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22nd March 2020
It’s clear when looking at the Morris family tree that we’re pretty guilty of leaving a member out; Jenny Morris. As you know we talk about William, Jane and May quite a lot on this blog of ours, so we’re here in this blog to rectify our mistake and discuss Jenny!
Born in January 1861, 18 months after her parents Jane and William married in Oxford and living at Red House. Jenny was christened in Bexley Parish Church despite her parents not being super religious. For the occasion, in attendance were Edward and Georgia Burne Jones who was pregnant at the time. Also, Rossetti, Webb and Algernon Swinburne, Lizzie Siddal wasn’t there as she was heavily pregnant. Swinburne is said to have slept on the sofa at Red House there were so many people to celebrate. As far as was noted, none of Jane’s family appear to have been at Jenny’s Christening.
May was born around a year after Jenny and it seems they were always treated more like twins growing up. As most middle-class children in the Victorian era, they had a Governess and at beautiful Kelmscott, they loved to play outside in the fields and river.
We know of her personality from May who described her as a, “virtuous and amiable child” and she was regarded as studious. Along with their mother, Rossetti used them as models – especially his favourite, May. We love the story of Morris journeying to Iceland and his adventures there, bringing his girls back a horse which they called Mouse. In terms of socialising, their father’s friend Edward Burne-Jones children’s Margaret and Philip were friends with the girls.
There’s honestly less known about Jenny than her sister May due to the fact she didn’t have the same level of professional success. May grew up to have a pivotal position in her father’s company Morris & Co, a talented embroiderer and she founded the Women’s Guild of Arts 1907 amongst other achievements. She has more written about her due to this and today there are still celebrations of her work.
The 1875 Inspectors Report commended her Latin and English Literature and it’s known Jenny was really intellectual. Within two years of being at the school, she passed the Cambridge Local Exam and there was talk of her going to University – there were a few women’s colleges at this time, notably Cambridge and Oxford where her father went.
This is when the story turns rather sad. To emphasise her intellect, she seemed to have as many talents as her sister May. Though due to her illness never was able to completely explore these. In 1876, Jenny developed ‘grand mal’ epilepsy. No one is sure how it was triggered but it’s suggested this was due to a boating accident. During the Victorian era, there was no cure nor treatment for epilepsy. And so, Jenny was left to suffer the seizures which gradually caused physical and mental damage.
May was pulled out of school along with Jenny. Because of the lack of knowledge and understanding of epilepsy it’s clear May feared she would suffer from it. It was the societal belief at the time that it was hereditary. Some have said this put suitors off May, though it’s clear she had admires throughout her life so we’re not sure how true that claim is.
Jane cared for Jenny and looked after her with arranging her nursing. Because there was no predicting her seizures, her care was hard. As with many conditions, epilepsy was not understood at the time and therefore, not discussed within polite society. In fact, both Philip Webb and Sydney Cockerell tried to stop Jenny’s epilepsy being printed within a biography of William by Mackail.
We don’t have Jenny’s own words about the affect epilepsy and the treatment of her following diagnosis had on her mental health. There were clearly ups and downs to her epilepsy. During the years 1878-1879 when the seizures came less frequent, she produced a magazine called “The Scribbler.” This can be drawn again as a comparison between her and her father who famously published the Germ.
He also set up his own printing press, another similarity was clearly their joint intellect. The Scribbler ran for 17 issues and Rudyard Kipling wrote in it. He was friends with Jenny because he was a cousin of her friends the Burne-Jones children. She wrote articles and a story “Queen of the Adriatic” which was inspired by a trip to Italy.
It’s hard to know the level of her involvement with Morris’s work since there’s not as much written about her compared to May. May was clearly involved with William’s socialist activities, Jenny’s activity of this is unknown. However Morris did comment both girls were, “very sympathetic with me as to my aims in life” and she attended his speeches so it’s clear she did support the cause.
