Marion Richardson

Marion Elaine Richardson (9 October 1892 – 12 November 1946) was a British

.

Biography

Marion Richardson was born on 9 October 1892 in Ashford, Kent, the second daughter of Walter Marshall Richardson and his wife, Ellen.^[1]

Education

She was the middle of three sisters, and apparently used to entertain the other two with stories after lights out in the bedroom which they shared. She often serialised these over many nights. She joined a story-writing group when still a child – her

Richardson was educated at

Teaching career

During her training she was a pupil teacher at

methods for teaching art which encouraged self-expression and allowed the pupils to evaluate their own work.

In 1917, her pupils' work was exhibited by

.

In 1923, Richardson moved to London where she took private pupils and taught voluntarily at

In 1930 she was appointed the inspector of art to the London County Council and continued to run courses for art teachers.^[6] She toured Canada in 1934 and in 1935 published Writing and Writing Patterns, a set of hinged cards and booklets for teaching handwriting. In 1938 she organized a large and successful exhibition of children's art at County Hall, London.

Later life

She retired in 1942 due to her deteriorating health. In September 1945 she returned to Dudley and died on 12 November 1946.^[1] She was buried at St John's Church, Kates Hill, Dudley on 15 November 1946.

Legacy

Her last work Art and the Child was published posthumously in 1948, and was a great success.

Her influence remained after her death and her Writing and Writing Patterns was still used in schools in the 1980s.[1] The Senrab Street School in Stepney, east London was renamed Marion Richardson Primary School in her memory.^[9]

Her grave has been rediscovered by the St John's Church Preservation Group. The grave is now being maintained and a start has been made on forming a Marion Richardson Society.^[10]

In 2012 an exhibition at Dudley Museum and Art Gallery celebrated her work.^[11]

Publications

• Richardson, Marion Elaine (1928). The Dudley Writing Cards. London: G Bell & Sons.
• Richardson, Marion Elaine (1935). Writing & Writing Patterns. London: University of London Press.
• Richardson, Marion Elaine (1948). Art and the Child. London: University of London Press.

Primary sources

The personal papers of Marion Richardson are held in the Birmingham City University Art and Design Archives.^[12]

Published sources

• Everitt, Sian (May 2006). "Richardson, Marion Elaine (1892-1946)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
  doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/57053
  . Retrieved 6 February 2008.
• Holdsworth, Bruce, (2009) 'Marion Richardson (1892–1946)'. Eds. Steve Herne (et al.) Readings in Primary Art Education, (Intellect, Bristol)
  ISBN 978-1-84150-242-7
  , pp 161–175.
• Smith, Chris, (2010) Tales From A Churchyard, St John's Church, Kates Hill, Dudley, Vol. 1, (St John's Church Preservation Group, Dudley),
  ISBN 978-0-9555484-2-0. Chapter 3 is devoted to the life of Richardson.^[13]
• Sassoon, Rosemary, (2013) Marion Richardson: Her Life and Contribution to Handwriting,
  ISBN 978-1841505435

References

External links

• Marion Richardson Archive at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design.
• Marion Richardson School, Stepney, London
• Writing and Writing Patterns at the V&A Museum