Storey, G. A. (George Adolphus), 1834-1919

George Adolphus Storey, R.A. (1834–1919), prolific painter of portraits and historical genre pictures, was a long-time teacher of perspective at the Royal Academy of Art in London. He is best known for his book, The Theory and Practice of Perspective , which remains in print almost a century after its publication in 1910, and his participation in the St. John’s Wood Clique, a group of artists whose activities, aims, and ideals were loosely modeled on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Storey was born on January 7, 1834, and showed an early affinity for art. In 1848, at age 14, he joined his brother, William Storey, in Paris to complete his education and to study painting with Jean Louis Dulong. While there, he witnessed the Revolution of 1848, including being present at the sacking of the Palace apartments. He returned to London in late December 1849, and in 1850 entered the office of a London architect to pursue that profession, soon transferring to the London studio of artist James Mathews Leigh. There he met Henry Marks, future member of the St. John’s Wood Clique, and upon his acceptance by the Royal Academy Schools, he encountered other Clique members, including George Leslie, Philip Calderon, J. E. Hodgson, William Yeames, Frederick Walker, and David Wynfield. Storey maintained many of his Clique friendships throughout his life, well beyond the heyday of the Clique in the 1860s. Storey frequently accompanied various Clique members on short jaunts around England, including an extended visit to Hever Castle in 1866. He also traveled to the continent on several occasions, including an extended trip to Spain in 1862–1863, visits to Paris in 1868 and 1878 with George Leslie, and a journey through Italy in 1879 with Philip Calderon.

Storey first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1853, and became a regular contributor to the annual Royal Academy exhibitions. In 1876, Storey was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, where he was teacher of perspective. Following his election, Storey began to give lectures at various art societies around London, as well as offering instruction in his own studio while he continued to teach at the Royal Academy. He was finally elected a full member of the Royal Academy in 1914, when he was also named Professor of Perspective, a post previously held by J. M. W. Turner.

Storey wrote several unpublished books on art, including a massive work on Michelangelo. In 1910, Storey published The Theory and Practice of Perspective, drawn from his many years of studying and teaching the subject. He was also a lifelong writer and poet, turning his hand to short fiction, plays, and poetry, including translating sonnets and poems by Michelangelo into English. Storey published two small books of poetry, The Poems of George Minimus in 1863, and Homely Ballads and Old-Fashioned Poems in 1879. He also kept diaries throughout his life, in which he wrote extensively about his travels and his personal and professional trials and triumphs. He published anecdotes and reminiscences in his autobiography, Sketches from Memory, in 1899.

During the early Clique years, Storey embarked on a relationship with a young woman named Frances (circa 1843–1916), or Fanny, last name unknown, with whom he eventually had a son, Robert Oliver Storey, in 1866 (see F43). After residing together during most of the 1870s, the couple separated, although Storey continued to provide occasional financial assistance. In 1882, Storey married Emily Hayward (circa 1863–1940), and had one daughter, Mary Gladys Storey (circa 1886–1978). Storey died at his Hampstead home in 1919 at the age of 85.

Storey, G. A. Sketches from Memory. London: Chatto & Windus, 1899. Additional biographical information derived from collection.

Mary Gladys Storey (1886–1978), daughter of George Adolphus Storey and Emily Hayward was a London-based actress well-known for fundraising for the British troops during World Wars I and II.

Mary Gladys Storey was born circa 1886, and lived in Hampstead until her removal to a nursing facility in 1973, near the end of her life. Gladys, as she was known, was a fairly successful actress in London, appearing in a number of productions during the first decades of the twentieth century. She is best known for her efforts on behalf of the British armed forces in World War I, first as a recruiter, then as founder and administrator of the Bovril Fund, known as "Miss Gladys Storey’s Bovril Fund." She actively sought donations to supply the troops with Bovril, a concentrated meat product used to make hot drinks. For her highly-successful fundraising for the troops, she was made an Officer of the British Empire (O.B.E.) in 1920.

In 1929, Storey published All Sorts of People, a collection of reminiscences about various people she encountered throughout her life, both through her father, G. A. Storey, and through her own career in theater, with special emphasis on her war work. Storey also authored Dickens and Daughter in 1939, describing the relationship between Charles Dickens and his second daughter, Kate Perugini, a close friend of Gladys. Gladys passed away in a nursing home in Brighton in 1978 at age 92.

Storey, Gladys. All Sorts of People. London: Methuen & Co., 1929. Additional biographical information derived from collection.

From the guide to the George Adolphus Storey papers, 1848–1946, 1848–1919, (University of Delaware Library - Special Collections)