Sarah Smith Herford (bapt. 14 May 1791 – 30 October 1831), also known as Mrs. John Herford, was an English landscape painter and educator. Sarah was the daughter of Edward and Sarah Smith of Birmingham, and was baptised Unitarian in

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Located immediately to the north-west of Birmingham city centre, Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a wards of the United Kingdom, war ...

. In 1812, she married John Herford. She founded the Unitarian Boarding School for Girls in

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

, Cheshire. Among her children were sons Brooke, Edward, and

William Henry Herford William Henry Herford (1820–1908) was an English Unitarian minister, writer and educator. He was interested in education and married a school head mistress, Louisa Carbutt. Early life Born at Coventry, 20 October 1820, he was fourth son in a f ...

, and daughters Mary Chance and Laura Herford. Mary Chance became the mother of the painter

Helen Allingham Helen Allingham (Birth name, née Paterson; 26 September 1848 – 28 September 1926) was a British watercolourist and illustrator of the Victorian era. Biography Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson was born on 26 September 1848, at Swadlincote in ...

, whom Sarah Herford was said to have inspired. She died in Altrincham aged only 40. A Birmingham newspaper lamented her loss as "An impressive instance of worth, talents, and acquirements, cut off in their mid-day of energy and usefulness." Sarah Herford's work ''Landscape at

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District of Warwickshire, England, southwest of Coventry and north of both Warwick and Leamington Spa. Situated at the centre of t ...

'' was included in the book ''

Women Painters of the World ''Women Painters of the World, from the time of Caterina Vigri, 1413–1463, to Rosa Bonheur and the present day'', assembled and edited by Walter Shaw Sparrow, is a book that lists an overview of prominent women painters up to 1905, the year of ...

''.Women Painters of the World
on Project Gutenberg

References

External links

* 1791 births 1831 deaths Founders of English schools and colleges 19th-century British women artists Artists from Birmingham, West Midlands People from Aston {{UK-painter-19thC-stub