Mabel Frances Layng (1881 – 1937) – British artist and WW1 VAD

With thanks to Historian Debbie Cameron for finding this artist

Mabel Layng was born on 9th November 1881 at the Grammar School House, Cumberland Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire; she was the elder of two daughters born to Alfred Edward Freestone Layng and his wife, Ada Mary, nee Coates.

Alfred Layng was widowed in 1883 and in March 1884 he took up the post of headmaster of King Edward VI School in Stafford, Staffordshire, taking his daughters with him.

In 1902 Mabel Layng left Stafford to study at the St. John's Wood Art School. She then went on to study under Frank Brangwyn at the London School of Art in Kensington between 1906 and 1908.

From 1914 until her death in 1937, Mabel lived with her sister Ada in Ealing, Middlesex, earning a living as a professional artist.   During the First World War, she joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the British Red Cross on 9th August 1915 and worked at several different London hospitals until 13th January 1919.

One of several Red Cross record cards for Mabel Layng

Mabel’s work was first exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1916 ("The Strolling Players"). Further paintings were accepted by the Royal Academy: "Mars and Venus" (1920).

"Mars and Venus" painted in 1918

Sources:  British Red Cross WW1 Records and Wikipedia