James Arrowsmith

James Williams Arrowsmith (6 November 1839, Worcester – 19 January, 1913, Bristol) was a printer and publisher in Bristol, of the firm Arrowsmith, which he incorporated as a private company, J. W. Arrowsmith Ltd, in 1911.

Logo of Arrowsmith as used in 1891

James was the third son of Isaac Arrowsmith and Louisa Williams.[1] Isaac started the printing business in 1854. When he died in 1871, James took over the running of the company. He was a supporter of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and was a personal friend of W. G. Grace. However their friendship was tested owing to disagreements as regards how Cricket (1891) a book by W. G. Grace should be produced.[1]

He played a key role in the erection of a statue to Edward Colston in Bristol in 1895. The statue was proposed by Arrowsmith, the president of the Anchor Society. Several appeals to the public and to Colston-related charitable bodies failed to raise the £1,000 needed for its casting and erection, and Arrowsmith ended up paying the shortfall himself.[2]

He was a prime mover in the foundation of Bristol University.[3]

He founded the Bristol Arrow Bowling Club in 1894 and was president until his death in 1913.[4]

References
  1. English, Ernest T. (1971). The Browns of Plymouth. Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith.
  2. Ball, Roger (14 October 2019). "Myths within myths…Edward Colston and that statue". Bristol Radical History Group. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  3. Turner, John R. (2004). "James Williams Arrowsmith". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/65589. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. "charity days". www.bristolarrowbowlsclub.org.uk. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
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