From Claude Houghton, The Beast, 1936
Alfred Edward Laws Kerr was born on 27 September 1901 in South Stoneham, Hampshire, son of Alfred Edward T. E. Kerr, an iron turner from Belfast, and Isabella, née Laws, from Durham, who married in South Stoneham in late 1899. In the 1911 census the family was living at 1 Cliff Road, Itchen, South Stoneham, Hampshire.
He seems to have been educated at Chelsea School of Art. By the mid-1930s he was illustrating books for a Belfast publisher, The Quota Press, and became known as "the Ulster Beardsley". He worked for a variety of British and Irish publishers through the 1940s.
He moved to the Isle of Wight in 1959 and established the Seaview School of Painting. He died on 11 January 1980, aged 79, and is buried in Binstead Cemetery.
Bibliography[]
Books illustrated[]
- Florence Davidson, Loan-Ends: Stories in Ulster, The Quota Press, Belfast, 1933
- Lydia M. Foster, Tyrone Among the Bushes, The Quota Press, Belfast, 1933
- Kit Cavanagh, A Dunleary Legend and Other Tales, The Quota Press, Belfast, 1934
- Jean Waddell, Sing a Song of Children, The Quota Press, Belfast, 1934
- Avril Anderson, Whisht: Listen a Minute, The Quota Press, Belfast, 1935
- Claude Houghton, The Beast, The Quota Press, Belfast, 1936
- Christine Chaundler, The Children's Story Hour, Evans Brothers, London, 1937
- Gundumdur Kamban, I See a Wondrous Land, Nicholas & Watson, London, 1938
- Ruddick Millar, Four Irish Pictures, 1938
- Abbie Phillips Walker, Christmas at the Four Paws Club, Hamish Hamilton, 1938
- Enid Blyton, Enid Blyton's Little Books No 1: Brer Rabbit, 1942
- -- Enid Blyton's Little Books No. 3: Jolly Tales, 1942
- -- Enid Blyton's Little Books No. 4: Ho-Ho and Too Smart, 1942
- -- Enid Blyton's Little Books No. 5: Tales of the Toys, 1942
- Julia C. Dox, To Prepare the Way. The Catholic Truth Society of Ireland, Dublin, 1944
- Patricia Lynch, Knights of God: Lives of the Irish Saints, Hollis and Carter, London, 1945
- -- Brogeen of the Stepping Stones, Kerr-Cros, London, 1947
- -- The Cobbler's Apprentice, Hollis & Carter, London, 1947
- E H Carter, The Kingsway English Hour Book Two, Evans Brothers Limited, London, undated
Books written and illustrated[]
- Alfred E. Kerr, Roddy the Rooster, 1946
- Alfred Paddy Kerr, Anyone Can Paint Pictures: a Book of Simplified Instructions in Oils and Watercolours for the Recreational Painter, George Newnes Ltd, London, 1960
- -- Colour and the Artist: a New Approach to Colour Problems, Vectis Art Publications, Isle of Wight, 1968
External links[]
- The nearly Forgotten Illustrations of Alfred E. Kerr, Jaff Noel Seijas Archives, 14 September 2010
- Alfred E Kerr gallery, Today's Inspiration Group, Facebook