6th August 2019
There’s lots that we love to blog about when it comes to William Morris; from his designs, life work, family and life story. The list goes on. There is so much that we can talk about that we never get bored! We hope you don’t either, but if there’s ever anything you want us to write about, be sure to let us know on our social channels – we’d absolutely love to hear from you! To understand someone, you can begin with where they came from. In this blog we wanted to discuss William Morris early years.
“It was my good luck only of being born respectable and rich, that has put me this side of the window among delightful books and lovely works of art.” – William Morris
The literary and artistic talents that he became famous for, began at an early age. The passions that he begun in his childhood would remain for the rest of his life; nature, architecture, art.
His grandfather was from Wales, but left in the later half of the 18th Century to Worcester. His mother, Emma and his father, William, moved to Walthamstow in 1833 with their two daughters, Emma and Henrietta. Then they had their third child – William – on the 24th March 1834.
Morris early years, though privileged, allowed him to build up his social beliefs that he campaigned for and pushed for change on throughout his life. His childhood coincided with the working man’s struggle with the affects of industrialisation. Many of his later achievements actually came from his desire to see change with his socialist ideology. Following William’s birth, his parents had two more girls and four more boys. He is known to have had a close relationship with Emma during their younger years, but historians have found little evidence of this in their adult life; of course, that doesn’t mean they didn’t keep in touch, just that evidence hasn’t remained/ been recorded. His youngest brother Edgar joined him in his work at Merton Abbey.
Due to a successful investment in copper shares, when his father passed away, he left them with a large sum of money. The shares were from the West Country copper mine. At £1 a share for 272, these soared to £800 per share. With over £200,000 (when you consider inflation to today’s money, that would be even more) is childhood was very financially comfortable, as was his adult life. He was able to attend university and further educate himself, giving him the freedom to explore his passions instead of choosing a job based on salary alone. He was very self aware of this and the fact it didn’t fully compliment his socialist ideals. He said, “it was my good luck only of being born respectable and rich, that has put me this side of the window among delightful books and lovely works of art.”
Ironically, industrialisation, the one thing he hated more than anything, was the thing that brought his family prosperity. It was a source of embarrassment for Morris, historians have noted.
He began school in 1848 which is also the year that the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood began. He began school at Marlborough College which was a new school and lax in approach. His education appears at this time to be mainly self taught at the library. This continued throughout his life; teaching himself multiple skills in the arts.
In 1853 when Morris attended Oxford University, the city was still a medieval city. The architecture he admired in the city inspired a career and then a passion throughout his life to rebel against modernising the buildings. He is known to have said that these years were the happiest of his life. Formative years for his art, passions and friendships that he kept throughout his life; including Edward Burne Jones.
Studying theology at Exeter College, himself and Burne-Jones initially wanted to be clergymen. During to influences at university, Morris entered into a career in architecture.
Many of his ideas were created at this time. An opinionated man, he passionate believed in everything he wrote or spoke about. He was therefore able to change opinions of those in society at the time, through both his art and writing. So there we go – William Morris early years. There’s so much more we could have discussed, so much to his life and childhood, it can’t all fit in one blog!
Posted in News by Laura
Last week creating my beautiful bridal bouquet with my mum whilst wearing my little quilted jacket made from our Jean quilting design 🌿 We will have to show you all our wedding tables, we re-printed Jean in a sage green especially for the wedding (the small low key wedding escalated a little..) and created our own napkins for each guest, plus a tablecloth for the cake table! 👰🏽♀️ Having it all tied together with the same design was so special, especially as I’d named the design after my lovely Nanny Jean - who was absolutely always wearing green 🌿 Now I can wear my little jacket and always think of my wedding! 🤍 It’s a gorgeous quilting design and fabric, let us know if you’d like an in depth quilted jacket tutorial 🪡🧵
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#Wedding #bridalbouquet #bridalbouquets #brideflowers #weddingflowers #weddingfloristry #weddingflorists #weddingplanners #beautifulblooms #quiltedjacket #sewingpattern #quiltingfabric #quiltersgonnaquilt
Beautiful floral magic by William Morris, why do you think his designs are so timeless? 🌿
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #heavyweight #heavyweightfabric #upholsteryfabric #teatowels #floraldesign
Gorgeous William Morris Golden Lily, it always brightens up the dining room when it’s on the table ☀️ Which is your favourite Morris design for on your table? 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisfabrics #morrisfabric #morrisfabric #fabric #goldenlily #tablecloths #smallbuisness #independantbusiness #womanownedsmallbusiness
Our French floral designs are stunning, we’ve got a French archive which dates to the late 1800s- early 1900s which is jam packed full of beautiful designs that are lovingly kept in the archive 🫶🏻 We wanted to recolour a few into this gorgeous sage green colour, mainly because, in honestly, it’s my wedding colours and I wanted to have them on my wedding table - perks of the job! 👰🏽 So these are our designs Dot, Jean and Hearts & Kisses, three of our top favourites out the archive 🌿 We love seeing them restored back to life, the colours vibrant once more, we can just imagine them in the French countryside as they once maybe were, now we produce them as fat quarters which all tone together beautifully for quilting projects - we’d love to see what you make with them, don’t forget to tag us! 🫶🏻
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Cutting gorgeous William Morris Lily today, did you know we sell all our fabrics by the half meter? So projects big or small, we’ve got you covered! 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #fabric #florals #preraphaelite #floraldesign #lily #floralfabric #upholsteryfabric #curtainfabric
POV: you’ve always got some sort of fresh flowers and a sweet treat on the table 🫶🏻
design on the table today is our beautiful William Morris Brother Rabbit Red 🐰
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Back in stock 🌿 Our Strawberry Thief blue oven gloves (and placemats too!) 🍓 a stunning addition to every kitchen 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisprint #strawberrythief #preraphaelite #yorkshirefabricshop #fabricdesign #fabricstash
Bringing timeless elegance to the kitchen with our William Morris Strawberry Thief red oven glove and matching tea towel 🍓🕊️ The perfect blend of beauty and function—who said everyday essentials can’t be art? 🫶🏻
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#WilliamMorris #StrawberryThief #KitchenStyle #HeritagePrint #BritishDesign #CottagecoreKitchen #KitchenInspo #TimelessDesign #TextileArt #HomeDetails #MorrisAndCo #FloralPrint #OvenGloveStyle #TeaTowelLove #PatternedKitchen
🎉 GIVEAWAY TIME! 🎉
Win 2 meters of the stunning William Morris “Daisy” fabric – perfect for your next sewing or home décor project! 🌼✨
To enter:
1️⃣ Like this post
2️⃣ Follow us
3️⃣ Tag a friend who loves fabric as much as you do!
