The Brocks of Cambridge (original) (raw)

The Brocks were family of artists in Cambridge at the end of the Victorian Era, throughout the Edwardian era and the Interwar period. The four brothers were professional painters and illustrators. Two brothers (Charles Edmund and Henry Matthew) gained a large reputation with their illustrations for the works of Jane Austen and others English classics. One brother secured an honours degree in mathematics, a huge achievement at the time for someone from a lower-middle-class background. The three sisters had a much lower profile, in accordance with the social norms of the time. At least one of the sisters was a capable artist and poet, but it is not clear to what extent she earned her living from her art. The biographer of the family, Clifford Michael Kelly, started out with the intention of