Design and Art Australia Online

sketcher, author and governess, was born in London, third of the four daughters of Albert Waring and Elizabeth, née Turner. Her father, a gentleman of means, apparently had trained as a lawyer but never practised; he amused himself, according to his granddaughter, rearing pet birds and animals and drawing, 'for which accomplishment he had great talent’. Their mother died two weeks after the birth of the youngest child and Charlotte and her two older sisters were brought up by their aunt, Mrs Charlotte Fisher. Their father later remarried and had a second family. When he died his daughters were left impoverished, so Charlotte, then aged 29, accepted the position of governess to the family of Hannibal Hawkins and Anna Maria Macarthur in New South Wales. On the voyage to Australia in the Cumberland in 1826, she met and became engaged to James Atkinson, a prosperous gentleman-settler of Oldbury, Sutton Forest, New South Wales. Hence her career as governess lasted only from 24 January until 29 September 1827, when the two were married in St Paul’s Church, Cobbity.

Four children were born to the Atkinsons: Charlotte Elizabeth , Jane Emily, James John and Caroline Louisa Waring . James Atkinson died on 30 April 1834, two months after the birth of Louisa. The widow and children were left in comfortable circumstances, with property valued at £4000, but their inheritance was dissipated by wicked and incompetent executors and guardians. On 3 March 1836 Charlotte married one of them, George Bruce Barton, who, according to his step-daughter Louisa, 'shortly became a furious maniac, and had to be kept under restraint’; his wife soon separated from him.

Charlotte then lived both in Sydney and in various country districts of New South Wales with her children, assisting in their education. Because of her delicate health the most talented child, Louisa, was entirely taught by her mother, who encouraged her to develop her artistic and botanical interests. For some years after the other daughters married and James inherited Oldbury, Charlotte and Louisa lived together at Fernhurst, Kurrajong. Charlotte established a small school there, advertising in the Sydney Morning Herald of 20 December 1861 for four resident pupils. Part of the education offered included 'drawing and sketching from life’ (probably taught by Louisa). When aged 67, Charlotte Barton had an accident which left her an invalid for two and a half years, until her death on 10 October 1867.

Her fame is due mainly to Marcie Muir’s discovery of her authorship of A Mother’s Offering to her Children , the first children’s book written and published in Australia. This was published in Sydney in 1841 by G.W. Evans and gives a splendid insight into Charlotte Barton’s tastes, interests and methods of teaching her children. She is said to have been 'clever at drawing and painting’ and a keen amateur naturalist. Unfortunately, most of her art work is thought to have been destroyed when Oldbury was sold after her son’s death. A single watercolour showing the Atkinson house and landscape at Oldbury (Mitchell Library) was attributed to her by her great granddaughter, Janet Cosh. It is extremely close in style to Louisa’s landscapes.

Writers:

Staff Writer

Date written:

1992

Last updated:

2011