The engraver James Henry Hurdis was born at Cowley near Oxford in 1800 but moved to Southampton at an early age. He was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School until 1816. At the age of 16 he went to France and was apprenticed to the famous engraver Charles Heath. For most of his life he lived at Newick near Lewes in Sussex, where he produced portraits of local personages and etchings of local landscapes and historical sites. Hurdis was sufficiently wealthy not to have to work professionally, but as an amateur he was held in high regard. In 1852 he returned to Southampton where he lived at 20 Carlton Crescent. He died there in 1857 and was buried in the Old Cemetery on the Common.
James Henry Hurdis
Photograph from A History of King Edward VI School Southampton, by C. F. Russell
Further reading:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004, Volume 28.
A History of King Edward VI School, Southampton, by C. F. Russell, p298-300. (HS/ls)
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