Frederick Wrigley Leach
Epithet: Artist (1877-1949)
Record type: Biographies
Biography: Frederick Wrigley Leach was born in Manchester, 1877. When Leach was ten years old, his family relocated to the Isle of Man, in 1888 - living in the South Quay of Douglas. Leach’s father, Miles, was also an artist - evident from the 1891 Manx census 1891 which described his profession as ‘watercolour artist’. It is implied that both father and son studied at the Isle of Man School of Art, where they would have come into contact with renowned Manx artist, Archibald Knox.
Leach worked as a clerk in Douglas for Wigan Coal and Iron Company and painted, mostly in watercolour, in his spare time. Later on, the artist became a founder member of the Manx Art Society. Leach is perhaps best known for the two sets of pencil sketches of old Douglas that he produced, which were made into prints in 1913. Featured in the drawings is a depiction of ‘The Saddle Inn’, one of the Island's oldest public houses, which is still standing on the junction between Queen Street and the North Key of Douglas. These sketches serve as an important insight and reference point regarding the development of the Islands capital city.
The journal, ‘Mannin’, also featured some of Leach’s illustrations, along with several illustrated books. Another pastime of Leach’s was ornithology - the study of birds, their habits and biology. The artist died in Douglas in 1949.
Occupation / profession: artist
Gender: Male
Date of birth: 1877
Place of birth: Manchester
Date of death: 1949
Place of death: Douglas
Name Variant: Leach, Frederic, Mr