Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington , (born April 12, 1856 in Rochester , † April 19, 1937 in London ) was a British art historian, politician, mountaineer and art collector. He held the first chair in the history of art in England.

William Martin Conway

Adolescence

William Martin Conway was born to Rev. William Conway, then Canon at Rochester Cathedral , and his wife Elizabeth Martin. William Martin was their third child and first son after a brother died soon after giving birth. In 1864 the family moved to Westminster, where his father became Rector of St Margaret's Church , so that Conway grew up with the fascinating world of medieval history. He even helped with excavations and was allowed to touch the remains of King Richard II . He was sent to the Repton School and then began studying mathematics at Trinity College , Cambridge . According to his parents' ideas, he should become a pastor like his father.

The death of his father in 1876 brought the 20-year-old a freedom he had never experienced before. He immediately dropped the idea of ​​becoming a priest and gave up studying mathematics. Martin lost a few semesters, took boat trips and attended dinner parties. Eventually his path led him to a lecture by Sidney Colvin , who was then the Slade Professor of Fine Art at Cambridge. The encounter with art opened his eyes to unimagined possibilities. He visited the Fitzwilliam Museum and discovered their collection of prints. In the university library he discovered their woodcuts. He traveled to Paris to see the Louvre collections .

In the meantime he chose a "tripos" subject, and he had to pull the subjects out of a hat. He caught history (art history was not yet recognized as a subject at the time). That didn't matter, however, because Conway began cataloging the Dutch incunabula in the university library under the guidance of librarian Henry Bradshaw. Bradshaw also gave him a year of research in Europe. He eventually published in 1884 The Woodcutters of the Netherlands ( the woodcarvers of the Netherlands ). He received his Bachelor (BA) in 1879 and his Master's Degree in 1882.

During the semester break he climbed in the Alps for the first time in 1874. In 1881 he published his first book on "Mountaineering in the Bernese Alps" (Climbing the Zermatt) together with WAB Coolidge (1850-1926), from which the Conway and Coolidge mountain guide series emerged.

Profession and Politics

Conway, 1895

In 1885, at the age of 28, he was offered the position of Roscoe Professor of Art by the University of Liverpool . This was not a teaching position, but a representative one. It included u. a. Speaking at university events, taking the opportunity to hold some exhibitions and publish more books.

Conway organized with Philip Henry Rathbone (1828-1895), who had played a key role in the establishment of a chair in the arts at Liverpool University , the establishment of the National Association for the Advancement of Art and its Application to Industry (NAAAI). Conway served as the secretary of the First Congress, and his position as Roscoe Professor helped him in securing the support of many important artists. Lord Frederick Leighton had assumed the presidency and was chaired by Alfred Gilbert , a sculptor and close friend of W. Hamo Thornycroft , RA (1850–1925), also a sculptor. Walter Crane was one of the vice presidents and stood for intellectual credibility. The aim of the congress was to combine the design ideology of the Arts and Crafts movement with a new style in architecture. Nine working groups were formed for this, mainly in painting, sculpture, architecture, decorative and applied arts, etc. Further congresses followed in Edinburgh and Birmingham.

From 1901 to 1904 he was Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cambridge . He was of the opinion that he had earned this position with his work in the collections of the university library.

From 1918 to 1931 he was for the Combined English Universities (United English Universities) and thus for the Conservative Party member in the Parliament House of Commons . In 1931 he was ennobled (peerage) and had to give up his mandate.

Marriage and family

In 1883 Conway met Katrina Lambard (1856–1933), a wealthy heiress, while visiting a museum in Italy. Her father, Charles Allen Lampard († 1873), was involved in the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and her stepfather was the former editor / owner of "New York World", Manton Marble (1834-1917). In 1884 Conway married Katrina in New York and they moved to London.

William and Katrina had a daughter, Agnes Ethel , who was born in 1885. Agnes later became a recognized archaeologist who participated in excavations in the Middle East. She was married to George Horsfield (1882-1956).

As Katrina's donations increased from her dowry, the Conways began collecting art in the form of pictures, furniture, books, etc.

Conway and his wife decided in 1905 to buy the derelict Allington Castle from Lord Romney for £ 4,800 and spent the next 30 years restoring the property. Conway's father-in-law supported her financially. He and his daughter looked for historical documents in the libraries. The castle had served as a template for many paintings and sculptures, such as B. for William Turner .

