Frances Mary "Fanny" Wimperis (1840 – 19 May 1925) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

artist.

Early life

Wimperis was born in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, England, in 1840. She was the fourth in a family of eight children born to Mary (née Morison) and Edmund Wimperis. Her father was a school drawing teacher and later a manager at a leadworks. Of her siblings,

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and ...

, Susanna and

Ann Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

(Jenny) also became artists. She and her sisters were members of the Naturalists Field Club, of which

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...

, of ''The Water Babies'' fame, was the leader.

Adult life

Wimperis studied art at the

Slade School The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London, and exhibited with the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

and the Royal Watercolour Society. Wimperis emigrated to New Zealand in 1880 with her sister Jenny, to join their married sister Susanna. They joined Susanna's household in Mornington,

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, and continued to paint and exhibit. Wimperis' work was shown at the Otago Art Society, the

New Zealand Industrial Exhibition The New Zealand Industrial Exhibition was an industrial exhibition held in a large Industrial Exhibition Building in Wellington, between Lambton Quay and Stout Street in 1885. Organised by Julius Vogel it was intended to display New Zealand's indu ...

in Wellington and the South Seas Exhibition in Dunedin. One of her oil paintings won first prize at the South Seas Exhibition. Her work was also included in the Centennial Exhibition in Wellington in 1940. Wimperis also became an art teacher, first in a private school and then at

Otago Girls' High School , motto_translation = The Right Education Makes The Heart As Strong As Oak , type = State , grades = 9 - 13 , grades_label = Years , gender = Girls-only , established = ; years ago , address = 41 Tennyson Street ...

from 1891 to 1906. One of her most notable pupils was

Ella Spicer Eleanor 'Ella' Juliet Spicer (née Adams, 1876 – 1958) was a New Zealand artist. Her work is included in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Turnbull library and Hocken library. Personal life Born in Lawrence, New ...

, who began exhibiting when she was just 15 years old.

Legacy

In 2002, the Hocken Library staged an exhibition featuring the work of Wimperis and her two sisters, Susanna and Jenny, and her niece, Susanna's daughter

Eleanor Joachim Mary Eleanor Joachim (1874–1957) was a New Zealand book-binder in the Arts and Crafts tradition. Early life Joachim was born in Littlehampton, Sussex, England, to Susanna Wimperis and George Joachim. The family emigrated to New Zealand in 1876 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wimperis, Frances 1840 births 1925 deaths Artists from Chester Artists from Dunedin 19th-century New Zealand artists English emigrants to New Zealand Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art