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William Worrall

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William Edwin Worrall (1877-1940) was a Staffordshire-born designer of fabric, pottery, glass and stoneware. He was the brother of Thomas Frederick Worrall and shared similar artistic ability.

William E Worrall on the occasion of his brother Thomas's wedding, 1899.

Early life

William was the middle of three sons born to blacksmith Thomas Worrall senior and Susannah Worrall, in Wednesbury, Staffordshire.[1] The family moved to Church, near Accrington in Lancashire and after leaving school, William became a cotton print designer.[2] Whereas his elder brother, Thomas, became a blacksmith and painted watercolours as a side interest, William made creativity his paid employment.

Later life

The 1891 census shows William living with his mother and siblings in Church, Lancashire, working as an office boy in a cotton mill. [3] By 1901 he was still working in the mill but was a designer of cotton prints. [4] The firm for which he worked was probably F. Steiner & Company, and some pattern books from the period are at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, showing the sort of designs he was creating.[5] William later moved to Cheshire, still designing fabric prints.[6] The England and Wales Register for 1939 shows that during the First World War, William worked in the Ministry of Munitions,[7] but nothing of his work there is known. Information about his life during the early 1920s is similarly lacking, but by 1928 he was teaching pottery at the famous Chalice Well Crafts Guild in Glastonbury, Somerset, which had been founded in 1912 by Alice Buckton.[8] By 1932 was the chief craftsman there. [9][10] [11] William was living at that time in the nearby newly-built house, 'Stone Down', along with historical writer, Thomas N. Wild and his wife.[12]

William’s years in Glastonbury were productive, and he demonstrated a move away from fabric design. He trained in pottery making under the renowned Bernard Leach, and Leach later named him as one of his principal students.[13] In 1931, Worrall was invited to demonstrate pottery techniques at the Selfridges department store in London, [14] and featured in an article in the American newspaper, Evening World.[15] He also became skilled in tile-making and bronze-work and was an early member of the Somerset Guild of Craftsmen which still exists to this day.[16] He was invited by the Board of Trade to submit items for the 1937 Paris Exhibition, and sent a dish, jug and beer mug for show in the rural industries section. The dish incorporated an image of Glastonbury Tor.[17] [18] [19] He became further known when he was commissioned to make a memorial of bronze set in stone to the famous Somerset author Walter Raymond, which was placed, and still is, in Yeovil Library.[20] He also notably designed the renovations of St Margaret's almshouses in Taunton, [21] and played a significant role in life at Chalice Well in Glastonbury, being a member of that group’s dramatic circle which performed plays, and he created the required stage scenery (see footnote 8). He became very knowledgeable about local folkore, became a member of the Avalon Sister and Brotherhood, and gave lectures on the legend of Glastonbury and the Holy Grail.[22][23][24]

William Worrall died in the Mary Hewetson Hospital in 1940 while staying in the Lake District. His death certificate shows that he was suffering from myocardial degeneration (lost function of the heart muscle) and his obituary in the Central Somerset Gazette states that he had been in the Lake District for three months in the hope that the clean air would improve his heart complaint.[25] He is buried in St Kentigern's churchyard in Crosthwaite, which is on the outskirts of Keswick. The grave is in the northwest corner of the old churchyard, and is unmarked but there is a plaque to William in St John's Church in Glastonbury on which the dedication reads: William Worrall Designer and craftsman of Stone Down Near Glastonbury Died November 9th 1940. RIP. The plaque consists of two of Worrall's handmade tiles and shows St. Christopher carrying the child Jesus. The newspaper obituary says that Worrall readily gave gentle counsel to those seeking spiritual guidance, and that it is the results from this work in the hearts of those people 'that is his best and truest memorial'.

William's elder brother, Thomas, visited the grave in Keswick in 1947 and took the opportunity of painting nearby scenes. His depiction of Derwentwater is available as a postcard from St Kentigern's church and St James's church in Keswick.

Memorial plaque to William Worrall, Glastonbury made from two of his tiles
Thomas Worrall's painting of Derwentwater from Friars Crag (1947) near to his brother William's final resting place

[26]





















List of works in public collections:

Two ceramic tiles- St John's Church, Glastonbury.
Image cast in bronze- Plaque to Walter Raymond, Yeovil Public Library, Somerset.
St Margaret's Almhouses in Taunton, Somerset (a subsequent renovation took place in the early 2000s carried out by Somerset Historic Building Preservation Trust).

References

  1. ^ 1881 England census: Staffordshire, Durlaston, District 2: piece 2871, folio 28
  2. ^ See occupation details for William Worrall in the 1901 census for Church, Lancashire ref: RG13/3917
  3. ^ 1891 census of England and Wales, sheet RG12/3409
  4. ^ Census of England and Wales, sheet RG13/3917
  5. ^ https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O90126/furnishing-fabric-steiner-co/
  6. ^ Census of England and Wales, sheet 231
  7. ^ For more information see Adams, R. J. Q. Arms and the Wizard: Lloyd George and the Ministry of Munitions, 1915–1916 (London: Cassell, 1978) OCLC 471710656
  8. ^ 'Art Exhibition in Glastonbury', Wells Journal, 10 August 1928
  9. ^ 'Cradle song' in Wells Journal, 1 January 1932
  10. ^ See also William E Worrall's details on England and Wales Register (1939) for Glastonbury, Somerset
  11. ^ See 'Cultural and social activities': https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol9/pp16-43
  12. ^ For information about Alice Buckton see 'S. Mathivet, Alice Buckton (1867–1944): The Legacy of a Froebelian in the Landscape of Glastonbury' in History of Education, 01 March 2006, Vol.35(2), p.263-281
  13. ^ Item 12013-12014: Additional papers of Bernard Leach, Crafts Study Centre, University of the Creative Arts, UK.
  14. ^ Letter to Bernard Leach dated 11 May 1931, Bernard Leach Archive, University of the Creative Arts, UK
  15. ^ 'Peasant Arts in Somerset', Evening World, 21 April 1931
  16. ^ ‘Skilled rural craftsmen’ in Taunton Courier, 5 June 1935
  17. ^ 'A Glastonbury Modeller', Central Somerset Gazette, 26 January 1940
  18. ^ 'Glastonbury productions on view', Central Somerset Gazette, 25 June 1937
  19. ^ Letters from Worrall to Bernard Leach (1937): Bernard Leach archive, Craft Study Centre, University of the Creative Arts, UK,
  20. ^ ‘Walter Raymond memorial’ in Western Gazette, 9 February 1940, and ‘Memorial to Walter Raymond: Mrs J. B. Clark unveils plaque’ in Taunton Courier, 2 August 1947
  21. ^ 'Great son of Somerset' in Taunton Courier, 15 July 1939
  22. ^ 'Avalon Sister and Brotherhood', Central Somerset Gazette, 11 April 1930
  23. ^ 'Back to Glastonbury', Central Somerset Gazette, 1 April 1932
  24. ^ Wesley Guild', Central Somerset Gazette, 1 February 1934
  25. ^ 'A Glastonbury craftman's death in Cumberland', Central Somerset Gazette, 22 November 1940
  26. ^ Death certificate of William Edwin Worrall, died 9 November 1940
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