Ralph Hedley was born in West Grilling, North Yorkshire, England on 3 December 1848 and moved to Newcastle-upon-Tyne with his family in 1851. From the age of 12 he attended evening classes at Newcastle School of Art where he was taught by William Bell Scott and William Cosens Way. At the age of 15, while still continuing evening classes in painting, he began an apprenticeship with the gilder and carver T.H. Tweedy. After completing the apprenticeship in 1869 he started up his own carving business in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in partnership with James Wishart. Two years he established Ralph Hedley Artistic and Architectural Carver Ltd., which specialised in domestic, ecclesiastical carved woodwork. In the 1870s, while continuing with his carving business, he began to pursue a parallel career as a painter and illustrator.
In 1898 he was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) . He was a founder member of the Bewick Art Club, and a member of the committee of the Northumberland Handicrafts Guild.
Throughout his career, Hedley lived in New Bridge Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. By 1911 he had moved to 19 Belle Grove Terrace, Spital Tongues, Newcastle-upon-Tyne where he died on 14 June 1913.
Text source: Art History Research net (AHR net)
Text source: Art History Research net (AHR net)
