flower painter, was born in Sydney on 29 March 1836, second (and eldest surviving) of the four daughters of William Wilson and Jane Riddell Farquharson, née Cruden, pioneer Scottish settlers of Lismore in northern New South Wales. The Wilsons were close friends of Edward Ogilvie and his sister, Ellen Bundock , who had also settled in the Richmond River district. Ellen’s daughter Mary first became interested in painting in September 1853, when at the age of eight she went to Lismore to attend the wedding of a younger Wilson daughter, Teresa. While she was there Bessie gave her a small box of watercolours and some advice about painting flowers like Bessie’s admired examples.
Bessie Wilson lived with her parents all her life. She died, unmarried, on 22 July 1861, aged twenty-five. Her flower painting would be unknown were it not for Mary’s doubtlessly common story, one that now has value because it precisely documents the way women’s artistic practices were passed on through private social networks independent of the professional art world.
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- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