After he had been beaten to a Knight Bachelor in 1895 , he was raised to hereditary peer in 1931 as Baron Conway of Allington , of Allington in the County of Kent, and thereby received a seat in the House of Lords . This title expired on his death because he had no male heir.

At 68, Conway had an affair with Monica Hadow, a 24-year-old divorced woman. Mrs. Hadow remarried in 1930. Conway's wife Katrina died in 1933. The following year Conway married Iva Christian, the widow of Reginald Lawson, at Saltwood Castle, Kent.

Conway died four years later in a nursing home in London.

Rockclimbing

The following important information is missing from this section:
Only the Karakoram expedition is mentioned in part. C. also explored Spitsbergen and the Andes. He was also responsible for more mountain names (both in the Alps and in the Karakoram).
Help Wikipedia by researching and pasting it .

Conway began his mountaineering career in 1872 with the ascent of the 4165 meter high Breithorn in the Valais Alps near Zermatt . He described his crossing of the Alpine chain from Monte Viso to Grossglockner in 1894 in his book The Alps from End to End (1895). Conway gave poetic names to some mountain peaks and gaps, such as B. Wellenkuppe (3903 m above sea level), Windjoch (3850 m) on the Nadelhorn in the Mischabelhorn group in the Swiss canton of Valais and Dent du Requin (3422 m) in the Mont Blanc group .

Conway was accepted into the Alpine Club (Alpine Club) in 1877 , of which he was president from 1902 to 1904.

In 1892 he led an expedition to the Baltoro Muztagh area around the K2 . Other participants in the expedition included a. Charles Bruce , Oscar Eckenstein and Matthias Zurbriggen . When they came to the confluence of the Baltoro and Godwin-Austen glaciers , Conway is said to have been reminded of the Konkordiaplatz in the Alps or the Place de la Concorde in Paris and therefore called this place Concordia . Although there were disagreements with Eckenstein, a new altitude record (approx. 7000 m) was set during the expedition. In addition, 5180 square kilometers were mapped. In 1895 he was knighted for this.

Next life

In 1917 he was asked by the government to develop a record of the ongoing war . He traveled to France to collect exhibits and got as close to the front as he dared. From this project, the Imperial War Museum in London emerged, the first director of which was Conway.

In 1924 the government asked him to travel to post-war Russia so that he could get an idea of ​​the state of the art treasures and antiques. Fortunately, he found it safe and sound. He later described the myriad of jeweled treasures that were shown to him in his book Art Treasures in Soviet Russia.

Honors

At the Paris World's Fair in 1900, Conway was awarded the gold medal for surveying the mountains and in 1905 he received the "Founders" medal from the Royal Geographical Society. The Conway Island in Antarctica is named after him.

Publications

As an art historian

As a mountaineer and cartographer

Source

  1. ↑ The woodcutters of the Netherlands in the fifteenth century, in three parts . I. - History of the woodcutters.- II. - Catalog of the woodcuts.- III. - List of the books containing woodcuts. Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1884
  2. ^ The lectures are named after William Roscoe
  3. ^ Philip Henry Rathbone
  4. ↑ Transactions of the NAAAI
  5. ^ William Morris to Whistler; papers and addresses on art and craft and the commonweal . Walter Crane on the 1888 Congress in Liverpool - page 73-74
  6. ↑ Out of the Shadows: The Façade and Decorative Sculpture of the Victoria and Albert Museum , Part 1 by Melissa Hamnett Curator, Sculpture, V&A
  7. ^ Manton Marble Mr. Lincoln and New York
  8. ^ William, Lord Conway of Allington and family: Letters and Paper . Repository: Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives
  9. ^ Allington Castle painted by WM Turner in the Tate Gallery
  10. ↑ The London Gazette Publication date: 8 December 1931 Issue: 33778 Page: 7905 The KING has been pleased, by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm, bearing date the 7th instant, to confer the dignity of a Baron of the United Kingdom upon Sir William Martin Conway, Knight, and the heirs male of his body lawfully begotten by the name, style and title of Baron Conway of Allington of Allington in the County of Kent. Whitehall, December 8, 1931
  11. ↑ Sarah Henning: How IWM Got Its Start In The Middle Of A War
  12. ↑ Medals and Awards of the Royal Geographical Society

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Conway, Martin, 1st Baron Conway of Allington
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Conway, William Martin, 1st Baron Conway of Allington
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British politician, art critic and mountaineer
DATE OF BIRTH April 12, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Rochester (Kent) , England
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 1937
Place of death London , England