Cavendish Morton (17 February 1911 – 30 January 2015) was a British painter and illustrator, a member of the

Norwich Twenty Group The Norwich Twenty Group (N20G) is a group of artists in Norfolk, England. Stimulated by contemporary art movements, the original group of 14 artists, met in November 1944, they intended to raise standards of local professional art to something ...

. A painter in oils and watercolour, he concentrated on marine scenes and landscapes. He exhibited at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

and was a member of both the Royal Institute of Painters in Oil and

Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

Biography

Morton was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, with twin brother Concord Morton (1911-1979), to the actor, art director and photographer Cavendish Morton (1874–1939) and Mary Phyllis Joan Logan, who acted and wrote romantic fiction under the name

Concordia Merrel Concordia Merrel (born Mary Phyllis Joan Logan; 10 September 1885 – 18 May 1962) was a British stage and silent film actress, photographer's model and a prolific author of romantic fiction. Biography She was born as Mary Phyllis Joan L ...

. The boys were brought up in

Thornton Heath Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...

, Surrey..https://suffolkartists.co.uk/index.cgi?choice=painter&pid=774#:~:text=Morton%20was%20art%20therapist%20to,several%20running%20at%20Le%20Mans. The family settled at Bembridge, on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

, where the two boys were home-schooled, with an emphasis on the arts. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Cavendish worked in the aircraft industry. In 1946 he married the musician Margaret Rosemary Elisabeth Britten (1919-2000) on the

. They moved to

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

and he taught at Old Hall School,

Hethersett Hethersett is a large village and electoral ward in the county of Norfolk, England, about south-west of Norwich. It covers an area of and had a population of 5,441 in 2,321 households at the 2001 census, increasing to 5,691 at the 2011 cen ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, between 1957 and 1967. They later lived at

Eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

in Suffolk where Morton was art therapist at Hartismere Hospital. He twice became Eye town mayor. He made a series of art programmes for children, for Anglia Television, in the 1960s and also illustrated books by Dorothy Hammond Innes (1906-1989). He also designed the bodies of various cars, some of which raced at

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

. He was a member of the Norfolk & Norwich Art Circle between 1951 and 1967 and became a member of the

and the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society. In 1963 he became chairman of the

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

's House Society in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

and helped ensure that it remained an independent museum and art gallery. Moreton was a member of the Ipswich Art Club from 1950 and exhibited at the club's 1974 centenary exhibition. He was exhibited widely in London and throughout East Anglia, with an annual exhibition at the Aldeburgh Festival. His wife died in 2000 and Morton died on 30 January 2015, being survived by their son and two daughters. In July 2012, the book ''Conversations with Cavendish Morton'', about the artist, was published by Bella Janson. Concord and Cavendish produced a number of artworks together.

References

1911 births 2015 deaths British illustrators Norwich Twenty Group British centenarians Men centenarians {{UK-illustrator-stub