James Redfern

James Frank Redfern
The virtues at the top of the Albert Memorial
Born	1838 Hartington, Derbyshire, England
Died	1876
Education	Paris
Occupation	Sculptor

James Frank Redfern (1838–1876), sculptor, was born at Hartington in Derbyshire, in 1838. He is best known for works incorporated into Gothic churches, including Salisbury Cathedral and Gloucester Cathedral. He also created the eight virtue statues which are included in the Albert Memorial.

As a boy Redfern showed a taste for art by carving and modeling from the woodcuts of illustrated papers. At the suggestion of the vicar of Hartington, he executed in alabaster a group of a warrior and a dead horse. This was brought to the notice of Alexander Beresford-Hope, on whose estate Redfern was born. Hope sent him to Paris to study for six months.

His first work exhibited at the Royal Academy, Cain and Abel (1859), attracted the notice of John Henry Foley. He exhibited a Holy Family in 1861, The Good Samaritan in 1863, and other subjects almost every year until his death. These were at first chiefly of a sacred character. He later also executed portrait statues. His larger works were principally designed for Gothic church decoration.

Redfern completed a commission of sculptures of the four saintly fathers of the Latin Church, St Augustine, St Ambrose, St Gregory and St Jerome. These were originally intended for the northern porch of Bristol Cathedral but were thought too "papist" by the Dean and rejected. They were rescued by George Edmund Street and included in his design for Saint Andrew's church at East Heslerton in North Yorkshire.