John Ward Knowles (1838–1931) was a prominent British

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

-based

stained-glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

manufacturer, and commentator on local art and music.

Family

Knowles may have been related to the civil engineer George Knowles (c. 1776-1856june23: will 1856aug13

ref PROB 11/2237/206), who designed Scarborough's spa promenade and South Cliff Gardens. His brother was William Knowles (1846nov3-1908sep7

His son John Alder Knowles (1881-196

continued the craft traditions but also moved with the times. He spent some time studying glass manufacturing methods in the USA before the First World War. Enthused by the work of Tiffany, he attempted an English version of the famous lamps, but charming though his prototypes were, they lacked the delicacy of the originals and failed to catch on.

Career

After training in art, Knowles dabbled in photography. In 1869 John Ward Knowles took the premises at No.41, (The Star Inn) previously the house of Mr Robinson, Hosier. According to his notes he moved there in 1869 and he is shown there in the 1871 & 1872 Directories. His granddaughter, Jill Murray, thinks he was there about 5 years. She mentions that he did a lot of work on the house and took a room over one of the stables in the yard and turned it into a painting room. He removed into 35 Stonegate, No.23 (The Sign of the Bible, now No.35), almost opposite on Stonegate, on his marriage to Jane Annakind in 1874. It then became a Knowles family home for the next one hundred and twenty years. He renovated the building which became a hub of artistic endeavour with workshops producing not only stained glass but all kinds of ecclesiastical decoration including beautiful embroideries and tapestry work produced by the Knowles daughters. The building still retains much of Knowles' work, installed when he lived here including a collection of priceless late Victorian and Edwardian stained glass. Knowles continued to live and work here until his death at the age of 93 and his sons continued the business up to 1953. The building remained in the Knowles family until 1999 when it was purchased by

Jonathan Cainer Jonathan Cainer (18 December 1957 – 2 May 2016) was a British astrologer. He wrote Horoscopic astrology, astrological predictions six days a week for the ''Daily Mail,'' and forecasts for three Australian newspapers: the ''Sydney Daily Teleg ...

to become the world's first psychic museum.

Works

* Knowles archives at

Borthwick Institute The Borthwick Institute for Archives is the specialist archive service of the University of York, York, England. It is one of the biggest archive repositories outside London. The Borthwick was founded in 1953 as The Borthwick Institute of Histori ...

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* Knowles papers at York City Archives

* "Splendour by the seaside" in Scarboroug

*

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbis ...

Sheriff Hutton Sheriff Hutton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies about north by north-east of York. History The village is mentioned twice in the Domesday Book of 1086, as ''Hotun'' in the Bulford hund ...

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English stained glass artists and manufacturers 1838 births 1931 deaths {{glass-stub