painter and teacher, was born at Merangaroo in the county of Cooke, Parish of Bowenfeld (NSW), on 31 August 1854, eldest of the eight children of John Douglas, a labourer, and his wife, Agnes. Working in crayon and watercolour, she is only known to have exhibited three coastal landscapes and one portrait, all catalogued without prices as if not for sale. She is first mentioned as an amateur exhibiting at the NSW Academy of Art’s fourth annual exhibition in 1875, where her watercolour Coogee Bay was catalogued as 'original’. In 1877 her painting shown with the Agricultural Society of NSW was highly commended (however, this exhibition was savagely reviewed for its lack of selection and chaotic exhibition categories). Last known to have exhibited in 1878, the evidence of her two extant works in the Mitchell Library proves that she continued painting. From 1884 to 1886 she was a member of the Royal Art Society of NSW but had no work in its exhibitions.
For five years (1877-82) Jessie Douglas ran a ladies’ school at 92 Derwent Street, Glebe, the site of one extant painting. Although she exhibited and died as Miss Douglas, she ran the school as Mrs Douglas, an honorary title for mature women normal at the time. By 1883 she was operating out of the same premises as a draper.
- Writers:
- Horridge, Naomi
- Date written:
- 1995
- Last updated:
- 2011
