Janet England (1864-1926) was an Addingham-based painter who specialised in painting floral subjects.
She was one of twelve children born to parents, John, a land agent, joiner and builder, and mother, Phoebe. John had, by 1891, built the family home, Croft House, Church Street, Addingham, and Janet, who never married, lived there for the remainder of her life until her final years.
She had worked initially as a servant to a family in Burley-in-Wharfedale, and in the 1901 Census Janet had stated her employment as a ‘Dressmaker’, working from home. After her mother died in 1911 she became a housekeeper for her father.
However, Janet also was a prolific artist who painted in oils. She was a member of the Yorkshire Union of Artists (YUA), and was an active member with them between 1909-15. She is listed with the YUA as specialising in painting floral arrangements in oil paints (see examples below).
The YUA had formed in 1887 with the aim of encouraging and supporting artists in the Yorkshire region. They were responsible for organising art exhibitions across the region and had a strong following of artists drawn from the Bradford district. YUA exhibitions would have been an opportunity for Janet to display her own work, view the work of fellow artists, as well as meet with them in local venues including the Cartwright Hall, Bradford, and the Bradford Technical College.
Janet’s floral work displays a good sense of arrangement, colour and form, which suggests she had had tuition at some point, although where or how she learned to paint is currently unknown. However, in the late 19th century there were part-time day and evening art classes at nearby Mechanics’ Institutes, including Silsden, where the tutor was Tom Butterfield, a professional artist who specialised in nature and landscape painting; before training as an artist he had worked as a gardener. Tom was also an active member of the YUA.
Although floral subjects were Janet’s listed specialism with the YUA, she also painted other subjects, including landscapes (see example below) and family portraits.
After Janet’s father died in 1922, she moved to Blackpool, where her sister Edith lived. Janet died in Blackpool in 1926, but was buried in the family plot in the churchyard of St. Peter’s Church at Addingham. Janet England’s paintings are now in private collections in Britain and overseas.
(With thanks to family descendant Linda Sherwood for biographical information about Janet England and for permission to use the artwork images shown above).