Elizabeth Louise Hoare ( Scott: 17 November 1915 – 13 October 2001) was an English church furnisher and actress who was the owner of the Watt's and Co. producer of domestic furniture, ecclesiastical vestments, textiles and wallpaper. She was on a

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

(RADA) scholarship, working in representation and then in cinema. Hoare turned down an invitation to join the Hollywood scene and acted with the BBC Drama Repertory Company 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 opposi ...

. She and her husband took over the running of Watt's and Co. in the post-war years and her collection is stored as the Liverpool Cathedral Embroidery Museum in her uncle's triforium gallery in the Gothic building in

Liverpool Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool, and the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. It may be referred to as the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool (as recorded in th ...

Early life and education

On 17 November 1915, Elizabeth Louse Hoare was born in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

, London. Her mother was Australian-born Alice O'Hara, who was brought to England by her wealthy father seeking for his two daughters to marry. Hoare's father, Sebastian Gilbert Scott, was a doctor and radiologist and the son of Watts & Co. co-founder George Gilbert Scott Jr. She was the niece of the

designer

Giles Gilbert Scott Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (9 November 1880 – 8 February 1960) was a British architect known for his work on the New Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, Battersea Power Station, Liverpool Cathedral, and ...

. Hoare went to schools in London, and the Upper Chine School on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

Career

In 1931, she was sent to Paris to be "finished" and spent one year in Germany. Hoare was impressed with Nazi rallies but did not take in their political views. In 1934, she earned a

(RADA) scholarship and worked in representation before doing cinema work. Hoare was offered various roles in film by RADA and was cast by

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)''Rembrandt''. She also had a role in the film noir ''Fingers''. Hoare was invited to join the Hollywood scene, having secured a contract with

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, but decided against it because her husband did not want to go to the United States and she felt her likeness to Vivien Leigh would disadvantage her. She continued acting with the BBC Drama Repertory Company during the

and became a lifelong friend of

Val Gielgud Val Henry Gielgud (28 April 1900 – 30 November 1981) was an English actor, writer, director and broadcaster. He was a pioneer of radio drama for the BBC, and also directed the first ever drama to be produced in the newer medium of televisi ...

. Following the conclusion of the war, Hoare and her husband took over the management of Watt's and Co., and moved the business from Baker Street to Dacre Street,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

in 1950 following the expiration of its previous lease. She received commissions from the City of London, and became more experimental in their designs under

Keith Murray Keith Omar Murray (born May 29, 1974) is an American rapper from New York. Murray grew up on Carleton Ave, in Central Islip, which is located on the South Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County. Murray was a known member of a local rap collec ...

's guidance. Hoare disliked

George Pace George Gaze Pace, (31 December 1915 – 23 August 1975) was an English architect who specialised in ecclesiastical works. He was trained in London, and served in the army, before being appointed as surveyor to a number of cathedrals. M ...

's modernist style and according to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' "relished the impermanence that resulted from the eccentric materials he insisted upon using." She was commissioned by the architect and designer Stephen Dykes Bower for the refurbishment of the coronation altar frontal in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

in 1953. During the 1960s and the 1970s, Hoare swiftly employed people work for firms such as Louis Grosse and

Norman Hartnell Sir Norman Bishop Hartnell, KCVO (12 June 1901 – 8 June 1979) was a leading British fashion designer, best known for his work for the ladies of the royal family. Hartnell gained the Royal Warrant as Dressmaker to Queen Elizabeth in 1940, and ...

, having been encouraged by a new generation of artistic and liturgical trends. After a failed attempt by her husband to buy out the firm in 1965, she was able to keep the business running, moving it to Faith House in Tufton Street, Westminster. Hoare had the Winifrid Peppiatt embroideress and the Baker Street employees as well as skilled needlewomen from collapsed firms working for her by the late 1970s. She also acquired the stock of the collapsed firms. Hoare was persuaded to continue in the business by Dykes Bower's ongoing patronage and the reducing number of traditional architects in addition to the support of young architectural historians. By the 1990s, her style of the long considered unfashionable Victorian embroidery was coming into vogue; Hoare had collected embroidery from churches and convents while visiting clients. Hoare had changed the dyes and weaves of some of her textiles and appointed a new manager, who took her business into the American market.

Personal life

She was a Roman Catholic before converting to Anglicism later in life. Hoare was described by Gavin Stamp of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' as appearing with a "powdered white face, pencilled-on eyebrows under a her high forehead and bright red lip." ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' calls her "a woman of great style and presence who charmed (and perhaps rather intimidated) generations of deans, canons and incumbents" and noted her humour and kindness. She married the British Army Lieutenant-Colonel Graham Hoare in September 1939. They had two children. On 13 October 2001, she died in London.

Legacy

''The Times'' noted that Hoare was "largely responsible for the modern movement for the preservation and study of Victorian ecclesiastical needlework and embroidery". In 1992, she agreed with the priest Ken Riley to open a space for her collection to be stored in her uncle's triforium gallery in the Gothic building of Liverpool Cathedral. It was called the Elizabeth Hoare Gallery but is now known as the Liverpool Cathedral Embroidery Museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoare, Elizabeth 1915 births 2001 deaths People from Marylebone People educated at Ryde School with Upper Chine 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 21st-century English women 21st-century English people 20th-century English actresses English film actresses British furniture makers English women artists