(George) Dobson Broadhead (1911-1998) was an English illustrator, little known, evidently – it has certainly been difficult to find much about him. He seems to have been primarily a commercial artist, doing travel posters, book covers (with pen-and-ink drawings for internal illustrations), and art for advertisements (including a candy company in Utah). This is the kind of artwork he produced:

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Quite an eye-full, huh?

If the internet is any guide, he was active for a few years in the late 1950s, then vanished – the auction websites that have sold examples of his art do not know his dates of birth or death – but an unusual name like his is relatively easy to find in genealogical databases; his name, combined with his occupation, confirm that the records I’ve used to tease out these few details do refer to the same man. He apparently never married. There’s an intriguing listing showing his return to England from Mozambique in 1938, but no hint as to the reason or extent for his exotic travel.

He lived in Boston in the 1960s and 1970s, and then went back to England. He may have become an American citizen during those decades – he obtained a Social Security card and drew benefits during the last years of his life; his death was reported to the U.S. Embassy in London.

That’s about it. I haven’t been able to find anything truly personal or revealing of character or dreams – just these slight traces in official records and a few pieces of his working life. And this:

Before he moved to the United States, he made a short-term visit to the U.S. in 1956 that included a stop in Salt Lake City. (Maybe that’s when he negotiated his work for the candy company.) While in Salt Lake, he visited Temple Square, and made a series of small and simple pen-and-ink drawings of the buildings and monuments and other hardscapes there. Somehow – I don’t know how – those little sketches made their way to the people at the Improvement Era, and in the December 1958 issue, they filled up odd corners of the pages devoted to the text of the October Conference talks … tiny images that you might not even notice when your focus was on the text of the talks.

I have no reason to think that Dobson Broadhead was LDS: He has no entry in Family Search; his name appears in no Church magazine other than that Conference issue. But he made an effort to capture Temple Square so completely that he must have enjoyed what he saw there. You’ll recognize most of the scenes, I’m sure; I’ve added photos to the few that are no longer extant.

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The pioneer cabin that now stands between the Church History Museum and the Family History Library stood on Temple Square under this portico for many years.
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The original Temple Annex
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These planters, and the lamp posts in another illustration below, are visible in this photograph:

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With the help of Brian Olson, who also provided this photograph, this building has been identified as the Gatehouse or Watchman’s House (originally the office of temple architect Truman O. Angell. It stood inside the Square, on the east wall, between the temple and the gate leading out to Main Street. It was apparently torn down in 1962-63 when the Temple Annex and the walls on the north and east sides of the Square were demolished. Photograph:

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He must have really enjoyed the Seagull Monument to give us two sketches!
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