Caroline Townshend

Caroline Charlotte Townshend was born on 4 September 1878 to Chambré (or "Cambrey") Corker Townshend and Emily Gibson, at 21 Endsleigh Street the fourth of five children[https://web.archive.org/web/20120916194006/http://irishartsreview.com/irisartsrevi1984/pdf/1986/20491887.pdf.bannered.pdf Irish Arts Review 1984–1987: Exhibitions.] Irish Arts Review. p. 1. Retrieved 19 August 2012.Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh. (ed.) (1976). Burke's Irish Family Records. London: Burkes Peerage Ltd. p. 1119. ASIN: B0007AISK2.{{Cite web|title=London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1920|url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/1558/images/31280_197531-00163?pId=4241303|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-08|website=ancestry.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108132202/https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/1558/images/31280_197531-00163?pId=4241303 |archive-date=8 January 2022 }}{{Cite web|title=Caroline Townshend|url=https://womanandhersphere.com/tag/caroline-townshend/|access-date=2022-01-08|website=Woman and her Sphere}} Her father had trained as an architect and was for a while an assistant to George Edmund Street.[http://www.sussexparishchurches.org/content/view/323/40/ Caroline Townshend.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100926122332/http://www.sussexparishchurches.org/content/view/323/40 |date=26 September 2010 }} Sussex Parish Churches: Architects and Artists T-U-V. Retrieved 19 August 2012{{#tag:ref|According to [http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~townsend/tree/record.php?ref=5D14 Townshend family genealogical records], Chambré Corker Townshend was the son of Reverend Chambré Corker Townshend and Emily Gibson was the daughter of industrialist J. Gibson. Townshend worked for George Edmund Street, but unable to secure a sufficient standard of living for his family, his wife suggested they live abroad where there was a cheaper standard of living. The family lived in Switzerland and then Florence before returning to England to life in Richmond, Yorkshire. Their son and daughter, Caroline, were enrolled in college.|group=nb}} Her mother, Emily Gibson had been the first applicant to the College for Women, (now Girton College) at Cambridge and was a student there from 1869 to 1872. She met her husband through Isabella Townshend, a fellow student at the College for Women.Stephen, Barbara. (2010) [1933]. Girton College 1869–1932. Cambridge University Press. p. 24, 193. {{ISBN|978-1-108-01531-8}}.Murphy, Ann B. and Deirdre Raftery. (eds.) (2004). Emily Davies: Collected Letters, 1861–1875. Charlottesville and London: University of Virginia Press. p. 396, 494. {{ISBN|0-8139-2232-1}}.White, Dr. Sarah. (6 November 1975). [https://books.google.com/books?id=rM19SWUSN9gC&pg=PA349&lpg=PA349 "Gaining Parity by Degrees: Women at Cambridge."] New Scientist p. 349. Emily later wrote "Chambrey Townshend had little push and no business ability to back up his remarkable artistic abilities" and the family lived abroad for some time as it was cheaper. Emily later served time in Holloway Prison for suffragette activity, as did Rachel, her daughter and Caroline's sister.

After her family returned from Europe Caroline Townsend was a pupil at Wycombe Abbey School. Townshend was educated at the Slade School of Fine Art. After a period as a student at the Slade she decided that she wanted to try stained glass and by 1901 asked Christopher Whall to take her on as a pupil. She assisted in his studio and attended his classes at the Central School of Arts and Crafts until 1903.

She set up her own studio at The Glass House in Fulham, South-West London in 1903. Many stained glass artists of the Arts and Crafts movement had their studios at The Glass House, including Mary Lowndes, Karl Parsons, Margaret Agnes Rope, M. E. Aldrich Rope, Theodora Salusbury, Arild Rosenkrantz, Wilhelmina Geddes, Clare Dawson, Rachel de Montmorency, Margaret Thompson, Lilian Josephine Pocock, Hugh Arnold and Edward Liddall Armitage.[http://www.artbiogs.co.uk/2/organizations/glass-house-fulham Glass House, Fulham.] Artist Biographies. Retrieved 19 August 2012.

