Frances Emilia Crofton facts for kids

Frances Emilia Crofton (born Dunn, 1822 – 23 October 1910) was an Anglo-Irish landscape painter. She was also known as Mrs William Crofton. She painted in a style called the picturesque, which means her art showed beautiful, natural scenes.

In 1854, she created a special book called Eight Views. It was a collection of prints made from her original landscape paintings of Britain and Ireland. These books were sold to help charities. Important people like bishops and nobles bought them. Today, some of these prints are in public art collections. Frances Crofton married William Crofton, a naval surgeon and a local judge. She lived in Cheltenham, England, and at Lakefield, a large estate in County Leitrim, Ireland.

About Frances Crofton

Frances Emilia Dunn was born in Waterford, Ireland, in 1822. Her family called her Fanny. Her father, Nicholas James Cuthbert Dunn, was in the Royal Navy. Two of her brothers were also Naval officers.

On 30 March 1848, she married William Crofton. He was a doctor who worked for the Navy and also a justice of the peace (a local judge). When her husband died in 1886, he left a lot of money and their homes. This included their house in Cheltenham and the Lakefield estate in Ireland.

Frances Crofton was involved in the social life of her time. In 1902, she helped organize celebrations for the workers on her family's estate in Ireland. She was praised for this. She also supported charities for people in need. For example, in 1870, she helped organize concerts to raise money for an orphanage and for the poor in Cheltenham.

When she was young, a newspaper described her as "amiable and accomplished," meaning kind and skilled. Later in life, another newspaper called her "venerable and highly respected."

Her Homes in England and Ireland

Crofton's home in Cheltenham, England.

Frances Crofton and her husband had homes in both England and Ireland. They often traveled between the two countries. In England, they lived at Montagu Villa in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Frances's parents also lived there for a time.

Their home in Ireland was Lakefield. This was a large mansion with an estate in Mohill, County Leitrim. The house was built between 1791 and 1798. The Crofton family owned Lakefield until 1931. After that, it was sold and became a ruin.

Her Artwork

Frances Crofton was known professionally as Mrs William Crofton. She is famous for one main work: a collection of lithograph prints. These prints were copies of her own original landscape paintings of Britain and Ireland. We don't know where her original paintings are today.

In 1855, she gave £51 to the County Leitrim Protestant Orphan Society. This money came from selling her "eight views." These were bound books containing eight lithographs made from her landscape pictures. A bookseller named Penelope Gibson said, "The plates are in striking detail showing scenery chiefly of the Irish country side, castles, abbeys and ruins."

The Published Views

The eight pictures were lithograph copies of Frances Crofton's original paintings. Some of the books were bound in green cloth with gold designs. The prints were made by Thomas Ashburton Picken (1818–1891). Some of the prints were also colored by William Louis Walton (1808-1879). The books came in two sizes: folio or quarto.

Here are the titles of the eight views:

• I View from Clooncaher of Lough Rynn and Lakefield, County Leitrim (1854).
• II Ruins of Muckruss Abbey (1854).
• III Monastery on Innisfallen Island, and Ross Castle, Killarney (1854).
• IV Castle Otway, County Tipperary, residence of Captain Otway, RN (1854).
• V Dunbrody Abbey, County Wexford (1854).
• VI Pembroke Castle, South Wales (1854).
• VII Isle of Portland, Dorsetshire (1854).
• VIII Village of Hambledon, Hants (1854).

Close-up Details from Three Views

• 

  From View III, showing Innisfallen Abbey

• 

  From View IV, showing Castle Otway

• 

  From View VII, showing Isle of Portland

Where Her Art Is Kept

Today, you can find Frances Crofton's prints in several important collections:

• Royal Collection Trust: They have five of her prints, including Killarney and Dunbrody Abbey.
• Falvey Memorial Library, Villanova University, Pennsylvania: They have a complete set of her Eight views.
• The People's Collection, Haverfordwest Library: They have Pembroke Castle, South Wales.
• National Library of Wales: They also have Pembroke Castle, South Wales.
• National Library of Ireland: They have Monastery on Innisfallen Island and Ross Castle, Killarney.
• Marquess Conyngham collection, Slane Castle (until 1980): This collection once had a bound volume of her Eight Views.

Crofton in Books

An elderly Mrs William Crofton is mentioned in a novel published in 1907 by Grant Richards. She appears in Chapter IV, called "Aunt William."