John Angel was born in Newton Abbot in 1881. He was one of ten children and the son of tailor. In 1901 he was apprenticed to a wood carver and soon started attending the Exeter School of Art. His education continued at the Lambeth School of Art in London, and finally at the Royal Academy School where he studied under George Frampton.
During a vacation in 1912 he met Elizabeth Day Seymour, the American-born classicist. She was traveling alone in Europe and the two fell in love when the encountered each other in Greece. They were married in 1914 and took up permanent residence in London. They had two boys, John Lawrence Angel in 1915 and Henry Seymour Angel in 1919. 1919 also marked the year that John Angel transitioned from "promising young sculptor" to recognized master when the Royal Society of British Sculptors elected him a Fellow at age 28.
In the early 1920s, Angel won commissions for two World War I memorials, the Exeter War Memorial in Exeter, Devon (1923) and the Bridgewater War Memorial in Bridgewater, Somerset. These two projects marked the end of his career in England. In 1925, the Angels had visited the United States and architect Ralph Adams Cram prevailed on John Angel to relocate to America. The family moved and John Angel became a naturalized citizen. John was commissioned to do a great deal of work for the St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City. More American work followed, most notably the six bronze doors of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. After living for a while in New York City, the family moved to Sandy Hook, Connecticut. This remained their home until Beth's death on January 6, 1942. John stayed on there until his own death eighteen years later.
Sourced mainly from Wikipedia and quoted sources.
