John Thomas (1813-1862) began his career at the age of thirteen when he was apprenticed to a stone-mason. While still a young man, however, he came to the attention of Sir Charles Barry, who commissioned him to carve all the ornamental stonework for the Birmingham Grammar School, then in the course of construction. Thomas's career was marked by a prodigious industry, and he was very much in demand for his monumental and architectural groups. Among his many projects across England, he was commissioned to do much of the carving for the facades of Barry's new Parliament buildings, the figures and vases at the head of the Serpentine in Kensington Gardens, and figures for numerous railway stations, including Euston and what is particularly relevant for the present figure, Paddington in London.