Sic Transit

1891

Buys land at Compton and builds Limnerslease

In 1891 Watts buys land near Compton, south of Guildford in Surrey. The couple name the house Limnerslease — from “limner” (artist) and “leasen” (to glean) — and build a museum of his work nearby.

1895

Portraits given to the National Portrait Gallery

In 1895 seventeen of Watts’s portraits of British sitters are donated to the National Portrait Gallery; more than thirty were added later.

1897

Gives 18 symbolic paintings to the Tate

In 1897 Watts gives the Tate Gallery 18 of his symbolic paintings, and in 1900 adds three more.

1900

The Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice opens

In 1898 Henry Gamble, vicar of St Botolph’s Aldersgate, suggested siting the memorial in Postman’s Park in the City of London. Unveiled in 1900 in an unfinished state, it consisted of a 50-foot (15 m) wooden loggia designed by Ernest George and a wall with space for 120 ceramic tiles by William De Morgan, of which only four were in place at the opening.