William Morris
(1834-1896)

poet and artist

Died aged c. 62

William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he helped win acceptance of socialism in fin de siècle Great Britain. Morris was born in Walthamstow, Essex, to a wealthy middle-class family. He came under the strong influence of medievalism while studying Classics at Oxford University, there joining the Birmingham Set. After university, he married Jane Burden, and developed close friendships with Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and with Neo-Gothic architect Philip Webb. Webb and Morris designed Red House in Kent where Morris lived from 1859 to 1865, before moving to Bloomsbury, central London. In 1861, Morris founded the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. decorative arts firm with Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, and others, which became highly fashionable and much in demand. The firm profoundly influenced interior decoration throughout the Victorian period, with Morris designing tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics, furniture, and stained glass windows. In 1875, he assumed total control of the company, which was renamed Morris & Co. Morris rented the rural retreat of Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire, from 1871 while also retaining a main home in London. He was greatly influenced by visits to Iceland with Eiríkur Magnússon, and he produced a series of English-language translations of Icelandic Sagas. He also achieved success with the publication of his epic poems and novels, namely The Earthly Paradise (1868–1870), A Dream of John Ball (1888), the Utopian News from Nowhere (1890), and the fantasy romance The Well at the World's End (1896). In 1877, he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings to campaign against the damage caused by architectural restoration. He was influenced by anarchism in the 1880s and became a committed revolutionary socialist activist. He founded the Socialist League in 1884 after an involvement in the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), but he broke with that organisation in 1890. In 1891, he founded the Kelmscott Press to publish limited-edition, illuminated-style print books, a cause to which he devoted his final years. Morris is recognised as one of the most significant cultural figures of Victorian Britain. He was best known in his lifetime as a poet, although he posthumously became better known for his designs. The William Morris Society founded in 1955 is devoted to his legacy, while multiple biographies and studies of his work have been published. Many of the buildings associated with his life are open to visitors, much of his work can be found in art galleries and museums, and his designs are still in production.

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Family tree

friend of Philip Webb and colleague of Philip Webb

Commemorated on 10 plaques

In this house lived in 1851 Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), poet and painter, and from 1856-1859 William Morris (1834-1896), poet and artist, and Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898), painter.

17 Red Lion Square, London, United Kingdom where they lived

Red House built in 1859-60 by Philip Webb architect for William Morris poet and artist who lived here 1860-1865

Red House Lane, Bexleyheath, London, United Kingdom where they lived

The architect Philip Webb 1831 - 1915 co-founder with William Morris of the society for the protection of ancient buildings lived here 1900-1915

Turners Hill Road, Pound Hill, Crawley, United Kingdom where they was

Robert Spence Watson (1837 - 1911) Bensham Grove was home to Robert Spence Watson who enjoyed a national prominence in both artistic and political circles. His visitors included William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. A noted arbitrator in industrial disputes, pacifist and Liberal politician.

Bensham Grove, Bensham Road, Gateshead, United Kingdom where they visited

91-101 Worship Street Built as workshops and dwellings Designed by Philip Webb, 1862 Friend and colleague of William Morris. Co-founders of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, 1877.

91-101 Worship Street, London, United Kingdom where they was

This business was founded in 1861 by William Morris Artist and Poet for the manufacture of his designs in wallpapers, chintzes, woven fabrics, carpets, decoration, stained glass, and for the advancement of his great reform in all the decorative arts

17 St George Street, W1, London, United Kingdom where they was

Directly opposite stood Elm House (demolished in 1898 ) in extensive grounds, the birthplace of William Morris 24 March 1834

Fire Station, 341/343 Forest Road E17, London, United Kingdom where they was born near (1834)

William Morris 1834-1896 lived here 1848-1856. Edward Lloyd Publisher lived here 1857-1885

William Morris Gallery, Forest Road E17, London, United Kingdom where they lived (1848-1856)

William Morris lived at Woodford Hall 1840-1847. The house demolished in 1900 stood to the rear of this site

Woodford Parish Church Memorial Hall, High Street, E11, London, United Kingdom where they lived (1840-1847)

Site of the William Morris Printworks Here stood the Merton Abbey works of William Morris, established in 1881 in buildings used for calico printing since 1752. Morris and his co-workers produced carpets, tapestries, printed fabrics, and stained glass made to designs and patterns which were typical of the best of the "Arts and Crafts Movement", many of which remain famous today. The works continued after Morris's death in 1896, finally closing in 1940.

Merton Abbey Mills, Merton, London, United Kingdom where they produced carpets, tapestries, printed fabrics, and stained glass made to designs and patterns which were typical of the best of the Arts and Crafts Movement (1881)