Mary Anne Criddle, (, c. 1805–1880) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

oil and water colour painter. She was a member of the

Society of Painters in Water Colours The Royal Watercolour Society is a British institution of painters working in watercolours. The Society is a centre of excellence for water-based media on paper, which allows for a diverse and interesting range of approaches to the medium of wa ...

and exhibited at the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

Biography

Criddle was born in 1805 at Chapel House, Holywell Mount in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

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. Clayton, Ellen Creathorne. (1876)
Mary Ann Criddle
in ''English Female Artists''. Harvard University. Her father was a straw hat and bonnet maker. She attended school in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

in Essex, until her father died in 1820. Criddle became an oil painter studying under society portrait painter

John Hayter John Hayter (21 October 1800 – 3 June 1895) was an English portrait painter who was Painter-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria, whom he first painted when she was 12 years old. Biography He was the second son of the miniaturist Charles Hayter a ...

from 1824. In 1836, she married Harry C. Criddle, who was also from a family of hatters. She continued to work after her marriage, though after her brother James Alabaster died in 1840 she adopted his three sons. In 1844 her own son Percy Criddle was born. Criddle began watercolour painting in 1846 after her doctor told her that oil painting was bad for her health. She became successful with shows held at the

, as well as being elected an associate member of the

, also known as the Old Watercolour Society, in 1849. She was the ninth woman to be admitted to the society since it had been established in 1804. Criddle is also known for sculpture.Mary Ann Criddle

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. Retrieved 8 April 2025. From 1852 to 1854, Criddle suffered partial blindness and stopped working, but was still working when her biography was written by the author and artist

Ellen Creathorne Clayton Ellen Creathorne Clayton, Mrs Needham (15 February 1834 – 19 July 1900), born Eleanor Creathorne Clayton, was an author and artist. She wrote and illustrated novels, stories, and collections of historical biographies for young readers. Early ...

in 1876. Criddle was widowed in 1857 and moved to near

Addlestone Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Runnymede (borough), Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement. Geography Addlesto ...

near

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. It grew up around Chertsey Abbey, founded in AD 666 by Earconwald, St Erkenwald, and gained a municipal charter, market charter from Henry I of Engla ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, from where she continued to exhibit. She died there in 1880.

References

External links

Mary Anne Criddle
with sketchbook in hand, 1864 photograph in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Criddle, Mary Anne 1805 births 1880 deaths Artists from London 19th-century English painters 19th-century English women painters