📅 Winner announced 1st July
Good luck! 💛🌼
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50% off Daisy heavyweight and cotton fabric?! 🌼 Oopsy Daisy we printed too much, so there’s now 50% off this incredibly beautiful William Morris design- what are you waiting for! 🫶🏻 This was the first design William Morris ever produced so it remains an incredibly special one, and such a timeless design, it’s perfect for quilting and crafting, the heavyweight is brilliant for light upholstery and curtain making! 🌿 Heavyweight is now £4 for half a meter and cotton is £3.50 for half a meter 🤯
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✨ Timeless beauty for your kitchen ✨
Our Pimpernel Green tea towel and oven glove bring the iconic elegance of William Morris into your everyday. Perfect for adding a touch of Arts & Crafts charm to your home 🌿
Available now in our shop!
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#WilliamMorris #ArtsAndCraftsMovement #PimpernelGreen #KitchenStyle #HeritageDesign #TimelessInteriors #FloralTextiles #HomeStyle #CountryKitchen #CottagecoreAesthetic #EcoHomeDecor #WilliamMorrisTextiles #BritishDesign #ArtisanKitchen #SustainableStyle
If you had to guess our favourite colour combo? 🫶🏻 Beautiful Brother Rabbits on the table today along with some stunning blue and white blooms 🤍
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#blueandwhiteforever #blueandwhitedecor #blueandwhitehome #williammorris #williammorrisdesign #brotherrabbit #preraphaelite #artsandcraftsmovement
What have you made with bias binding? 🌿 Perfect for crafting, we’ve got some amazing sales on our 50m bias binding rolls in Red Strawberry Thief, Lily and Trellis have 80% off, a 50m roll for £25- what would you make? 🪡🧵
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisfabrics #biasbinding #biasbindinguk #fabricsale #fabricsales
Which is your fave; Strawberry Thief red or blue? 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #williammorrisdesigns #preraphaelites #artsandcraftsmovement #strawberrythief #printedintheuk
A gorgeous Strawberry Thief tablescape - because why not make everyday things just that little bit prettier? 🥰 Is Strawberry Thief blue or red your fave? 🫶🏻
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #uksmallbusiness #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner #strawberrythief #strawberrythiefprint #preraphaelite
These gorgeous flowers steal the show in our easy little Saturday tablescape 🫶🏻 Lily is one of our favourite William Morris designs and we were so happy to be able to digitally print it now, of course it’s still printed here in the UK 🇬🇧
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#cottagecore #flowers #williammorris #williammorrisfabric #williammorrisdesign #aldifinds #lily #aldiflowers
Beautiful blooms wrapped in timeless William Morris beauty 🌸✨
This William Morris floral Mallow Wine is so gorgeous and one of our faves year round 🫶🏻
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#WilliamMorris #FloralDesign #MallowWine #VintageStyle #BotanicalBeauty #ClassicCharm #TextileArt #TimelessDesign #PatternLovers #NatureInspired #RomanticDetails #FloralFabric #EnglishHeritage #ElegantAesthetic
Totally obsessed with these dreamy William Morris florals 🌸🪡
Perfect for sewing projects, cushions, curtains – you name it. Classic prints that never go out of style!
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#WilliamMorrisFabric #FloralVibes #SewingProjects #FabricAddict #VintageFlorals #HomeStyle #CraftyCorner #InteriorInspo #CottagecoreVibes #PrettyPatterns #FabricStashGoals
Every Laura’s Beau team member has a William Morris napkin on hand at all time; even on the beach apparently 😂 Dreaming of beach days in Cornwall a few weeks ago ⛱️
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#cornwall #cornwallbeaches #cornwalluk #icecream #napkin #strawberrythief #williammorris
A little William Morris floral magic hanging over the cooker today 🫶🏻 can you name this Morris design? 🤎
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#williammorris #williammorrisfabric #ovenglove #teatowel #teatoweldesign #teatowelsofinstagram #cottagecoreaesthetic #cottagecore #compton