Margaret Calkin James (June 1895 - 1985), was a calligrapher, graphic designer, textile printer, watercolour painter and printmaker, and is best known for her posters designed for the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The U ...

and London Transport between 1928 and 1935.

Early life

Margaret Calkin James was born in Emmanuel,

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottag ...

, the third of seven children of Harry Bernard Calkin (1861–1926), a senior underwriter at

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is an insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gove ...

and Margaret Agnes Palfrey (1870–1936), daughter of

Penry Powell Palfrey Penry Powell Palfrey (6 June 1830 – 22 August 1902) was a British stained glass designer and painter in watercolour of horses and coaching scenes. Early life Penry Powell Palfrey was born in London on 6 June 1829. He was interested in horses ...

(1830–1902), a well-known artist in stone and stained glass. She attended

North London Collegiate School North London Collegiate School (NLCS) is an independent school with a day school for girls in England. Founded in Camden Town, it is now located in Edgware, in the London Borough of Harrow. Associate schools are located in South Korea, Jeju ...

from 1909 to 1913. She was a student at the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and ...

between 1913 and 1915, specialising in calligraphy and winning the

Queen's Scholarship A President's Scholar is a recipient of the academic scholarship awarded by the Government of Singapore annually, to pursue undergraduate education at a university, usually abroad. The scholarship is considered to be the most prestigious public ...

in her final year. She then enrolled at the

Westminster School of Art The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London. History The Westminster School of Art was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Royal Architectural Museum. H. M. Bateman describ ...

. In June 1922 she married

Charles Holloway James Charles Holloway James, , (1893–1953), architect, specialised in designs for homes and housing projects, but also completed large public works, particularly in collaboration with Stephen Rowland Pierce. Early life James was born in 1893 at ...

, a distinguished architect who trained under Sir Edwin Lutyens. After her marriage she worked from a studio at her home. They had a son and two daughters. Her younger daughter, Elizabeth Argent, lived in

Alcester Alcester () is a market town and civil parish of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England, approximately west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Redditc ...

till her death in 2016. Her grandchildren Alison, Jennifer, Nicholas and Jeremy continue to promote their grandmother's legacy.

Career

Work by James was displayed at ''The Rainbow Workshops'' in

Great Russell Street Great Russell Street is a street in Bloomsbury, London, best known for being the location of the British Museum. It runs between Tottenham Court Road (part of the A400 route) in the west, and Southampton Row (part of the A4200 route) in the eas ...

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

, which she opened in 1920 and was one of the first galleries started by a woman to promote art, craft and design. She lived and worked at Lapstone Farm, in

Chipping Campden Chipping Campden is a market town in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It is notable for its terraced High Street, dating from the 14th century to the 17th century. ("Chipping" is from Old English ''cēping'', 'market', 'market ...

during

World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. She designed posters for London Transport, book jackets for

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

, pattern papers for the Curwen Press, programmes and booklets for the BBC and a greetings telegram for the GPO. Some of her textiles were used at the new

Norwich City Hall Norwich City Hall is an Art Deco building completed in 1938 which houses the city hall for the city of Norwich, East Anglia, in Eastern England. It is one of the Norwich 12, a collection of twelve heritage buildings in Norwich deemed of partic ...

in 1938.

Later life

In the late 1960s James suffered a stroke, paralysing her right side and depriving her of speech. Undaunted, she started a series of wool embroidery designs using her left hand. She died in 1985.Miles, Betty. (2005) ''At the sign of the rainbow: Margaret Calkin James 1895-1985''. Revised edition. Arrow Grange, Warwickshire: Felix Scribo. p. 80.

References

External links

*http://www.margaretcalkinjames.co.uk/ *http://www.calkin.co.uk/calkin048.html
London Transport Museum artists
*http://dovegreyreader.typepad.com/dovegreyreader_scribbles/2007/05/margaret_calkin.html {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Margaret Calkin 1895 births 1985 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of the Westminster School of Art Artists from London English graphic designers English watercolourists People educated at North London Collegiate School People from West Hampstead Women graphic designers Women watercolorists Women calligraphers

Early life

Career

Later life

See also

References

External links