embroiderer, was born on 11 January 1868, one of the thirteen children of Robert and Joanna Barr Smith. The Barr Smiths were a rich South Australian family, major patrons of William Morris’s firm, Morris & Co., in England. Erlistoun developed an interest in music and in 1889 was taken to Germany with her mother so she could further her studies. Unfortunately, due to growing deafness she was forced to abandon this career.
Like other female members of her family, Erlistoun learned to embroider no doubt encouraged by her parents’ passion for Morris & Co. furnishings, many of which were embroideries. By the mid-1890s, possibly earlier, she was working Morris kits. She may have learned the stitching techniques in London from the firm; her family visited London frequently and personally ordered furnishings, including embroideries.
Erlistoun’s deafness with its enforced solitude gave her ample time for embroidery and she produced many works after Morris & Co. designs, including table covers, a screen, mantel borders and a splendid portière. An embroidered silk shoe bag and workbox (c.1900, AGSA) appear to be to her own designs.
In 1898 Erlistoun Barr Smith married William Mitchell (1861-1962), an academic; they had two children. They lived on Fitzroy Terrace, Adelaide, in a house now known as Mitchell House. She died as a result of tuberculosis on 3 August 1913.
- Writers:
- Menz, Christopher
- Date written:
- 1995
- Last updated:
- 2011