After a bad seizure where she fell and hit her head, it’s clear her epilepsy worsened. This coupled with an illness her dad was going through, it’s known to have been a hard time for Jane. She notably worried about her beloved daughter. As their health improved Jane mentioned in a letter of them walking the Southern Downs together. “Like two happy babies” – a very close relationship between father and daughter is evident throughout.
Morris died in 1896 and Jenny afterwards lived in the country, financially stable though with declining health. She’s said to have been heavily sedated with bromide to try help her fits as there just wasn’t the medication available at the time. Potassium bromide was the treatment used at the time, but the chemical, unknown to them, was as dangerous as the fits. In her will she left her money to the Society of Antiquaries, who remain looking after Kelmscott Manor even today.
She died in Somerset in 1935 aged 74, May died three years later in 1938. Parts of her story remain tragic, it’s also a shame that we have glimpses of a visibly talented woman as her sister, but due to her health and the treatment of it at the time, she has been left to fade into history.
Beloved daughter and sister, it’s clear the entire Morris family; William, Jane and May, looked after her at home and took the best care of their treasured Jenny.
We read lots of books and articles over the years about the whole family so some knowledge about Jenny is from these. But a great article to read that we referenced when writing this was English Historical Fiction Authors. The article we read is linked here.
Follow us on social media if you’d like to keep up to date with our latest photos! Have you read our other blogs about the fantastic world of the Morris family!
Posted in News by Laura
Gorgeous Mallow Forest Green in the sunshine this week ☀️ Our heavyweight fabric is so versatile with so many crafts, what will you make? 🧵
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #greenfloral #craftingfabrics
Wrap an order with us for a custom bundle of some wedding table linens 🌿 These Mallow Forest Green napkins and a custom table runner are now on their way to a customer to adorn their wedding tables, we’re so pleased to be involved in the tables of a few weddings this year! 🤍 If you are looking for gorgeous timeless William Morris florals for your tables, get in touch we’d love to discuss it with you ✨
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#williammorris #weddingtablescape #weddingtables #weddinglinens #weddingtablescape
It’s coming home! 🏴 To celebrate, take 15% off our website all weekend with code: HOME at checkout ⚽️ Hurry it ends Tuesday 🌿
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#williammorris #england #itscominghome⚽️ #britishbusiness #floralprint
The latest project, a little quilted jacket! ✨ Our William Morris Merton Blue cotton fabric is looking gorgeous, we’ll show you it when it’s finished ☺️ Remember if you’re quilting, our cotton fabric is perfect for the projects and we have lots of complimenting designs and colour ways within our range! 🪡
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#merton #quiltedjacket #quiltingfabric #quiltingfabrics #fabricstack
We’re often asked what the different weights of our fabrics are and what projects they’d be good for. These are our three different types of fabrics in our Brother Rabbit red colourway - cotton on the right, heavyweight in the middle and pvc on the left ✨ As you can see on the second photo, and as the name suggests, our heavyweight fabric has a thicker, heavier weave which makes it good for projects such as curtains and light upholstery 🪡 Our cotton fabric is perfect for quilting and projects such as dress making but honestly the amount of crafts that can be made out of them both are endless! 🫶🏻 Our pvc fabric is great to put straight on the table as it won’t fray so doesn’t need a hem and is easy to maintain as it’s wipe clean! All our fabrics are sold by the half metre and if you’d like a sample of any of our fabrics in any weight just let us know and we’ll get a free sample sent to you! 💌
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#williammorris #cottonfabric #quiltingfabric #curtainfabric #ukfabric
Our William Morris range is a gorgeous mix of colours and florals, which is your favourite? In some designs such as Strawberry Thief, Brother Rabbit, Willow Bough and Mallow we have different colour ways that we digitally print in the UK so check our website for the full range! 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #preraphaelite #quiltingfabric #fatquarters #britishbusiness
Perhaps the most famous Morris design, Strawberry Thief was registered in 1883, inspired by Morris watching the thrushes stealing strawberries from under his fruit nets at the beautiful @kelmscottmanor 🍓 It was printed using the indigo dye technique, which was labour intensive and first attempted in 1875 but not perfected for 8 years 🎨 We also print Strawberry Thief in a beautiful red 🫶🏻
