Adams Summer Loan Exhibition - George Campbell And The Belfat Boys 7th July - 3rd September 2015

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7. George Campbell RHA (1917 - 1979)
Madge
Charcoal, 16 x 12cm, Signed
Lewinter-Frankl Collection
8. George Campbell RHA (1917 - 1979)
Madge
Coloured pencil, 12 x 9cm
Signed and dated 1944
Known to his friends in Ireland as ‘Geo’ or ‘George’, Campbell worked in an assortment
of jobs before joining Short & Hartland Ltd12 in 1940/1 where he met Margaret, ‘Madge’
McNeill Thompson from Co. Antrim who was working in the labour office as a wages clerk.
Recalling him as a ‘cocky little man,’ 13 Madge recollected being invited out to watch a boxing
fight following a discussion on the subject when they were working on wage sheets together.
In August 1942, they were married and spent their honeymoon in Dublin. Two years later,
in December 1944, Madge gave birth to a son, Michael Campbell. Tragedy struck when the
baby fell ill: Michael was diagnosed with gastroenteritis and died a week later.14
12Established in 1936, the company was 50% owned by Harland and Wolff and Shorts. Campbell’s position
was a wages clerk.
13Madge Campbell in ‘George Campbell, A Tribute’, RTE documentary, June, 1979
14Madge Campbell in Looking for George, documentary film, Cedecom, 2006.
fig.10: George and Madge Campbell on their
honeymoon, Dublin, September, 1942
fig.11: Madge Campbell,
photo study for picture
opposite