Constance Fletcher Marr Spry (1886 – 1960)
“Do whatever you please. Follow your own star: be original if you want to be and don’t if you don’t want to be. Just be natural and gay and light-hearted and pretty and simple and overflowing and general and baroque and bare and austere and stylized and wild and daring and conservative. And learn and learn and learn. Open your mind to every form of beauty.”
—CONSTANCE SPRY
Constance Spry, nurse, teacher, Red Cross worker, Home Economist, revolutionized flower arranging by bringing in “the natural.” Using all types of plant material, no matter how humble or grand, she opened up a fresh new world for floral designers. She was much more, however, and today we might call her a “Lifestyle Expert.”
Constance came to floral design in mid-life.
Born in Derby in 1886, early on Constance exhibited an interest in health, science and nature. After going to Ireland where she studied physioloy, hygiene and district nursing. One of her first jobs was as a lecturer on first aid and home care for the newly established Irish Women’s National Health. At 24 Constance married James Heppell Marr in 1910 and in 1912, their son Anthony Heppel Marr was born.
World War I greatly impacted Constance and her family. Early in the war Constance Marr was appointed secretary of the Dublin Red Cross and in 1916, she left both Ireland, her husband, and a violent marriage. She and her son moved to Barrow-in-Furness where she worked as a welfare supervisor. The next year, 1917, saw her joining the civil service as head of the women’s staff at the newly formed Ministry of Aircraft Production. On another front 1917 was a sad one for her family because two of her brothers were killed in action. Constance’s family was devasted.
After the War, Constance received an appointment to be the Headmistress at the Homerton and South Hackney Day Continuation School, in east London. Flower arranging was among the home economics classes taught by Constance, dressmaking and cooking were other courses that she taught.
In 1926 she married again, this time to Henry Ernest Spry and began a new chapter of her life, one in which flower arranging would become a major theme.
Constance opened her “Flower Decoration” shop in 1929, with one of her first orders coming from “Granada Cinemas.” Her bold and lavish designs caused quite a stir among the fashionable set and soon her displays were gracing windows Atkinsons and other popular places. One of her design ideas was to interpet paintings by Dutch 17th and 18th Century Flower Painters, drawing inspiration from them in her own arrangments.
Not content with standard vases, urns, pitchers and bowls that served as containers for flower arrangements, Constance designed and produced a line of her own.
Effusive and wild, simple and calm, Constance’s style refused to be categorized, but always popular! In 1934 she opened another, bigger shop, and established the Constance Spry Flower School at the new location. She also published her first book titled simply, FLOWER DECORATION in 1934.
By this time Spry’s floral designs were all the rage. Her clients included the likes of Wallis Simpson, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and much later, she designed all the flowers for the weddings of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret.
In addition to flowers, Constance published two cookbooks, COME INTO THE GARDEN, COOK and CONSTANCE SPRY’S BOOK OF COOKERY.
David Austin, the famous Rosarian, was a friend of Constance and named one of his first roses for her.
In 1953 Spry received the great honor of receiving the “Order of the British Empire.” Her books still influence floral design and her shop was open long after she passed away in 1960, only closing in the early 2000s. Her work retains its beauty and freshness, inspiring us to use any type of plant material we like!
Sources cited:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Spry
https://www.tatler.com/article/the-fascinating-life-of-constance-spry
https://londonflowerschool.com/journal/the-pioneering-life-of-constance-spry