Fay Compton

by Howard Instead
matte bromide print, early 1920s
7 7/8 in. x 6 1/4 in. (200 mm x 160 mm) overall
Purchased, 1983
Photographs Collection
NPG Ax24982

Sitterback to top

Fay Compton (née Virginia Lilian Emmeline Compton-Mackenzie) (1894-1978), Actress and singer. Sitter in 41 portraits.

Artistback to top

Howard Instead (active 1918-1935), Photographer. Artist of 62 portraits.

Subject/Themeback to top

Hats and head attire

Events of 1920back to top

Current affairs

The Government of Ireland Act (Fourth Home Rule Bill) partitions Ireland into the Irish Free State with a devolved parliament in Dublin and Northern Ireland with a devolved parliament in Belfast.
The Communist Party of Great Britain is founded in London, uniting a number of independent socialist and Marxist parties into a single, united party.

Art and science

Queen Alexandra unveils a monument to Edith Cavell in St Martin's Place opposite the National Portrait Gallery. The English nurse was executed in Germany for helping hundreds of allied soldiers to cross the border from occupied Belgium to the neutral Netherlands.
George V officially opens the Imperial War Museum at the Crystal Palace.

International

The Kapp Putsch threatens the newly formed Weimar Republic. In defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, the leaders of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt refused to disband and marched on Berlin, occupying it on the 13th March. With the general army refusing to defend the city, the government fled to Stuttgart. The rebellion, however, failed after the workers joined a general strike, disabling their plans.

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