Edith Champneys
- Artist: (Mary) Olive Edis (Mrs Galsworthy)
- Date: 1920
- Medium: sepia-toned matte print on photographer's card mount
- Dimensions: Given by Olive Edis, 1948
- Portrays: (Susan) Edith Champneys
- Museum: The National Portrait Gallery
- Collection record: The National Portrait Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
In front of you is a sepia‑toned matte print of Edith Champneys taken by photographer (Mary) Olive Edis in the 1920s. The image rests on a classic card mount, lending a flat, almost paper‑like frame to the portrait. You’ll see her head and shoulders framed by a simple black collar that suggests the uniform of the Women’s Auxiliary Service.
Champneys, born 1863, was a former suffragist who joined the service in 1916. By the time she posed for Edis she had risen to Chief Inspector—a rank later inherited by the Women’s Police Service. The photograph captures her poised expression and neatly buttoned uniform, offering a quiet snapshot of a woman whose career spanned activism and wartime service.
The print’s sepia tone gives it an aged quality, as if it were a memory preserved on paper. The card mount is typical of early photographic prints, making this piece both a historical document and an artistic portrait that invites you to linger on Champneys’ determined gaze.
See it in person
Edith Champneys is in the collection of The National Portrait Gallery at St Martin's Place, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
