Royal Female School of Art

Foundation date: 1842

Active: 1842 - 1913

Function: Art school

History or description: The school was an offshoot of the Government School of Design established in 1842. When the Government School moved to Somerset House in 1858, the Royal Female School moved to Gower Street and then to Queen Square, Bloomsbury.

From April 1909 the school was run through the London County Council's Central School of Arts and Crafts, but retained its autonomy as the Royal Female School.

In 1913 the County Council requested that from 1914 onwards the Royal Female School of Art would be merged with the Central School of Arts and Crafts, rather than continue as a separate entity.

The Council advised that 'in view of the development of art education for women, and of the fact that arrangements can be made in the ordinary classes of the L.C.C. Central School of Arts and Crafts for the instruction of women students by women teachers, as required by the Trust, the Council has come to the conclusion that there is no longer any reason for the continuance of the Royal Female School of Art as a separate entity' [see letter from the London Council Council to Lord Stamfordham, 4 June, 1913].

Citing this record

'Royal Female School of Art', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/organization.php?id=msib4_1268317029, accessed 25 Mar 2023]