1908
• 
  Harbour and Redcliffe Back, 1904
• 
  Riverside industries, St Philips, 1908
• 
  The Grove, Bristol harbour, 1907
• 
  Transit Shed on the Grove, 1908
• 
  Bristol Harbour from Redcliffe Back, 1907
• 
  St Nicholas Church, 1908
• 
  St John's Ambulance carriage, 1905
• 
  Bristol Royal Infirmary, 1893
• 
  St Peter's Hospital, new board room, 1901
• 
  The Read Dispensary, 1907
• 
  St Peter's Hospital, Old Board Room, 1908
• 
  Training-ship Formidable , Portishead, 1906
• 
  Nautical School, Portishead 1906
• 
  Red Lodge Reformatory, 1889
• 
  Park Row Industrial School 1895
• 
  Mary-le-port Street, 1889
• 
  Bristol Telephone Exchange, 1894
• 
  Pinnel Street, St Judes, 1907
• 
  The Read Dispensary, interior, 1907
• 
  Bridewell Street police station, 1894
• 
  Shop in King's Street, 1906
• 
  Gaol on the New Cut, 1903
• 
  Gaol on the New Cut, interior, 1908
• 
  Bridewell Prison, 1906
• 
  Horfield Prison, 1908
• 
  Old House in Corn Street, 1908
• 
  Pile Street School, 1897
• 
  Muller's orphanage, 1895
• 
  Bristol Police in 19th century
• 
  St Philip's Library News Room 1896
• 
  St Philip's Library, 1908

References

1. "Loxton's Legacy". Bristol Past. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
2. "Death of Mr S. J. Loxton. A well-known black and white artist". Western Daily Press: 5. 6 February 1922 – via British Library Newspapers.
3. "Mr. G. F. Stone Dead: A Notable Bristol Journalist". Western Daily Press: 7. 10 December 1928 – via British Library Newspapers.
4. Stone, George Frederick (1909). Bristol: as it was and as it is. A record of fifty years' progress. Bristol: Walter Reid.
5. Loxton, Samuel (1992). Loxton's Bristol: The City's Edwardian Years in Black-and-white. Bristol: Redcliffe Press. pp. 95 pp.
6. "Drawings: Samuel Loxton Shelf mark: LOCAL Staff Library : 31 drawers. MF1 : microf". Libraries West.
7. "Bristol Libraries". Flickr. Retrieved 12 February 2025.