Barbara Collingwood (1887-1961)

Barbara Collingwood (1887-1961) was a sculptor from the Lake District. Born at Cartmell Fell in 1887, she was the daughter of the artist William Gershom Collingwood (1854-1932) and Edith Mary 'Dorrie' Isaac. Initially she was educated at home by her mother, later at Cope’s School of Art in South Kensington, and the University of Reading, before speding time in Paris studying sculpture.[1]  She went on to become a successful sculptor. Barbara carved a bust of John Ruskin, the noted art critic and social reformer in 1919 to mark the centenary of Ruskin’s birth. Around 1920, based at at the family home at Lanehead in Coniston, Barbara Collingwood carved the war memorials at Coniston, Hawkshead and Otley, which were designed by her father.[2] In 1925, Barbara married Oscar Gnosspelius, a civil engineer and pioneering aviator who designed, built and tested hydroplanes on Windermere. They had one daughter, Janet.[3]