The English String Quartet was founded in 1902 by a group of students from the Royal College of Music: Thomas F. Morris (1st violin), Herbert H. Kinsey (2nd violin), Frank Bridge (viola) and Ivor James (cello).
Morris left to join the Royal Flying Corps in 1915 and was replaced by Marjorie Hayward as leader.
[2] The Quartet put on its own concert seasons and provisional tours, but also gave recitals at private houses, including the homes of Bridge's friend Marjorie Fass in London (Bedford Square) and Eastbourne.
Their core repertoire was mostly classical - Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven - but also included the British premieres of the quartets of Debussy (in October 1904)[3] and Ravel.
[8] The English String Quartet re-emerged in the late 1950s, initially with Ruth Pearl as leader and then Nona Liddell (leader 1957–1973), with (variously) Lesley White, Eleanor St George and Marilyn Taylor (2nd), Margorie Lempfert (viola) and Helen Just (cello).