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#strawberrythief #historicdesigns #britishdesign #kelmscottmanor
Gorgeous Golden Lily, designed in 1897, it’s been a timelessly popular design ever since but did you know that it really increased in popularity in the 1960s when the Beatles George Harrison wore a Golden Lily shirt? ✨
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#goldenlily #wmorris #georgeharrison #englishsummer #englishdesign
Daisy is a special one to many as it was the second ever design Morris created, in 1864, made up of repeating drawn Meadow Daisies 🌼
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#morrisandco #preraphaelite #preraphaelites #daisy #daisydesign
We print Willow Bough in this beautiful blue and also in green 🌿 First designed in 1887, it was first produced as a wallpaper design which May Morris, Williams daughter, used to decorate her bedroom before being adapted for fabric in 1895 when it was block printed in Merton Abbey 🌿
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#maymorris #mertonabbey #mertonabbeymills #willowbough
Trellis is a special design as it was the first wallpaper he designed for his company, Morris & Co. In 1864 🌿 It was inspired by the rose trellis in the garden of his stunning home @redhousent that he co designed with his friend and architect, Philip Webb
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#philipwebb #redhouse #trellis #rosetrellis
We print Mallow in a wine colourway and this beautiful forest green colour ✨ It was first printed in 1879 and used to hang in the wonderful Arts & Crafts home, @standennt in the Croxley bedroom 🫶🏻
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#a
you’ve got to make everything an event, including breakfast! 🥐
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On the table;
Willow Bough blue placemats- £38.99
Willow Bough blue napkins- £20.99 ✨
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #willowbough #preraphaelites #floralhome
Have you seen our forest green colourways of Mallow and Brother Rabbit? 🌿 We brought them out last year and were so happy that they’re ever so popular with everyone 💚 This week we’ve also got a 10% discount running on our website with code: floralsummer 🌅
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #wmorris #williammorrisdesign #preraphaelite
Did you know all our fabrics are printed and all our products manufactured in the UK? 🤍 It’s important to us that our William Morris fabrics are all high quality and the printed colours all beautiful to ensure all his designs live on timelessly to a high standard 🇬🇧
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Products featured; our Daisy William Morris tea towel - £10.99 ✨
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#williammorris #wmorris #morris #floralteatowel #floralhome
A moment for the greens! 💚 Can you name all these beautiful green William Morris designs? 🌿 All digitally printed here in the UK 🇬🇧 The good thing seeing them all together is you can see which work together for a sewing project or quilt, or layered together for your next tablescape! 🫧
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabric #preraphaelites #floralfabrics
Did you know we do bundles of our fabric offcuts? 🌿 Perfect for sewer and quilters, they’re various sizes and designs and available on our Etsy and website - this is our latest “almost fat quarter” bundle that all are almost 50cm pieces, you could even make double sided cushions or anything! What would you create? 🪡🧵 (message us if you’d like a link to our bundles!🫧)
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#williammorris #fatquarters #fatquarterbundle #preraphaelite #quiltingcotton
With this hot weather upon us, if you’re like us and using it to get all your washing out and dry, we thought we’d tell you our washing guidelines! 🫧 We’d recommend folding your fabric face to face when in the wash (so pattern side to pattern side!) to protect the print and then wash at 30 degrees, hang on the line to dry! 🧺 All our fabrics are digitally printed in the UK and products manufactured in the UK 🇬🇧
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#williammorris #goldenlily #flowerscape #wmorris #preraphaelite
All our wonderful William Morris fabrics are digitally printed here in the UK, creating high quality print in incredible colour ways, if you’re quilting and crafting from our cotton and heavyweight cotton fabrics, we thought it’d be handy to have all the pattern repeats in an easy to save post ☺️
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#williammorris #craftingfabric #quiltingfabric #floralfabrics #patternfabric
Merton in blue is one of the most beautiful William Morris designs, a timeless blue and white, it was first designed in 1888!
