Edwin Cole was a Shrewsbury watercolour artist, born in about 1860 to Thomas William Cole and Mary Elizabeth Evans. The Coles had lived and worked at Wyle Cop in Shrewsbury as painters and decorators (T. W. Cole & Sons), and boasted a number of artists within the family (see Darwin County: Cole Family Artists).

My great aunt, Edith Alice Higson (who was the first girl from Doncaster to attend the Royal College of Art - see the Higson family), married Edwin's nephew, Duncan Cole, in 1942 at St. Julian's church. At the time she was living at the Guildhouse, Dogpole, and, certainly as of 1941, Edwin Cole's address was 23 Dogpole. Before that he'd lived at the family business premesis on Wyle Cop, where in 1881 he was described as an 'heraldic artist'. In the phone book from 1930-1940 he was an 'artist and decorator'. He married Alice Jane Blakemore in 1889 and I know of two children - Alice Gertrude Cole and Reginald Cole.

Some of these postcards (perhaps all of them, some are unmarked) were published by Wilding & Son (aka 'L. Wilding - the Salop Art Press'), a publisher and bookseller of Shrewsbury. Longworth Wilding, printer and bookseller, was born in Salford, Lancashire in 1850, had moved to Salisbury by 1861 (where his mother originated), married Emily Susan Ellis in 1874 at Hastings, and died in Shrewsbury in 1918.

The English Bridge, Shrewsbury. Edwin Cole 1906. Wilding & Son Ltd.	The Old Market Square, Shrewsbury. Edwin Cole 1906. L. Wilding - the Salop Art Press 1044
The Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury. Edwin Cole 1905. Wilding & Son Ltd. Postally used Dec 1945.	The Market Square, Shrewsbury (snow scene) Edwin Cole 1908. Wilding & Son Ltd.

St. Julian's & St. Alkmund's, Shrewsbury. Edwin Cole (date cut off) - no publisher	At the corner of the Old Market Square, Shrewsbury. Edwin Cole 1906. Wilding & Son Ltd.	Butcher's Row, Shrewsbury. Signature not clear, but no doubt it's Edwin Cole (1908?). Wilding & Son Ltd.

Church Stretton (No.1185). Edwin Cole 1906. L. Wilding - the Salop Art Press	The Abbey Church, Shrewsbury. Edwin Cole

The Lightspout, Church Stretton (No.1186). Edwin Cole 1906. L. Wilding - the Salop Art Press	The Shropshire South African War Memorial Statue, Shrewsbury. Edwin Cole 1905.	Lord Hill's Column, Shrewsbury. Wilding & Son Ltd. Edwin Cole 1906.

Ashes Valley, Church Stretton (No.1184). Edwin Cole 1906. Wilding & Son Ltd., Shrewsbury

Original watercolour by Edwin Cole, 1922 (private collection)	Original watercolour by Edwin Cole, 1911 (private collection) signature possibly added by another

more to come...


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