It was at The Glass House in 1913 that she met Joan Howson, a student of the Liverpool School of Art, who would become her student and apprentice.[http://stainedglass.llgc.org.uk/person/285 Joan Howson]. University of Wales: Gwydr Lliw yng Nghymru – Stained Glass in Wales. Retrieved 8 August 2012. In 1920 they set up their company Townshend & Howson. They moved to 61 Deodar Road in Putney which they had converted to house a studio and workshop, which was also shared by fellow stained glass artist M. E. Aldrich Rope.{{Cite web|title=Life of M.E.Aldrich Rope (Tor) Two Margaret Ropes – Stained Glass Artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement.|url=http://www.arthur.rope.clara.net/torbio.htm|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-08|website=arthur.rope.clara.net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020212132726/http://www.arthur.rope.clara.net:80/torbio.htm |archive-date=12 February 2002 }} Neighbours included Edward Woore and other stained glass artists. During the earlier part of World War II, she cared for evacuee children at three hospitals in North Wales with Howson and Rope.{{Cite web|title="Life of M.E.Aldrich Rope (Tor)". Two Margaret Ropes – Stained Glass Artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement|url=http://www.arthur.rope.clara.net/torbio.htm|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-08|website=arthur.rope.clara.net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020212132726/http://www.arthur.rope.clara.net:80/torbio.htm |archive-date=12 February 2002 }}

She was member of the Fabian Society, a democratic socialist organisation, and in 1910 was a candidate of the Labour Party for the Board of Guardians in Fulham, London.Alexander, Sally. (2001) [1988]. Women's Source Library. 7 Women's Fabian Tracts. London: Routledge. p. 148. {{ISBN|0-415-25692-5}}.{{cite book|title=The Story of Fabian Socialism|author=Cole, Margaret|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0804700917|year=1961|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/storyoffabiansoc0000cole}}{{#tag:ref|In the same reference showing Caroline Townshend's involvement with the Fabian Society are articles written by "Mrs. Townshend", possibly Caroline Townshend's mother on subjects including "The Case against the Charity Organization Society" (July 1911) and "The Case for School Nurseries" (September 1909).Alexander, Sally. (2001) [1988]. Women's Source Library. 7 Women's Fabian Tracts. London: Routledge. pp. 85, 179. {{ISBN|0-415-25692-5}}. In [http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~townsend/tree/record.php?ref=5D14 Townshend family genealogical records], Caroline's mother was said to be the first woman to attend Girton College, a suffragette, member of the Fabian Society and was sent to Holloway Prison for two weeks for her suffragette activities. She was a member of the Governing Council of Hawnes School. Information was gleaned from a book about Emily Gibson Townshend: Emily Townshend 1849 – 1934. The Curwen Press, 1936.|group=nb}} In 1918, Townshend designed banners for the Fabian Society, executed by 19 women, and for the Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association.Tickner, Lisa. (1988). The Spectacle of Women: Imagery of the Suffrage Campaign 1907–14. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 210, 292. {{ISBN|0-226-80245-0}}.

Caroline Townshend died on 10 June 1944 in Pwllheli, North Wales, leaving just over £30,000 to Joan Howson.{{Cite web|title=England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995|url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/cs/offers/join?sub=281767036616704&dbid=1904&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ancestry.co.uk%2Fdiscoveryui-content%2Fview%2F15240982%3A1904%3Ftid%3D%26pid%3D%26queryId%3D00c619d37a5767c8ea51c77b19832f20%26_phsrc%3DogM49%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&gsfn=&gsln=&h=15240982|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-08|website=ancestry.co.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108132204/https://www.ancestry.co.uk/cs/offers/join?sub=281767036616704&dbid=1904&url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/15240982:1904?tid%3D%26pid%3D%26queryId%3D00c619d37a5767c8ea51c77b19832f20%26_phsrc%3DogM49%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&gsfn=&gsln=&h=15240982 |archive-date=8 January 2022 }} Howson continued to use the name of their partnership after Townshend's death.

