Charles Broadhurst, 1903 to 1990

After the move to Oxford, the City formed a major part of the Broadhurst family development. Charles was educated at The Oxford Boys High School before graduating to Oxford University where he studied Mathematics.

After University the family business beckoned so Charles joined his father and uncle - William Hunt - in the business, steering it to become an international manufacturing organisation under the name of Hunt & Broadhurst Ltd.

Charles was completely self-taught in the art of drawing. When he was laid up after a serious football injury, which cut short his cricket and football activities, Charles whiled away the time with pencil and paper reproducing the aspects of the beloved City of Oxford he had grown up with. Thereafter drawing became simply a work of love and relaxation although he was always warmed, even genuinely surprised, when people expressed their enthusiasm for his work.

As he developed his new found talent he worked towards producing a definitive set of “views” of the City, which had given him so much inspiration. Commissions to draw specific scenes other than Oxford continually came to interrupt his objective and these works travelled far and wide to hang in countries, which Charles visited during his business career.

Charles, died in 1990, was survived by his wife and two sons. Whilst neither of the two boys inherited their father’s artistic talent they now offer others in a wider audience the opportunity to share the beauty and history of the City of Oxford as seen in the mind’s eye of a uniquely talented amateur artist.