These pages contain fourteen sketches that were drawn by my great-grandfather,
George Chandler Perkins prior to, or
during the year 1891. They are reproduced here in the hope that
they will be of interest to local historians, genealogists, and
indeed, to anyone seeking information about old Blackley. They are
of particular value since some of the buildings they depict
no longer exist. All these sketches were used in the form of
lithographic illustrations for the book "The History and Annals of
Blackley and Neighbourhood" by Philip Wentworth, published in 1892.
This publication also contains another sketch,
entitled "The Haunted House", by the same artist, but unfortunately
this was not available to me for inclusion in these pages
Every effort has been made to preserve the artistic integrity of these
drawings. One or two of them show slight signs of age,
but the temptation to retouch them by means of image-editing software
has been resisted. Apart from minor corrections to
their brightness and contrast, it was considered better to leave them
just as they are.
In addition to the clickable "Thumbnail" sketches, links are provided
beneath each sketch to enable you to progress to a
neighbouring page with a single mouse click
George Chandler Perkins produced numerous other drawings, as well as
portraits and landscapes in both water colour and
oils. Some of these may still exist, but despite extensive enquiries,
none have yet been traced. If you should happen to have
knowledge of the whereabouts of any of this artist's work, I would
be delighted to hear from you. I can be contacted via the
Feedback page
of this Web site.
David Johnson
November 2002