Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Garner, Thomas
GARNER, THOMAS (1789–1868), engraver, born at Birmingham in 1789, received instruction in the art of engraving from Samuel Lines [q. v.] He resided in Birmingham nearly all his life, and was an active promoter of the study of art in that town. He was one of the founders of the Antique Academy there, subsequently known as the 'Royal Birmingham Society of Artists.' As an engraver he did some of his best work for the annuals then in vogue, and also in subjects of local interest and portraits of local celebrities. He was employed to engrave several plates for the 'Art Journal,' and it is by these that he is best known. They included the 'Mountaineer' after P. F. Poole, R.A.; the 'Grecian Vintage' after T. Stothard, R.A.; 'L'Allegro' after W. E. Frost, R.A.; 'Il Penseroso' after J. C. Horsley, R.A.; 'Chastity' after W. E. Frost, R.A.; 'H.R.H. Princess Charlotte' after Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A.; and the 'Village Diorama' after T. Webster, R.A. Garner was of a modest and unassuming disposition and so was little known, but he was very much esteemed for his cultivated knowledge and artistic skill. He died at Birmingham, 14 July 1868.
[Art Journal, 1868; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists.]