Albert Edward Turpin 20/08/1900 to 31/07/1964
Albert was born in Ravenscroft Buildings in Bethnal Green and he had two brothers (one of whom died in childhood) and a sister. The family were poor and Albert’s father worked variously as a tea cooper, feather sorter and latterly as a docker. Leaving school at 14 Albert had many jobs but he found working life humdrum so, at the age of 15 but, declaring that he was 19, on 15/10/1915 he joined the Army at a recruiting station in Shoreditch. His father was fighting in France but wrote complaining to the Ministry of Defence that Albert had been under-age when he’d signed up and two years later he was released from service. Almost immediately Albert then enlisted with the Royal Marines where he saw service in the Mediterranean, Turkey and Russia during the revolution. During this time Albert also became a heavyweight boxing champion but he also found time to pursue his hobby of painting whilst aboard ship!
In the early 1920’s Albert was demobilised from the Marines and he tried his hand at several jobs until he found his vocation as a window cleaner after a friend asked him if he’d try it. He organised his daily routine so that he would finish his round by lunchtime thus allowing him to pursue his hobby of painting in the afternoons. His interest in art grew to the point where he enrolled at the evening classes at the Bethnal Green Men’s Institute and exhibited three pictures in their Spring show in 1926. One evening later that year on his way to the art classes Albert paused to listen to a local political speaker, Bill Gee: this chance encounter was to radically change Albert’s life thereafter. His artistic output soon took on an element of social and political comment with titles such as “The Agitator”, “Unemployed” and “Night Shelter”.
By the time of the Battle of Cable Street in October 1936 in which Albert played a leading role, his artistic ambitions had been somewhat sidelined by his political activities. A Blackshirt poster at the time declaring: “Turpin Responsible for East End Disturbances”! During WW2 he served with the London Fire Brigade serving with their Heavy Rescue Squad during the Blitz and in 1940 was made an official Fire Brigade war artist: his work being represented in Ministry of Information exhibitions in America. After the war in November 1945 Albert was elected Mayor of Bethnal Green for 1946. He returned to his window cleaning round but, as a man with strong moral convictions he refused to clean pub windows as his mother had died of cirrhosis of the liver! In his spare time Albert returned to his painting, setting himself the task of recording the disappearing and changing landscape of his beloved Bethnal Green.
Albert Edward Turpin (as described by his daughter, Joan Barker)
Living with an artist conjures up visions of attics and someone wanting to be away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life in order to put one’s thoughts on canvas. That would be the ideal but for my Dad living in a two bedroom council flat in Bethnal Green there were no luxuries of space.
The flat was made up of 2 bedrooms, a scullery that consisted of a cooker, butler sink with draining board, cooker and small cupboard. This was also where we washed and Dad shaved etc. The kitchen had a fireplace with oven above it and the room was used for all other activities. Mum had to prepare our meals there and do all the cooking as there were no tops in the scullery. Like most families we had a table (which doubled up as a ping pong table when pulled out). Also there was a small bathroom and toilet, but he felt we lived in luxury compared to what others had, and also bearing in mind where the family lived previously.
His painting was done in the Kitchen using the light from the window. He started work as a window cleaner very early every morning, leaving home before light and he returned home early in the afternoon to give himself time to paint. He also went out with his rucksack which contained a collapsible easel and seat, plus his paints and he would just set himself up and paint away. This often took place on Sunday mornings and I would sometimes go with him. The time spent waiting while he sketched or painted would very often be interspersed with a series of history lessons about the East End, his family history and his life and work in Bethnal Green as a left wing agitator. Every week we would go to the library where he would only take out factual books or poetry. His overriding philosophy in life was that we should never be ashamed of where we come from. This meant for him; fighting injustice; a strict code of morality and using his art to show the poverty and conditions that existed in the slum areas. Of course, that art could also be used to showcase the glorious little bits of gardens and flower boxes, the Pubs, Churches and Music Halls that could brighten an otherwise dull day. Wherever he was, he carried a sketch book and on the front page would be a quote from or about an artist. On some drawings he would quote poetry to emphasise a point. These sketch books went to council meetings, old time dancing (which he took up later in life), holidays and whilst working, but the thing I remember most is that Mum and I were constantly being sketched. Me with my legs hanging over the furniture reading, or doing homework, Mum either cooking, having her feet soaking in water, or just having forty winks. We got so used to it that we didn’t even notice, and it is only now looking back at his sketch books that memories flood back.
I would say his painting, politics and love of the East End were inseparable. He loved people who frequently called for advice and a chat. He absolutely adored my mother and it was certainly a lifelong love affair. He had a brilliant sense of humour which would often mean laughing at himself. He was a big man with a big laugh who loved life in his beloved Bethnal Green.