Edith Le Breton

In 1912, Edith Winifred Alice Le Breton (née Sapple) was born at New Barns Farm, Weaste, Salford (England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index). However, Manchester Comet (1965), and material handed out at an exhibition held in Altrincham, have noted her birth year as 1915.

Edith’s parents were Hugh and Edith Primrose Sapple (née Tipping). She was the second of three sisters (herself, Doris and Mavis) and she was baptised on 3 November 1912. A list of baptisms solemnised in the Parish of Stowell Memorial, Salford (1912) shows that at that time her parents were living at 10 Fairfax Street, Salford. Edith’s father worked as a police officer with the Manchester Dock Police. Her mother was a lady’s maid to Lady Yarborough and later to Lady Powys.

Edith gravitated towards painting at an early age. When she was aged around nine, she attended Seedley Council (now Primary) School. Two years later she won a prize of money and a silver travelling case at Lewis’s Art Exhibition in Manchester and, at the age of thirteen, she was awarded a scholarship to Salford School of Art, under the guidance of Dr. Prentice. Her two sisters also attended this school. At the age of fifteen, Edith sold her first watercolour. Her early work was also shown to London artist, Laura Knight (later made a Dame) who advised Edith to paint the people around her.

The 1926 Electoral Register shows Edith and her father, Hugh, residing at a ‘Farm’ on New River Street, (within Docks Ward back then). The 1927 and 1931 Electoral Registers then show the two to be living at 6 Cemetery Road (Weaste Ward, Salford)

Edith married Cyril Jackson in 1934. She decided to use her great grandmother’s French surname of Le Breton, as her art name. Cyril Jackson was a member of the R.A.F. and was badly wounded during the Second World War, resulting in him spending a significant amount of time in hospital. This left Edith having to bring up and provide for her two sons (Peter and Dennis) essentially on her own. Selling paintings alone did not produce sufficient income and later she opened an off-licence on Pownall Street (now Pownall Road) in Altrincham.

In 1937 Edith held an exhibition at Salford Art Gallery and the Gallery purchased one of her paintings. Additionally, Edith’s communication with the gallery’s director, Albert Frape, led to her being introduced to Laurence Lowry (L.S. Lowry). Both were members of the Salford Art Club at some point in their lives. From around 1952 to 1966, Edith was a member of Manchester Academy of Fine Arts. She was also a member of the Lancashire Group of Artists.

In November 1954, Altrincham Council purchased Edith’s painting ‘Forty Winks’ for 18 guineas and she later presented the Council with ‘Scene in Newton, Altrincham’. Edith was awarded a fellowship by the International Society of Arts and Letters in 1959. She also arranged for the United Nations, an International Children’s Art Exhibition in Manchester – this is just one of the several occasions where Edith organised exhibitions of children’s artwork and she arranged several exhibitions for the Rotary Club of Altrincham.

Edith’s work has been exhibited or sold at various venues throughout the UK, Paris and America, including the Medici Gallery (London), Altrincham Society of Artists, Sotheby’s, Christies, Manchester Academy of Arts, Lancashire Group Artists, and the Louvre Galleries on George Street, Altrincham (1958). She once painted a Manchester United match for Matt Busby and for the 1972 Preston Guild. For some of her paintings, she wrote a short poem, including: ‘The Local Derby’, ‘The Little School’, ‘Stamford New Road’, ‘New Street’, ‘The Wanderer’, ‘Market Day’, and others.

Edith and Cyril moved to High Street, Altrincham and in 1959 Edith retired to Magnolia Cottage [and The Meadows], Dunham Massey. Later, she moved to Number One, Big Tree Cottages, Woodhouse Lane, Dunham Massey and then to sheltered housing in Newton, Altrincham.

The England and Wales National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) shows that Edith passed away on 9 September 1993, whilst living at 22 William Walk, Altrincham, Cheshire. Cyril, a valued member of Altrincham Court Leet, died in the early 2000s. Edith’s art work featured in the 2013 Clark Art-hosted exhibition on Ashley Road in Hale, which showed work by more than twenty modern British artists. At this exhibition, more than seventy paintings were sold, including some by L.S. Lowry.

Sources

Ancestry Library Edition, ancestrylibraryedition.co.uk, England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915

Ancestry Library Edition, ancestrylibraryedition.co.uk, England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005

Ancestry Library Edition, ancestrylibraryedition.co.uk, Manchester, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1915

C.J. Hill, Some Notables and Characters of Dunham Massey (no date). [*held in the Trafford Local Studies Archives]

Evening Chronicle, November 1954

David Miller, ‘Local Artist Edith Le Breton (1912-1993)’, Altrincham History Society, Occasional Paper 13, (2009). [*held in the Trafford Local Studies Periodicals section]

Helen Johnson, ‘Hale gallery extends popular show for art lovers’, Manchester Evening News, 6 March 2013, < https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/hale-gallery-extends-popular-show-1720774>

Letters between the Borough of Altrincham Town Clerk and Mr. N.C. Lord, Chief Librarian, Altrincham. [*held in the Trafford Local Studies Archives, ref.TRA91]

Salford Art Club, ‘Club History and Past Members’ <https://www.salfordartclub.com/history-of-the-club-1947-2017.html>

Trafford Council, Dunham Town Conservation Area Conservation Area Appraisal Consultation Draft, June 2015, <https://democratic.trafford.gov.uk/documents/s8103/CAA_Dunham%20Town_Draft_2015.pdf> [accessed 1 December 2021]

Trafford Local Studies Centre [Archives]