Harry Norman Eccleston, OBE (21 January 1923 – 30 April 2010) was an artist from Coseley, Staffordshire (now West Midlands), England.^[1] He was the first full-time artist and designer of banknotes at the Bank of England.^[2]

Artist

He trained at Bilston School of Art, and in 1939, Birmingham College of Art, then later, after Royal Navy service in World War II,^[2] at the Royal College of Art.^[1] Although he lived in London, Eccleston interest in his native Black Country continued throughout his life as produced paintings and etchings of the industrial landscape.^[3] Eccleston made a number of drawings and studies of the people of the Black Country and the steelworks that he had been exposed to in his childhood. As a perfectionist his drawing are precise and mathematical, making him "one of the finest engravers of his day."^[4]

Banknote design

He joined the Bank of England in 1958 as their first in-house artist-designer, and was the designer of the "D" series of British banknotes — the first pictorial notes. They all featured Queen Elizabeth II, as well as Isaac Newton (£1), the Duke of Wellington (£5), Florence Nightingale (£10), William Shakespeare (£20) and Christopher Wren (£50). The notes were issued in 1970 and in use until 1981.^[2] He retired from the Bank of England in 1983.^[5]

Recognition

He was made Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1979.^[2][5] In 2003 he was given an honorary doctorate of arts, by the University of Wolverhampton, for his services to banknote design and printmaking.^[2] He was elected as a member of the Royal West of England Academy and as an Honorary Member of the RBSA.

Art works

Examples of Harry Eccleston's work are held in a number of public collections, including the Black Country Living Museum^[6] and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.^[7]

References