Hester Wagstaff

Hester Marion Wagstaff
Born(1892-06-15)15 June 1892
Saffron Walden, England
Died27 January 1953(1953-01-27) (aged 60)
Petersfield, England
Other nameWaggles
EducationSt Marylebone Polytechnic Institute School of Art
OccupationsAuthor, illustrator
FamilyJ Archibald Allen (uncle)

Hester Marion Wagstaff (15 June 1892 – 27 January 1953) was an English writer, illustrator, artist, jeweller and mapmaker. In 1913, a card-table top that she made while studying at the St Marylebone Polytechnic Institute School of Art was presented to Queen Elizabeth on behalf of the school. She wrote and illustrated several children's books between the 1930s and 1950s, including Doings of Dicky Daw (1940) and three books about a Jolly Robin. She was an accomplished jeweller and co-founded the Petersfield Workshops and Bookshop.

Personal life and education

Hester Marion Wagstaff was born to Jane Pearson and Ernest Hamilton Wagstaff in Leighton Buzzard, England. She had an older sister.

In 1910 Wagstaff won first prize in memory drawing in a Midland Counties Union examination. She attended Leighton Buzzard Evening School and the St Marylebone Polytechnic Institute School of Art, where she became friends with Flora Twort and Cecily Peele.

Wagstaff lived in Petersfield from 1918 until her death. She lived at Oakshott Hanger, a hamlet just outside Petersfield, with Twort, Winifred Stamp and Maria Brahms. She was on the committee of the Group for the Preservation and Improvement of Petersfield from 1945, and was a founding member of the Petersfield Arts and Crafts Society. When Stamp died in 1948, she left her effects to Wagstaff.

Career

In 1912 and 1913 Wagstaff exhibited at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in London. In 1913, as part of a national competition, she was awarded a gold medal for a stained wood-carved tabletop. It was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum and together with a "decorated box to hold theatrical make-up" was seen by Queen Elizabeth who was "much charmed" and expressed an interest in buying them. The school's governors purchased the pieces and presented them to the Queen. The UK's Board of Trade also sent pieces of her work to the 1913 Ghent International Exposition. In 1914 she exhibited an oblong mirror frame as part of The National Competition of Art in London.

Wagstaff was a member of the Society of Women Artists and the Three Arts Club. In the 1940s she exhibited paintings at the Petersfield Arts and Crafts exhibition. Together with Twort, Brahms and Harry Roberts, Wagstaff ran the Petersfield Workshops and Bookshop in Petersfield town centre, where she also sold her jewellery.

After her death, the Petersfield Arts and Crafts Society established the Hester Wagstaff Memorial Prize. It is still awarded annually.

Books

Wagstaff wrote and/or illustrated the following books:

Maps

Notes

  1. ↑ Her surname was sometimes misspelt as Wagstaffe

References

  1. ↑ "Waggles with pups". Where the Light Falls. Petersfield, England: Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery. September 2025. p. 7.
  2. ↑ "A book you will enjoy". Evening Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent, UK. 1933-06-28. p. 9.
  3. ↑ "Fairy Tales". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. 1947-12-19. p. 3.
  4. ↑ "Round the galleries". Lady's Pictorial. London, UK. 1920-03-13. p. 34.
  5. ↑ "National Competition of Schools of Art, 1913". The International Studio (Vol. 50 No. 197 ed.). New York, USA: John Lane Company. September 1913. p. 296.
  6. ↑ "Animals are different". The Birmingham Post. Birmingham, UK. 1939-12-01. p. 5.
  7. ↑ Lamar, Beverley (1986). Fiction, folklore, fantasy and poetry for children 1876-1985. New York, USA: R R Bowker. p. 1657. ISBN 9780835218313.
  8. ↑ "For the youngest". Library Journal Index. 76: 651. 15 April 1976. Retrieved 2025-10-21.
  9. ↑ Jeffery, David (2004). Petersfield at War. Stroud, Gloucs, UK: Sutton. p. 116. ISBN 075093672X.
  10. ↑ The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; Census Returns of England and Wales,RG14, 1911
  11. ↑ "Evening School progress". Luton Times and Advertiser. Luton, UK. 1910-09-30. p. 3.
  12. ↑ "Midland Counties Union of Education Institutions". Ampthill and District News. Bedford, UK. 1910-07-09. p. 3.
  13. ↑ "Art". Lady's Pictorial. London, UK. 1913-08-09. p. 22.
  14. ↑ "20th Century female mapmakers: Cecily Peele (1892-1984)". barronmaps.com. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 2025-10-31.
  15. ↑ The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1939 Register; Reference: RG 101/2393K
  16. ↑ "Grant to preservation group". Hampshire Telegraph. Petersfield, UK. 1945-01-26. p. 8.
  17. ↑ "Arts Society's progress". West Sussex Gazette. West Sussex, UK. 1953-05-07. p. 11.
  18. ↑ Principal Probate Registry; Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England, S to T. London, UK: His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1948. p. 448.
  19. ↑ Crane, Walter (1912). Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society Catalogue of the Tenth Exhibition. London, UK: Arts and Crafts Society. p. 94.
  20. ↑ "Board of education gold medals". The Times. London, UK. 1913-07-31. p. 11.
  21. ↑ "National Art Exhibition". London Evening Standard. London, UK. 1913-07-25. p. 13.
  22. ↑ "Patronised by royalty". Bucks Herald. Buckingham, UK. 1913-06-14. p. 2.
  23. ↑ "The National Competition of Schools of Art, 1914". The International Studio (Vol. LIII No. 212 ed.). New York, USA: John Lane Company. October 1914. p. 281.
  24. ↑ "Society of Women Artists". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. 1921-02-23. p. 5.
  25. ↑ "Wonderful colours and costumes". Evening News. London, UK. 1914-01-20. p. 7.
  26. ↑ "Petersfield Arts and Crafts Exhibition". Hampshire Telegraph. Petersfield, UK. 1940-05-31. p. 5.
  27. ↑ Clegg's international directory of the world's book trade. London, UK: J Clarke. 1940. p. 167.
  28. ↑ Jeffery, David (2004). Petersfield at War. Stroud, Gloucs, UK: Sutton. p. 119. ISBN 075093672X.
  29. ↑ "Crafts variety wins praise". Portsmouth Evening News. Portsmouth, UK. 1989-08-29. p. 38.
  30. ↑ "Sheryl Elaine Pape". soc-botanical-artists.org. Retrieved 2025-10-31.
  31. ↑ "A book you will enjoy". Evening Sentinel. Stoke-on-Trent, UK. 1933-06-28. p. 9.
  32. ↑ "Books for the Young". The Birmingham Post. Birmingham, UK. 1939-09-06. p. 3.
  33. ↑ "Books received". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool, UK. 1950-10-03. p. 4.
  34. ↑ "Books received". Liverpool Daily Post. Liverpool, UK. 1947-05-31. p. 4.
  35. ↑ "Children". Bookseller. London, UK. 1947-11-22. p. 136.
  36. ↑ "For young readers". Belfast News-Letter. Belfast, UK. 1950-12-04. p. 4.
  37. ↑ "All-the-year-round map". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. 1937-09-22. p. 14.
  38. ↑ Crouch, Daniel. XX marks the spot – or women with latitude. London, UK: Daniel Crouch Rare Books. p. 72.