Charles Francis Annesley Voysey
One of the leading figures in the English Arts and Crafts movement. Charles Francis Annesley Voysey was born on 28 May 1857, the son of Charles Voysey (1828-1912), a clergyman in Hessle, near Hull, East Yorkshire. On leaving school he was articled to the architect John Pollard Seddon in London from 1874 to 1877 and remained as his assistant in 1878. He then worked as an assistant to the London architects Henry Saxon Snell in 1879 and George Devey in 1880-81.
Voysey opened his own office in Westminster, London, in 1881 and was in private practice for the next sixty years. Most of his architectural commissions date from the years 1889-1911. In addition to his work as an architect, Voysey, produced a wide range of designs for the domestic environment. As a result of his acquaintance with Arthur H. Mackmurdo (1851-1942) early in his career, Voysey obtained commissions to design fabrics, rugs and wallpaper for a number of leading manufacturers including Sanderson, Jeffrey & Co. Alexander Moreton & Co. and the Essex Company. He later designed furniture, clocks, jewellery, metalware, light fittings, etc.
Voysey exhibited frequently at the Royal Academy in London from 1895 and 1923. He also exhibited at the New English Art Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts from 1894 to 1898 and in 1938; and participated in the exhibitions of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society in London from 1888 to 1910, and in 1916. He was elected a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1884 and became Master of the AWG in 1924. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1927, and in 1936 was elected a Designer for Industry (DI) [from 1937 known as Royal Designer for Industry (RDI)] by the Royal Society of Arts.
C. F. A. Voysey died on 12 February 1941. at Park House, Park Road, Winchester, Hampshire.
Obituary Architect and Building News vol. 165, 21 February 1941 pp. 1941 pp. 129-130
Obituary Architects' Journal vol. 93, 20 February 1941 pp. 124, 126
Obituary Architectural Review vol. 89, May 1941 pp. 112-113
Obituary The Builder vol. 160, 21 February 1941 p. 197
Obituary Royal Institute of British Architects Journal vol. 48, March 1941 p. 88