| Code | DS/UK/410 |
| Person Name | Fenton; Robert George (15 Aug 1891-1989); Compositor, Typographer and Lecturer |
| Dates | 15 Aug 1891-1989 |
| History | Robert Fenton was a Compositor, typographer and instructor who worked in the printing industry before joining the teaching staff of St Brides Foundation Printing School which was later re-named the London School of Printing and Kindred Trades and its sucessor the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts. Fenton worked for the school until 1956, and continued to work as a part-time instructor at the same college until 1961. |
| Activity | 1905-1915 Apprentice and later Journeyman at Wyman and Sons
1907-1916 Fenton studied evening classes in Letterpress Printing at The Aldenham Institute, Goldington Crescent, Pancras Road, N.W.
1915-1918 Compositor, Layout-Man and Reader at Crowther and Co
[1915-1922] Fenton may have been a conscientious objector to the First World War
1918-1920 Overseer of Compositor and Deputy to Chief of Letterpress Department of the National Institute of the Blind
1920-1922 Instructor at St Brides Foundation Printing School
1921 Fenton achieved a First Class Pass in the Costing Course at the St Bride Foundation Printing School by the Stationers' Company and Printing Industry Technical Board
1922-Jul 1956 Instructor at St Bride's Printing School and later Head of Composing Department at its successpr the London School of Printing and Kindred Trades and its successor the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts
1926 Won first place prize at the Royal Society of Arts Competition of Industrial Designs in Book Production, and second and third place prize for Title Pages at the competition
1940-1946 Lecturer of Correspondence Course in Printing for H.M. Armed Forces for the War Office
1950-1970s Steward, Royal Festival Hall
Jul 1956-Jul 1961 Part time Instructor at London School of Printing and Graphic Arts after partial retirement
Early 1980s Fenton may have worked at Croydon College of Art |
| Source | The National Archives Kew https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C14091973/?search=cT1yb2JlcnQrZ2VvcmdlK2ZlbnRvbg== [accessed 13/04/2026]
Report on the competition of industrial designs, Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, vol 74, no 3849, 1926. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/41357304.pdf [accessed 13/04/2026]
Biographical information from the Archive |