Frances Lennon,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(12 September 1912 – 24 January 2015) was a British artist from

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, probably best known for being the Official Artist of the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

. Many comparisons have been made between Lennon's work and that of fellow Stretfordian

L. S. Lowry Laurence Stephen Lowry ( ; 1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976) was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Lancashire (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years) as well as Salford and its vicinity ...

; her paintings have been described as "Lowry-esque, but with more humour". Well-known collectors of her work include former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

Early life

Lennon was born on Haddon Street, in the

Gorse Hill Gorse Hill is an area of Stretford, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 11,894. It is a residential area with two minor industrial estates on either side of the main A56 road, A56 Chester ...

district of

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, south of Manchester city centre, south of Salford and north-east of Altrincham. Str ...

. She was the second child of Edward and Margaret Mooney, and grew up with her elder sister Margaret and her younger brother Wilfrid. Frances was baptised into the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

St Ann's, Stretford St Ann's Church, Stretford is a Grade II listed Roman Catholic church in Stretford, Greater Manchester, England. It was constructed between 1862 and 1863, on the east side of the A56 Chester Road. The parish functions under the jurisdiction of t ...

and educated at the parish school between 1915 and 1923.Memories by Frances Lennon, ''St Ann's Stretford Parish Magazine''. She then went on to study at the Adelphi House Convent School in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, where the sisters of the

Faithful Companions of Jesus The Faithful Companions of Jesus Sisters (FCJ Sisters, French: ''Fidèles compagnes de Jésus'') is a Christian religious institute of the Roman Catholic Church directly subject to the Pope. It was founded in Amiens in France in 1820 by Marie M ...

discovered her talent for art. She also began drawing cartoons for ''

Punch Magazine ''Punch, or The London Charivari'' was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and wood-engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 1850s, when it helped to coin ...

''. In 1928 Mooney began work as a draughtsman's assistant at the

Metropolitan-Vickers Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial el ...

factory in

Trafford Park Trafford Park is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, opposite Salford Quays on the southern side of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Manchester city centre and north of Stretford. Until the la ...

. She married fireman William Lennon on 19 February 1938 at St Ann’s,

and the couple moved to the

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

Fire Station, in east Manchester. They moved back to

in 1943, after her husband's injuries during the

Manchester Blitz The Manchester Blitz (also known as the Christmas Blitz) was the heavy bombing of the city of Manchester and its surrounding areas in North West England during the Second World War by the German ''Luftwaffe''. It was one of three major raids on ...

forced her to return to work to support the family. She took a job with the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

as a

draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to: * An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century * An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...

, drawing plans for new war planes. They remained in Stretford until the late 1970s, when they retired to

Flixton, Greater Manchester Flixton is a suburb and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 10,786. It lies six miles (9.7 km) southwest of Manchester city centre, in t ...

Years as an artist

Lennon began painting full-time after the death of her husband in 1982. She released several books, including best-selling collections entitled ''A Trafford Childhood'' (1986) and ''A Manchester Childhood'' (2001). In 2002 she was commissioned as the official artist for the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and produced a special book of paintings relating to games and sports.

Honours

In 2003 Lennon was awarded an

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

for her contribution to arts and charity, which included extensive work for the St Francis House Hospice in

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburban area of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there are ...

. She was presented with two honorary degrees in 2004, the first from

Salford University , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

on 14 July and the second from

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

on 16 July. She died in

Longsight Longsight is an inner city suburb of Manchester, England, located south of the city centre. It is bounded by Ardwick and West Gorton to the north; Levenshulme to the south; and Chorlton-on-Medlock, Victoria Park and Fallowfield to the west. ...

, Manchester at the

Little Sisters of the Poor The Little Sisters of the Poor (french: Petites Sœurs des pauvres) is a Catholic religious institute for women. It was founded by Jeanne Jugan. Having felt the need to care for the many impoverished elderly who lined the streets of French towns ...

nursing home on 24 January 2015, aged 102.

References

External links

Francis House Children's Hospice Website

Frances Lennon on Collect Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lennon, Frances 1912 births 2015 deaths British modern painters Naïve painters People from Stretford Members of the Order of the British Empire British women centenarians British people of Irish descent English Roman Catholics