Edward R. Payne ARCA (1906-1991) was a painter and stained glass artist, born in Acocks Green Birmingham, where his father, Henry Payne, had taught the art of stained glass at the Birmingham Municipal School of Art. In 1909, the family relocated to Amberley, near Cirencester. By the time he was admitted to the RCA, London in 1924, Payne's background was already full of diverse influences. His mother, Edith, was an accomplished watercolourist and botanical artist, who had studied at Birmingham School of Art, his much-loved aunt, the painter Margaret Gere, had also studied at the Slade, where French influence was strong, his uncle, the painter Charles March Gere, admired the Japanese approach to landscape and not surprisingly, Edward took readily to the Royal College of Art.
The Principal William Rothenstein, who himself had a home in the Cotswolds, much admired the Arts and Crafts Movement still predominant in artistic circles, especially in the Cotswolds. After completing his studies, Payne returned to Gloucestershire to help his father with his commissions and took over the business of designing and making stained glass when his father was too ill to continue. Gloucestershire churches are full of his work: at Cranham, at Painswick, at Leonard Stanley, Stonehouse Harescombe, Edge, St. Paul's Church, Cheltenham, Christ Church in Gloucester, Edgworth, Avening, Minchinhampton, Box and his favourite window at Randwick, and many more. He was a prolific painter, exhibiting regularly with the Cheltenham Group and he taught portrait painting at the local Stroud School of Art. He also showed at the RA and NEAC and work by Payne is in the collection of the Imperial War Museum and Cheltenham Art Gallery. His daughter Caroline Swash is also a successful stained glass artist, writer and lecturer.
