author
Agnes Ethel Conway
1885–1950
A British historian, writer, and archaeologist, she brought sharp curiosity to both medieval England and the ancient Middle East. Her work ranged from studies of Allington Castle to excavations at Petra and Kilwa, giving her writing an unusual mix of scholarship and adventure.
1 Audiobook
The Book of Art for Young People
by Agnes Ethel Conway, Sir William Martin Conway
About the author
Born on May 2, 1885, Agnes Ethel Conway was the daughter of art historian and explorer Martin Conway. She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, and went on to build a career that crossed history, archaeology, and writing. Early on, she also helped document women’s contributions during the First World War through work connected with the Imperial War Museum.
She is especially remembered for her archaeological work in the Middle East between 1929 and 1936. Later known as Agnes Horsfield, she worked on important excavations at Petra and Kilwa, combining field research with careful historical study. Her wide interests also led her to publish on the history of Allington Castle, a site closely linked to her family.
That mix of travel, archival work, and excavation gives her books a distinctive character. Whether writing about landscapes, ruins, or the lives connected to old places, she had a gift for making serious research feel vivid and human.