I came across this article quite a while ago but completely forgot to post it here. The title incorrectly proclaims that William Middleton was the first to illustrate Thomas the Tank Engine but, as well all know, this was actually done by Reginald Payne. You can read our previous article on him here.
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| ThomasTankCollectables Archives 2014 |
Rev T Robin Martin wrote into the Leicester Mercury to share a lovely little anecdote involving the highly mysterious artist William Middleton. Unfortunately very little is know about William Middleton or his successor Reginald Payne. Each of them illustrated books that were improved by C. Reginald Dalby shortly after publication. Furthermore they were not credited for the illustrations they provided. Nicholas Jones, producer of "The Thomas the Tank Engine Man" Bookmark documentary (1995), told me that they tried to research both Mr. Payne and Mr. Middleton to no avail.
Anyway the anecdote shared by Rev T Robin Martin is provided below, thanks to the Leicester Mercury.
"My uncle, the late Gordon Tipping, whom many will remember as the dapper station master at Rothley, Loughborough Central and the first station master at Leicester North, told me the following story.The very first illustrator of the Thomas the Tank Engines stories was a William (Bill) Middleton, had his studio from before the war and into the 1950s on Halford Street."
He is of course referring to the Railway Series here, William Middleton only provided illustrations for The Three Railway Engines, which did not feature Thomas the Tank Engine.
"As he was my grandfather's friend, I knew him as 'Uncle Bill' and remember visiting his place of work on upper floors, over a shop, about halfway down from Dunn's hat shop, now a Café Nero. Bill was given the job of the drawings for The Three Railway Engines and Thomas, but, as he thought stories of what were, by then, dirty old locomotives would not be a success, he didn't try very hard over the illustrations."
Again, Thomas did not feature in this book!
"I remember them, as my younger cousin Henry had the very first in the series and I read them. The locomotives were somewhat crudely illustrated, with flat faces on the smoke box doors. The stories were, of course, a great success, so Ward Locke, dissatisfied with Bill's attempts, gave the commission to whom I now know to have been Reggie Dalby. This was for the subsequent books and reprints of the earlier ones. If anyone still has a first edition illustrated by Bill Middleton, they will see what I mean."
The commission was in fact given to Reginald Payne for the next book Thomas the Tank Engine (1946). Reginald Payne was not available to illustrate the next book (James the Red Engine), this is the point at which C. Reginald Dalby was employed.
This anecdote gives us a tantalising insight into the man we all know so little about. It would be great to see a picture of William Middleton or find out some more about him.
You can read the full article on the Leicester Mercury website here: http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/city-artist-illustrate-thomas-tank-engine/story-26820311-detail/story.html
You can see the original illustrations of the Three Railway Engines by William Middleton on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtGilLqROo3vASDVWeJ_EVR6W8r89RtiF
You can read our original blog post on William Middleton here: http://thomastankcollectablesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/the-three-railway-engines-william.html
If you have any corrections or comments, please feel free to comment below or send us an email: thomastankcollectables@hotmail.co.uk
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