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Tom Gentleman
Tom Gentleman FSIA was a Scottish Painter and Commercial Artist.

Early Life
Born in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire in 1892 to Anne Cowan (née McNaughtan) and William Russell Gentleman, a draper. William Gentleman died unexpectedly after surgery in April 1901 when Tom was only nine. From 1905 to 1911 Tom attended evening classes at The Glasgow School of Art while working as a draper for the family business in Coatbridge.

Career and First World War
In 1911, he became a full-time student and in 1914, was awarded his Diploma. In the same year he also won the prestigious Haldane Travelling Scholarship but had to postpone the trip due to the outbreak of the First World War. Since he had been a volunteer in the Queen's Own Royal Glasgow Yeomanry from 1912 he was immediately mobilised for war service in August 1914 and remained in service until 1918.

After demobilisation, he returned to Glasgow to continue with day classes in drawing and painting at The Glasgow School of Art. The following year he took up the Haldane scholarship and travelled in France, Italy, Corsica and Spain during 1920 and 1921.

Commercial Art
From 1921, he worked as a freelance graphic designer, exhibiting his work regularly. He also taught briefly at Coatbridge Technical School - Britain's first technical college. He moved to London in 1927/28, where he married Eugenie Winifred Murgatroyd, a fellow Glasgow School of Art student, and began his career in advertising. He worked as a commercial artist for several major agencies, as well as London Transport, the Ministry of Information, Shell and BP. In 1945, he wrote and illustrated an autobiographical children's book called Brae Farm. In 1947 he was elected FSIA (Fellow of the Society of Industrial Artists). He was Head of Design at Shell Mex until his retirement in 1952.

He died in 1966.

Tom Gentleman is listed on The Glasgow School of Art's First World War Roll of Honour