Charles Francis Annesley Voysey
Born 28 May 1857
Died 12 February 1941
Active: 1874 - 1914
Country of birth and death: England
Designer, architect
Born in Hessle, near Hull. Educated largely at home as a boy, he was a pupil to John Pollard Seddon 1874-79, an architect of the Gothic revival. After a brief period as an assistant in Saxon Snell's office he became ‘an improver’ in the office of George Devey, whose practice consisted mainly of large country houses. Voysey commenced practice on his own account in London in 1881. Initially his income was dependent upon wallpaper and textile designs. He is said to have learned the art of pattern design from Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo. His first house was designed in 1888. During the following two decades Voysey established an extensive domestic practice both in Britain and abroad. He was at odds with his profession, opposing both the registration of architects and education favoured by the Royal Institute of British Architects. He was a keen member of the Art-Workers' Guild, of which he was master in 1924. From 1917 Voysey lived in St James's Street, and spent most of his days at the Arts Club not far away, where he had many friends. Died at his home, Park House, Winchester
Wealth at death: £1,474 16s. 4d.
Probate date: 26 March 1941
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
Designed Finial for Newel-Post
Locations
Address 23 York Place Baker Street London England | View on map
Address 11 Melina Place St. John's Wood London England | View on map
1893 (Presumed)
Address 6 Carlton Hill NW London England | View on map
1899 (Presumed)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Arranged Art Workers Guild, First Exhibition, 1895
Part of sub-committee for exhibition.
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Arts & Crafts Exhibition, 1900
'Metalwork'
Exhibited at Art Workers Guild, Third Exhibition, 1905
Participant in Heraldry in Decoration (Art Workers Guild), 1936
Speaker at Tradition in Art (Art Workers Guild), 1895
Speaker at The Decorative Use of Wood-work in Interiors (Art Workers Guild), 1896
Speaker at Copying and its relation to Art (Art Workers Guild), 1910
Speaker at New Delhi and the Future of the Arts in India (Art Workers Guild), 1913
Speaker at Flower, Fruit and Leaf Forms in Decoration (Art Workers Guild), 1916
Speaker at Foreign Influences in Modern Architecture (Art Workers Guild), 1927
Speaker at Harold Pyle and American Illustrators (Art Workers Guild), 1924
Speaker at Heraldry as Applied to Buildings (Art Workers Guild), 1924
Speaker at London (Art Workers Guild), 1923
Speaker at Medieval English Painting (Art Workers Guild), 1933
Speaker at Mestrovic and the Modern Spirit (Art Workers Guild), 1924
Speaker at Modern Metalwork (Art Workers Guild), 1926
Speaker at Monuments Worthy and Unworthy (Art Workers Guild), 1933
Speaker at Portraiture in Coins (Art Workers Guild), 1916
Speaker at Publicity, Art and Morality (Art Workers Guild), 1934
Speaker at Religion and Its Relation to Art (Art Workers Guild), 1939
Speaker at Ruskin Reconsidered (Art Workers Guild), 1929
Speaker at Sculpture (Art Workers Guild), 1924
Speaker at Ships (Art Workers Guild), 1916
Speaker at Shop Fronts and Shop Fittings (Art Workers Guild), 1923
Speaker at Staircases (Art Workers Guild), 1933
Speaker at The Influence of Fashion in the Arts (Art Workers Guild), 1916
Speaker at The Street: Architecture and Lighting (Art Workers Guild), 1933
Speaker at Tradition and (or versus) Individuality in Art (Art Workers Guild), 1923
Speaker at Traditional Treatment of Subject in Italian Painting (Art Workers Guild), 1926
Speaker at Can Photography ever be an Art? (Art Workers Guild), 1925
Speaker at Coins and Medals (Art Workers Guild), 1928
Speaker at Co-operation of the Architect and the Craftsman (Art Workers Guild), 1922
Speaker at Bridges (Art Workers Guild), 1929
Speaker at Ivory carving (Art Workers Guild), 1924
Speaker at Colour in our Craft (Art Workers Guild), 1930
Speaker at Clocks and Astronomical Instruments (Art Workers Guild), 1933
Speaker at Succeeding Fashions in Modern Art and Craft (Art Workers Guild), 1921
Speaker at Type Design and Typography / Value of Pattern in Art (Art Workers Guild), 1924
Institutional and Business Connections
Master of Art Workers Guild
1924
Unsuccessful in ballot for election to Royal Academy of Arts
Personal and Professional Connections
Collaborated with Henry Alfred Pegram
Collaborated with Richard Llewellyn Benson Rathbone
And Heywood Sumner, according to Bennett (1981)
Friends with William Bainbridge Reynolds
They met when working in the office of George Edmund Street c.1874.
Nominated by Edward Onslow Ford
25 April 1895
For RA; unsuccessful.
Seconded by George James Frampton
25 April 1895
For RA; unsuccessful.
Sources
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1885-1900
1895, p.7; 1896, p.6.
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1901-1912
1905, p.9; 1910, p.7.
Art Workers Guild Annual Reports, 1913-1933
1913, p.13.
Arts and Crafts Society: Catalogue of the Sixth Exhibition.
1899
Numerous references including p.81.
Catalogue of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition 1900
1900
Cat. No. 53, pp. 21, 81
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
M. S. Briggs, ‘Voysey, Charles Francis Annesley (1857–1941)’, rev. Wendy Hitchmough, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2007 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36668, accessed 6 Feb 2010]
Royal Academy of Arts Nominations for Associateship, 1866-1906
1906
See entries for 1895.
Citing this record
'Charles Francis Annesley Voysey', 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=msib2_1211908455, accessed 24 Sep 2023]