{{See also|List of works by Townshend and Howson}}

Works that Townshend completed before forming the partnership Townshend and Howson, with Joan Howson include:

• Location: Chulmleigh, Devon
• Year: 1903

Townshend's very first commission. was for a window in the north aisle of this church. It depicts Saints Cuthbert, Martin (shown in the act of sharing his cloak with a beggar outside Amiens) and Boniface. Described by Cherry and Pevsner as "three saints, charming scenes below, with subtle colours".Cherry, Bridget and Nikolaus Pevsner. (1989) [1952]. The Buildings of England: Devon. (2nd edition). New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 265. {{ISBN|978-0-300-09596-8}}.

File:St Mary Greenhithe 1.jpg|One of the lights of Townshend's window in St Mary Greenhithe

File:St Mary Greenhithe 2.jpg|One of the lights of Townshend's window in St Mary Greenhithe

File:St Mary Greenhithe 3.jpg|One of the lights of Townshend's window in St Mary Greenhithe

• Location: Greenhithe, Kent
• Year: 1904

This church, designed by Lewis Vulliamy dates back to 1855. Townshend completed a three-light window for the church's north aisle, an interpretation of the “Presentation in the Temple”.

File:St_Andrew_Aysgarth.jpg

• Location: Aysgarth, Yorkshire
• Year: 1905

This church has a two-light window by Townshend. In the left hand light Jesus washes the feet of his disciples, while in the other he is depicted blessing the children.

• Location: Bensham, Gateshead
• Year: 1907

The chapel of All Saints in this church has two twin-light windows by Townshend dating from 1907.Williamson, Elizabeth. (1983) [1953]. The Buildings of England: County Durham. London and New Haven: Yale University Press.

{{ISBN|978-0-300-09599-9}} or 1908.

File:St Chad Bensham.jpg|Part of St Chad window. Photograph courtesy Dave Webster

File:St Chad Bensham 3.jpg|Full view St Chad window. Photograph courtesy Dave Webster

• Location: Ducklington, Oxfordshire
• Year: 1908

There is a three-light window by Townshend at the east end of the church's south aisle. It shows Christ with St Cecilia on one side and Dorcas on the other. in the south aisle of the church there is a second window by Townshend and Howson which dates to 1934. It is of three-lights and depicts St Hugh of Lincoln in the centre light.

• Location: Newcastle, Northumberland
• Year: 1907

Townshend completed the large four-light window in the north choir aisle of St Nicholas' Cathedral church, described as "an outstanding window of 1907 showing Northumbrian Saints and St Nicholas” by Nikolaus Pevsner and Ian Richmond.Richmond, Ian and Nikolaus Pevsner.The Buildings of England. Northumberland. London and New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 421.

• Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland
• Year: circa 1910

Townshend carried out some glazing work for this building."Women Stained Glass Artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement Catalogue." London Borough of Waltham Forest Libraries & Arts Department, 1985. William Morris Gallery Exhibition and Brangwyn Gift in 1985. {{ISBN|0901974226}}.

• Year: 1910

The "Fabian Window", on loan to the London School of Economics (LSE) Shaw Library since 2006, was made by Townshend in 1910, to a design by George Bernard Shaw.[http://www2.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/archives/2006/FabianWindow.aspx A piece of Fabian history unveiled at LSE Newspaper.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201152425/http://www2.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/archives/2006/FabianWindow.aspx |date=1 December 2011 }}. London School of Economics Stained Glass. Retrieved 19 August 2012. The window, shows Edward R. Pease, Sidney Webb and other members of the Fabian Society "helping to build "the new world"". It is thought to have remained in Townshend's studio until after her death. In 1947 it was presented to the Webb Memorial Trust's Beatrice Webb House near Dorking, from where it was stolen in 1978. It surfaced in Phoenix, Arizona soon afterwards but then disappeared again, and in the following years the only evidence of the work was the cartoon made by Townshend. The window was bought back by the Webb Memorial Trust following its reappearance at Sotheby's in July 2005.