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#williammorris #wmorris #morrisdesign #merton #preraphaelite
If you’d like a sample of Merton, just send us a message and we’ll get one sorted out for you!
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#williammorris #floralfabric #blueandwhite #blueandwhitefabric #tablescape
Have you seen Merton before? It’s so underrated as a Morris design we think! It was actually the first design that he printed on rotary screens under the name “Morris & Co.” After their rebrand from “Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.’” 🌿 We’re just appreciating it during peony season!
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#peony #peonyseason #morris #morrisandco #preraphaelites
Taking a closer look at beautiful Lily design, a timeless design Morris designed in 1874, if you’d like a sample of Lily, just let us know! 💌
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The table details;
Lily napkins- £16.99 for 4
Lily tablecloths- starting from £29.99 depending on size
Also mentioned;
Lily cotton by the half metre- £9.25
Lily heavyweight cotton by the half metre- £10.25
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#williammorris #wmorris #preraphaelites #lily #quiltingcotton
When cutting fabric stacks, we always wonder what is being made from them, we often get messages about quilts being stitched together with various tonal colours, curtains ready to be part of daily life or dresses being sewn to be worn to the next big event, so if you ever make anything from our fabrics- whether it be a huge project or a tiny one made of our scrap bundles, do let us know what you make! 🪡🧵
Can you name the designs within the photo? All sold by the half meter, £18.50 per metre of cotton, £20.50 per metre of heavyweight cotton 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #wmorris #morrisfabric #floralfabric #quiltingcotton
Putting the spotlight on Mallow Forest Green, we love this design so much it’s so effortlessly beautiful, it’s been admired in homes for more than 147 years since William Morris designed it ✨
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The table details;
Mallow napkins- £16.99
Mallow tablecloths- starting at £29.99 depending on size
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#williammorris #weddingtablescape #weddingtableflowers #preraphaelites #artsandcraftsmovement
Mid week tables require; a vase of gorgeous fresh flowers, as many sweet treats as you can get your hands on, and of course, a gorgeous tablecloth set- this Willow Bough blue is one of our all time favourite William Morris designs, it’s utterly timeless and so beautiful 🌿
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The table details;
Willow Bough blue napkins- £16.99
Willow Bough tablecloths- starting at £29.99 depending on size
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #willowbough #englishdesign #myfloralhome
A little update from us 🇬🇧
From 1st July, our product prices will be increasing due to continued rises in manufacturing and material costs.
We’ve worked hard to absorb these increases for as long as possible, but to continue providing the quality you expect from us, a small price adjustment is now necessary.
Every product we create is proudly printed and manufactured here in the UK, using high-quality materials and processes that ensure a finish we’re proud of. Our fabrics are all digitally printed to give a crisp finish.
If you’ve been thinking about placing an order, now is the perfect time — all orders placed before 1st July will be at our current prices.
To thank you for your support, we’re offering an exclusive discount before the new prices take effect.
Use code: thankyou
Enjoy 10% off your order until 14th June
This is the perfect opportunity to place your order at current prices and enjoy an additional saving before the increase.
Thank you for supporting a UK small business and for choosing quality. We truly appreciate every order ❤️
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#uksmallbiz #madeintheuk #williammorris #fabricstore #floralfabric
Aren’t these the most gorgeous blooms!! 🫶🏻 This is our William Morris Compton design and it’s so underrated as a design, it’s beautiful year round because all the different details can be brought out of it, pair it with springtime greens to pop the green tones or autumnal burnt oranges during the colder months, it’s so versatile! ✨ Swipe to see my little photoshoot gatecrasher 😂
All our products are digitally printed and manufactured in the UK 🇬🇧
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#williammorris #williammorrisdesign #compton #artsandcraftsmovement #cottagecorekitchen
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