Henry Snell Gamley


Henry Snell Gamley was a Scottish sculptor specialising in war memorials and sculpture on tombs. He was however also responsible for other figurative sculpture on prominent Edinburgh buildings such as the Usher Hall and works at Holyrood Palace.

Life

Gamley was born in Logie-Pert, Craigo near Montrose, Scotland. His family moved to Edinburgh early in his life. He is listed as living in a flat at 7 Montpelier Park in Bruntsfield, Edinburgh in 1908 and having a studio at 4 Hope Street Lane.
He was educated at James Gillespie's High School in Edinburgh and then trained at the Royal Institute under Charles P. Hodder. He then went to London to study under Édouard Lantéri at South Kensington College. He then returned to Edinburgh to study under William Grant Stevenson RSA from 1899-1902.
In 1908 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy and set up his own studio at 4 Hope Street Lane. At this time he was living in a flat at 7 Montpelier Park in the Bruntsfield area.
John Stevenson Rhind sculpted a portrait bust of Gamley in 1892.
A photograph of "H.S Gamley, Sculptor" is listed as item 158 in the 58th annual exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain in 1913.
In 1928 he hired Auguste Rodin’s studio in Paris to work on a statue of Robert Burns for export to Wyoming.
He died on a country estate near Paris, France in 1928. His body was returned to Edinburgh and he is buried off the southern path under a tree in the south-east section of Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh.

Family

He married Margaret Hogg from Carnoustie in 1898. His daughter Lola Hamley was an artist.

Known works