Genre painter. Daughter of a London clergyman. Studied at Dickinson's Academy in Madox Street, first under John Mogford, later under JM Leigh. Her pictures are mostly genre, sometimes historical, often of children. The theme of many of her pictures is the damsel in distress. A typical example is Nameless and Friendless for which there is a preparatory drawing falsely signed Millais in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Primary biographical source:
The Dictionary of Victorian Painters
"Golden Daydream"
"This picture shows a young female artist trying to sell her work to an art dealer. She is poor, unwed and orphaned as evidenced by her old, worn black clothing. Since she is of a lower class, she cannot sit in the chair by the dealer's desk which would be reserved for artists of a higher status. The dealer and his helper are apathetic to her situation and only doubtfully look over her work. In the background, rich men do not disguise their lewd glances at the helpless girl. The work is narrative, a piece of moral versus merely aesthetic art."
