Person    | Female  Born /12/1809  Died 1/2/1895

Mary Thornycroft

Categories: Sculpture

Sculptor. Born Norfolk but in 1823 her family moved to London, 56 Albany Street. Her father, John Francis, was a sculptor and she worked with him as assistant and pupil in Albany Street. In 1840 she married another of her father's students, Thomas Thornycroft.

A successful sculptor, the royal family used her for many commissions and her income supported the family since Thomas was not in such demand. And the Queen engaged her to teach Princess Louise. However as the daughter, wife and mother of other, mostly male, sculptors and artists her career is rather lost in theirs. See her husband, Thomas, for more information.

For more information on this sculptor we suggest the book ‘Working Against the Grain: Women Sculptors in Britain c.1885-1950’ by Pauline Rose.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
Mary Thornycroft

Creations i

Fame - from Poets’ Fountain

The statue glistens with recent gilding. This was first done in 2002 in honou...

Read More

Poets’ Fountain - Chaucer, Shakespeare & Milton

The seated figures represent the three Muses; the standing figures, the three...

Read More

Other Subjects

John Thomas

John Thomas

Born Gloucestershire.  A prolific Victorian sculptor. The splendid Speel gives this list of other works in London: pediment of Paddington Station Great Western Hotel; decorative work on the piers o...

Person, Sculpture

4 memorials
John Somerville

John Somerville

Sculptor based in Barnet.

Person, Sculpture

2 memorials
Peter McLean

Peter McLean

Sculptor. A founding member of the Bermondsey Artists' Group created in 1983.

Person, Sculpture

1 memorial
Thomas Wyon

Thomas Wyon

Engraver and medallist.  Born Birmingham, his father Thomas also being an engraver as were a number of other (male, obviously) members of his family such as Edward Wyon, his brother.  Chief engrave...

Person, Sculpture

1 memorial
H. Young & Co.

H. Young & Co.

Foundry opened in Eccleston Street, Pimlico.

Group, Industry, Sculpture

3 memorials

Previously viewed

World War 1

World War 1

We'd always assumed that this war was known as the Great War until WW2 came along at which point it was renamed as World War One or the First World War. But the term was first used in print in 1920...

Event, Armed Forces, Tragedy

402 memorials
Francis Bird

Francis Bird

Sculptor. Born in the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Much admired in his day, his work can be seen at St Paul's and at Westminster Abbey. In 1729, leaving a tavern at Christmas, he slipped and ...

Person, Sculpture

4 memorials
Lady Jane boutique

Lady Jane boutique

W1, Carnaby Street, 29

See also the Lord John plaque.

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Baroness Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts

Baroness Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts

One of the great Victorian philanthropists who sought to rid London of its slums. Also one of the richest women in Britain in the mid 19th Century, widely respected for her undying generosity and p...

Person, Philanthropy

11 memorials
London County Council

London County Council

Prior to the LCC London matters were run by church parishes. The LCC was the first directly elected strategic local government body for London. Replaced by the Greater London Council, covering a la...

Group, Politics & Administration

279 memorials