Alice Boyd (1825–1897) was a Scottish

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

painter who was also the 14th

Laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

of Penkill Castle in Ayrshire in Scotland.

Biography

Alice Boyd was born in south Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1825, the daughter of Margaret Losh and Spencer Boyd, 12th Laird of Penkill, whose family had lived at

Penkill Castle Penkill Castle is a 16th-century castle with later additions. It is around south of Old Dailly, northeast of Girvan in south Ayrshire, Scotland. History The 16th-century tower was built by a branch of the Boyd family, relatives of the Earls of K ...

since the early 16th century. Her father died when she was one year old and her mother remarried, to a man named Henry Courtney. In 1858, her mother died and she went to

Newcastle-on-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

to live for a time with her grandfather, William Losh, a well-to-do merchant. Her family had an "alkali business." While staying with her grandfather, Alice met the pre-Raphaelite painter and poet

William Bell Scott William Bell Scott (1811–1890) was a Scottish artist in oils and watercolour and occasionally printmaking. He was also a poet and art teacher, and his posthumously published reminiscences give a chatty and often vivid picture of life in the ...

, who was then master of the Government School of Design. She became his pupil in 1859. Around this time, Alice moved back to Penkill Castle to live with her elder brother Spencer, the 13th Laird of Penkill, with whom she remained close throughout her life. In 1860, Bell Scott visited Penkill, and Boyd and he began a liaison that would last until his death in 1890. Although unhappily married, Bell Scott refused to cause a scandal by leaving his wife, and a workable

ménage à trois A () is a domestic arrangement and committed relationship with three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together; typically a traditional marriage between a man and woman along with anothe ...

was established: Boyd spent winters with William and his wife in London, while they came to Penkill in the summers. Other Pre-Raphaelite artists and their friends also came to Penkill work on their art, including

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Brit ...

, and

Lawrence Alma-Tadema Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, (; born Lourens Alma Tadema ; 8 January 1836 – 25 June 1912) was a Dutch painter who later settled in the United Kingdom becoming the last officially recognised denizen in 1873. Born in Dronryp, the Netherlands, ...

. In 1862, Dante Gabriel Rossetti drew Boyd's portrait in profile. Trained by Bell Scott, Boyd worked in similar genres: historical and mythical subjects, landscapes, and portraits. She also illustrated some of Bell Scott's poems. After his death in 1890, her output dropped off steeply. She did not exhibit much, if at all, during her lifetime, and most of her work is still in private collections. In 1865, Boyd's brother Spencer died childless and she became the 14th Laird of Penkill and inherited Penkill Castle. She is credited with extending the original Penkill Castle grounds towards the end of the century. Boyd's family papers are held by Princeton University and include an unpublished history by a relative of her life at Penkill Castle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Alice 1825 births 1897 deaths People from South Ayrshire 19th-century Scottish women artists Pre-Raphaelite painters Female Pre-Raphaelite painters 19th-century Scottish painters