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The Life of William Morris The life of William Morris was the subject of Marion Emery's talk. He was a man most people associate with decorative wallpapers and curtains, but he was involved in many other art forms. William was born in 1834 to middle class parents in Walthamstow, a well to do area, and was the third child in a family of nine children. Due to the fact that his mother was under the impression he was delicate he was pampered by her and his two elder sisters. The family prospered when some shares they had invested in rose sharply in value and it was due to these that William had an income of just under £1,000 a year for most of his life, a very large sum in those days. The family moved to a large mansion set in its own grounds on the edge of Epping Forest and it was here that William spent a lot of time riding his pony. He was an avid reader and had read all Scott's Waverley novels by the age of seven. His mother decided he should go into the church and he was sent to Marlborough College, but the College was greatly overcrowded and discipline was poor and he received little formal education. His mother then decided he should be tutored privately, and he went on to study theology at Exeter College in Oxford and gained a degree. William started writing poetry whilst at Oxford and in 1858 he published a selection of the best of his early verse. In later years on the death of Lord Tennyson he was offered the Poet Laureateship but he turned it down. While he was at Oxford he became friends with the Pre-Raphaelites and through John Ruskin became interested in architecture. He went on holiday with friends to Northern France and was very impressed with the early Gothic Cathedrals. He decided he did not want to go into the church and became articled to an architect, much to his mother's disapproval. His friend, the artist Rossetti, introduced William to one of his models, a beautiful young girl named Jane Burden, the daughter of an Oxford groom. His mother was most unhappy about the match and when William married Jane in 1859 none of his family attended the wedding. He bought a large piece of land near Bexley Heath and asked a friend to design a house for him, which he later called the Red House. He asked Gertrude Jekyll to design the gardens and it was from the roses, apple trees and birds in the garden that he got the inspiration for some of his designs. The Victorians liked to clutter their homes with all sorts of things whereas William preferred the simplistic look. He decided with the help of friends he would design everything for the house. It occurred to him other people might, like him, have difficulty in finding designs to their taste and he, with others, felt there was a market for their designs and so the firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co came into being. Eventually the firm could offer a complete decorating service providing furniture, wallpapers, curtains, stained glass windows and hand painted tiles. From an early age William had been interested in medieval illuminated manuscripts and was an excellent illuminator and calligrapher. He also became involved in the printing of books. Whilst at Oxford Jane Burden posed for William as Guinevere and this work, now at the Tate Gallery, is the only painting of his known to exist. Many galleries and museums contain examples of William Morris's work and his designs are still popular today. Sandersons purchased the original wallpaper printing blocks and are the only outlet through whom you can buy his designs. MARGARET DEAL |
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page last updated 4 JUNE 2002 |
