William Scruton (c.1840 – 1924) was born at Little Horton Green, Bradford. Although he was primarily a local historian and writer, he also a proficient illustrator and his detailed artwork has contributed significantly to the social and architectural history of the city.
His extensive notebooks are stored now in the West Yorkshire Archives Service and contain many sketches and notes made about Bradford and its inhabitants during the 19th century – see sketch example below illustrating a row of shops in Kirkgate, Bradford, along with his notes explaining they were demolished to make way for the Midland Hotel.
He was employed as a solicitor’s clerk in the city, but his main interest was in the field of local history. In this capacity, he contributed articles regularly to the ‘Bradford Observer’ and the ‘Yorkshireman’, and to the Bradford Antiquary – the journal of the Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society, which he co-founded in 1878.
In his later years, he wrote a number of books on local history as a way of making his sketches more widely available. The most significant of these was ‘Pen and Pencil Pictures of Old Bradford’ (1889) published by Thomas Brear & Co. His sketches in this were based directly on his own observations, or inspired by the work of other local artists, including Arthur McArthur and William Geller.
He later wrote and illustrated ‘Thornton and the Brontes’ (1898) published by John Dale & Co. In this he included sketches of the Bronte family, based on previous paintings and photographs, as well as architectural drawings of the houses and buildings associated with them. Scruton was a member of the Bronte Society from 1894 and had met Ellen Nussey, a lifelong friend of Charlotte Bronte. He later published his essay, ‘Reminiscences of the Late Ellen Nussey‘ in the Bronte Society Transactions, The Journal of Bronte Studies, 1898.
A sketch of Emily Bronte, above, by William Scruton from his book ‘ Thornton and the Brontes’, although there is some dispute over whether, from earlier portraits, the likeness resembles Anne, rather than her sister Emily.
William Scruton married Ellen Gedley in 1867. The couple had two daughters and lived at Clough Street, West Bowling, Bradford. He died in 1924.