In an article published on the LSE website it is described as having been cited as an example of "Shavian wit":

the figures are in Tudor dress to poke fun at Pease who evidently loved everything medieval. The Fabian Society coat of arms is shown as a wolf in sheep's clothing. The first man, crouching on the left, is H. G. Wells, cocking a snook at the others. He is followed by the actor-manager Charles Charrington, Aylmer Maude (translator of Tolstoy's War and Peace), G. Stirling Taylor (reading a book, New Worlds for Old), and the dentist F. Lawson Dodd. The women, from left to right, are Maud Pember Reeves (mother of Amber Reeves, who bore Wells a daughter in 1909), Miss Hankin, the suffragist Miss Mabel Atkinson, Mrs Boyd Dawson, and, at the end, the artist who made the window, Caroline Townshend herself.

It was the Fabians, Beatrice and Sidney Webb, and George Bernard Shaw who founded the London School of Economics (LSE), where the work is now housed.

• Location: Seascale, Cumbria
• Year: 1910–11

Townshend completed a four-light east window depicting The Virgin and Child and "Christ in Majesty" surrounded by various Saints including James the Great, Andrew and James the Less. She also completed another window on the north side of the church.Hyde, Matthew. (2010). The Buildings of England. Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness. London and New Haven: Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-300-12663-1}}.

• Location: Willoughby, Warwickshire

This church has a three-light window by Townshend. The central light contains a Salvator Mundi ("Saviour of the World") and those on either side the lights show St Nicholas and Mary Magdalene.

• Location: Rockhampton, Queensland
• Years: 1914 and 1921

In 1914 the Bishop of Rockhampton visited England and approached various artists with a view to commissioning stained glass for the cathedral. He chose Townshend, who designed five windows for the cathedral's apse. The three central windows were made and installed in 1914. They depict the Crucifixion, Christ in Majesty and Pentecost. Two other windows depicting the Nativity and the Adoration of the Lamb were installed in 1924.[http://www.anglicanrockcathedral.org./website/History.html Cathedral History.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042016/http://www.anglicanrockcathedral.org/website/History.html |date=4 March 2016 }} St. Paul' s Anglican Cathedral, Rockhampton. Retrieved 19 August 2012.

• Location: Hartland, Devon
• years: 1930 and 1933

Townshend and Howsen painted windows for both St Nectan's church, Hartland and for St john's Chapel of Ease, Hartland. The windows were commissioned by Richard Pearse Chope and possibly John Lane. The subject matter is not religious but depicts the history of Hartland through the years. In order south east to north east: The Gytha window; The manorial window; the William window; the Alfred window & the Arthur window. Further work is three small roundels in the Mary Chapel window. Within St John's Chapel of Ease a window showing St Augustine & St Francis is in situ as a memorial to the wife of Mr Wilton, headmaster of the local school.[https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20120421220350/http://www.hartlandforum.co.uk/archivesproject/T51.htm] Hartland Forum website. Retrieved 15 June 2013.

Hobbs: Question of a Seat, Hartland Digital Archive, 2005

Townshend's work was included in an exhibition organised by the William Morris Gallery in 1985 to celebrate the contribution of women to the art of stained glass. Exhibits included her 1906 design for a window depicting St Crispin, the patron saint of cobblers, this window destined for the Cripples' Cobbling School which was part of the Southwark Settlement and also the 1905 design for a window commissioned by the Newcastle antiquarian William Street, of 9 Charlotte Street in North Shields. It is not known whether these windows have survived. Townshend's mother's family were from Newcastle and this connection lead to her receiving several commissions in the North East.

File:Pettaugh window.jpg|Stained Glass Window in Pettaugh Suffolk by Townshend and Howson

File:Eskdale window.JPG|Caroline Townshend window in Outward Bound College in Eksdale

File:George Herbert Window.jpg|The Church of St Andrew, Bemerton, is known as George Herbert's Church. Townshend and Howson were responsible for the window's design and execution.

File:St Mary Greenhithe 3.jpg|Part of window in St Mary's Church Greenhithe

File:Townshend window, Rottingdean.jpg|Caroline Townshend window in St Margaret's Church, Rottingdean

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{{British and Irish stained glass}}

{{Christopher Whall}}

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Category:1878 births

Category:1944 deaths

Category:20th-century English women artists

Category:Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art

Category:Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design

Category:Artists from the London Borough of Camden

Category:British stained glass artists and manufacturers

Category:Christopher Whall

Category:People educated at Wycombe Abbey

Category:People from Bloomsbury