Help finding an artist/soldier WW1

[Emeeno1]

As a child, my husband came across two army themed paintings in amongst some fly tipped rubbish near his home. His mum kept them in the loft and found them again recently during a clear out.

One is signed B W Binns 1916 with a date and location on the back (Portsmouth, 24/5/16). The other is unsigned.

There is also a sticker from, The Graves Gallery, Ernest H Hare, Successor, Dealer in works of Art, Printseller, Framemaker. Picture Restorer and Publisher, 44 Cherry Street, Birmingham, on some very old paper between the paintings.

I would like to try to find out about the person who painted them but apart from a basic internet search I am not really sure where to begin. Any advice appreciated.

B w Binns

Search in the 1911 census, 1901 census and 1939 register

Those would be my first ports to search to see if I can find this person

Then have a look in army records, though 80% of army records for 1st WW were list during bombing of 2nd WW

There is a Bernard Walter
Or. Bertram William both born london in 1887 ish

You may have to follow more than one and keep your options open

Thank you for your help!

I have found five entries from the 1911 Census who would have been of age to join the army in 1916 so I shall follow these up and see where they lead.

Honestly, I’d email the gallery as well. They usually keep pretty good records of sales and it may have formed part of a catalogue with additional information.

I’d be willing to bet at this point that someone would love to poke in their archive.

From what I can work out the gallery at 44 Cherry Street closed in 1907 so I am not sure why those papers are with paintings from 1916.

Thank you for your suggestions, they are giving me inspiration!

I don’t think the Graves Gallery closed in 1907 - the Birmingham Mail archives record it still being there in 1945 for instance. Looks like the building was demolished some time post 1951 though.

Would the Imperial War Museum be able to help?

Hey! Maybe www.reddit.com/r/Genealogy/ will be of a help? They have many people who are able to give an advice on where to look for the answers. FamilyTree is also a good website, they write about software to restore old photos (may be necessary for the better recognizability) and provide lists of archives you can use.

Private B W Binns was in the RAMC (which would go with the picture of a 'medical') from 13 Aug 1914. His regimental number was 27. He was awarded the 1914 Star.