Eric Fitch Daglish, author and engraver

This week I would like to write about my father, Eric Fitch Daglish. He was born in Islington, London, in 1892, the son of James William Daglish and Kate Annie Fitch. The family originated in Whickham, County Durham - and had arrived in London in the mid 19th century, via France and Somerset. The family established a business in the area - firstly in cabinet making and upholstery and later as overmantel mirror makers.

Eric studied in London and in Bonn, Germany, before the outbreak of the First World War. During the war, he served in the Middlesex Imperial Yeomanry and the Royal Field Artillery in Ireland, Flanders and France. When the conflict ended, he continued in Army life as Officer in charge of education at Woolwich Garrison until 1922.

The family then moved out of London to the Buckinghamshire Chilterns, where Eric could pursue his lifelong interest in the countryside and natural history. His first of many books was published in 1923.

He became a member of the Society of Wood Engravers, which revived the art first developed in the 18th and 19th centuries by Thomas Bewick and others. Fellow members of the society were his close friends the brothers John and Paul Nash, and Eric Gill who lived close by. More information about wood engraving can be found at the web site of the Society of Wood Engravers.

He used wood engravings as illustrations in many of his books. Most wood engravings are black and white, but it was also possible to hand colour these - as was done in the book Birds Of The British Isles (see cover which shows a coloured wood engraving of goldfinches). He also illustrated books by other authors, including Walton’s Compleat Angler.

His wood engravings are in the permanent collections of the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the art galleries of Liverpool and Manchester, the Metropolitan Museum of New York, Boston and Philadelphia.

As well as engraving, Eric also painted. His paintings show the same level of detail seen in the wood engravings. Shown here is detail from a painting of parrots.

Other interests included breeding dogs and he wrote several popular handbooks on a number of breeds. He judged at many dog shows, including Crufts. The picture above shows him judging at a local show at Thame in September 1953.

My father died in 1966, and his books are now out of print. In recent years there has been something of a revival of interest in the art of wood engraving and I have received a number of enquiries from libraries and museums in the last year about works by my father.