Sculptor and painter. He is thought to have attended the Mosley Road branch of Birmingham School of Art, c.1903. He then won scholarships to the Central Birmingham School of Art and began teaching there in 1915. The next year, 1916, saw his only appearance at the Royal Academy, with two graphic works, The Studio Mirror (no 280) and Edna (no 320). Following a period of military service, he returned to the art school to work in the Department of Modelling, Stone Carving and Letter Cutting, as an assistant to the Head of the Department, William Bloye (1890–1975). From 1921 onwards he was a sessional teacher at the school, teaching modelling. He seems to have continued working part-time in that post until 1940, ill health subsequently further reducing his hours at the school. He retired to Worthing in 1953. In 1968, Hancocks’ widow, wanting to commemorate her late husband’s work, paid for his quarter-size model of a triton to be scaled up and cast in bronze to serve as the centrepiece of a fountain which Bloye designed for her and which she presented to the town of Worthing; originally set up in the centre of the boating lake at Worthing’s Aquarena swimming pool, it was relocated to the town’s Steyne Gardens in 2007.
Bibliography: Mapping Sculpture; R.D.W. Norton, Benjamin (Ben) Hancocks, 1888––1962, British Artist (Sculpture/Oil/Watercolour/Drawing), Woodstock, 2003; J. Seddon et al, Public Sculpture of Sussex, Liverpool, 2014, pp. 176–77.
Jill Seddon, Peter Seddon and Anthony McIntosh, 2014; revised, March 2025, Terry Cavanagh