James Frank Redfern
Born 14 January 1837
Died 13 June 1876
Active: 1859 - 1876
Country of birth and death: England
Architectural sculptor, sculptor
Born in Hartington, Derbyshire. (His birth date is often given as 1838 but this has been revised in light of his baptism record for 22 January 1837.) He was the son of William Redfern (c.1799-1846), a stone mason and builder. James's father died when he was only six and his mother supported the family as a dressmaker. The young boy showed a precocious talent for drawing and carving, and his early efforts included copies in alabaster of sculptures by Edward Hodges Baily and John Graham Lough.
In about 1856 Redfern's work came to the attention of the politician and author Alexander Beresford Hope. This introduction was almost certainly made by Benjamin Webb who had been had been made perpetual curate at Sheen in Staffordshire on Beresford Hope's recommendation (a village close to where Redfern was living). Webb was also secretary and editor of the 'Eccelsiologist'. Beresford Hope supported the aspiring young artist's education by introducing him to the leading London stained glass designer, John Clayton. It was in Clayton's studio that Redfern learnt the basics of anatomy and art and also began to exhibit at the Royal Academy. His first work accepted for the Summer Exhibition was 'Cain and Abel' in 1859. In the late 1850s Redfern briefly entered the Royal Academy Schools, but then in 1860, at the suggestion of Clayton and with the support of Beresford Hope, he studied for six months in Paris.
On his return in late 1860 or early 1861, Beresford Hope declined to continue supporting Redfern's education and so the young artist set out to establish an independent practice. Over the next sixteen years, he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy. Redfern also showed works at the Society of British Artists in 1864 (two statuettes of the Prince and Princess of Wales) and at the Royal Aquarium in 1876 (a wood nymph).
However, Redfern's main area of practice was architectural and ecclesiastical sculpture. Contacts in the firm of Clayton and Bell and also in the Cambridge Camden Society Society (chiefly Benjamin Webb and Beresford Hope) gave him valuable introductions to several leading architects. These included Sir George Gilbert Scott and George Edmund Street who became two of his most important patrons. Other architects who gave Redfern commissions were William Burges, George Bodley, and Charles Buckeridge. The great majority of Redfern's works were widely admired but he encountered occasional opposition, notably in regard to the statues of the Virgin and Child and of four doctors for the north porch of Bristol cathedral. Redfern executed these works towards the end of his life under the direction of George Edmund Street. However, the statues were not approved by the cathedral Chapter, which ordered their summary removal and several were defaced in the process.
Redfern had a number of assistants and was employing three men in 1871. He is reported to have had a poor head for business, and frequently complained of being underpaid for his work. In consequence the competing demands of a busy practice, financial anxieties, and the row over the statues for Bristol cathedral took a toll on his health and he died at the age of 38 after a short illness.
This entry includes information from ‘James Redfern, Sculptor’, The Church Quarterly Review, Vo. 62, London, 1906, pp. 334-356. The dates of his father's life are taken from the Derbyshire burial index.
Wealth at death: £800 0s. 0d.
Probate date: 30 June 1876
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Autumn exhibition of modern art: the forty-eighth (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool), 1920
1859 - 1876
Exhibited 13 times, eighteen works in all (a mixture of religious works, portraits, models for monuments, and ideal subjects executed in relief and the round)
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
No occupation aged about 14.
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
'Sculptor employing 3 Men'
Occupation given in England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
1867
'Sculptor'
Occupation given in England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921
3 January 1873
'Sculptor'
Sources
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841
2004
Class: HO107; Piece: 197; Book: 12; Civil Parish: Hartington; County: Derbyshire; Enumeration District: 7; Folio: 11; Page: 16; Line: 4; GSU roll: 241299
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2004
HO107
Piece number 2146
Folio 544
Page 16
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
2004
Class: RG 9; Piece: 121; Folio: 158; Page: 46; GSU roll: 542577
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
2004
Class: RG10; Piece: 158; Folio: 6; Page: 5; GSU roll: 823298
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: James Frank Redfern
Death Date: 13 Jun 1876
Death Place: Middlesex, England
Probate Date: 30 Jun 1876
Registry: Principal Registry
England, Select Births and Christening Records, 1538-1975
2014
First name(s) James
Last name Redfern
Gender Male
Birth year -
Birth place -
Baptism year 1837
Baptism date 22 Jan 1837
Place Hartington
County Derbyshire
Country England
Father's first name(s) William
Father's last name Redfern
Mother's first name(s) Mary
Mother's last name -
Record set England Births & Baptisms 1538-1975
Category Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records
Subcategory Parish Baptisms
Collections from England, Great Britain
England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921
2015
Name: James Frank Redfern
Gender: Male
Initiation Date: 3 Jan 1873
First Payment Year on Register: 1873
Year Range: 1863-1887
Profession: Sculptor
Lodge: The Royal Gloucestershire Lodge
Lodge Location: Gloucester
Lodge Number: 839, 1141
Folio Number: 5
London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
2010
London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P89/and/006
Name: James Frank Redfern
Gender: Male
Marriage Age: 29
Record Type: Marriage
Birth Date: abt 1838
Marriage Date: 29 Aug 1867
Marriage Place: St Marylebone, Westminster, England
Father: William Redfern
Spouse: Clara Margaret Allen
Register Type: Parish Register
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
Hardy, E. (2004-09-23). Redfern, James Frank (bap. 1837, d. 1876), sculptor. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 15 April 2018
Citing this record
'James Frank Redfern', 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/person.php?id=ann_1523780910, accessed 29 Jan 2023]