Francis Donkin Bedford [also known as Francis D. Bedford; and as F.D. Bedford] was born in Notting Hill Middlesex [now London], England on 21 May 1864. After studying at the South Kensington Schools in London, he was articled to Sir Arthur William Blomfield (1829-1899) from 1883 to 1886. After a period travelling in France, he returned to Bedford's office where he was employed as a clerk. He also worked in the offices of Edward Henry Burnell (1819-1892) and Rowland Plumbe (1838-1919). From 1885 he attended classes at the Royal Academy Schools in London.
He commenced independent practice as an architect in 1888 and qualified in the profession in 1889. The following year he was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA)..
Bedford appears to have produced little architectural work and is primarily known as a painter and illustrator.
Between 1890 and 1931 he illustrated fifty books; a further title illustrated by him was published posthumously in 1969. Bedford also designed and illustrated several bookplates.
Bedford exhibited frequently at the the Royal Academy in London from 1892 to 1949. He also exhibited at the Ridley Art Club and the New English Art Club in London. He was elected a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1901. He died in Kensington, London on 14 May 1954
A biographical file on Bedford is available on request at the Enquiry Desk of the Royal Institute of British Architects Library in London.
Bedford, Hugh. ‘Francis Donkin Bedford (1864-1954)’. Studies in Illustration (Imaginative Book Illustration Society) no. 34, Winter 2006 pp. 24-36
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Houfe, Simon. The dictionary of British book illustrators 1800-1914. Woodbridge, Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors’ Club Ltd., 1994