Amelia Jane Murray (1800–1896) or Lady Oswald, was a

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

fairy artist from the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. Her

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting metho ...

paintings depicted

fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

and flowers and were inspired by the

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

of the island. She was the daughter of

Lord Henry Murray Lord Henry Murray (13 June 1767 – 3 December 1805) was a soldier and administrator who served as the fourth Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man. Career Born the fourth son of John Murray, 3rd Duke of Atholl, Henry Murray was appointed Co ...

and the niece of John Murray who was the 4th

Duke of Atholl Duke of Atholl, named after Atholl in Scotland, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland held by the head of Clan Murray. It was created by Queen Anne in 1703 for John Murray, 2nd Marquess of Atholl, with a special remainder to the heir male ...

Biography

Amelia Jane Murray was born in Port-e-Chee, which means 'Fairy Music' in Manx

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

. Growing up, Murray lived in Mount Murray, her family's home which was five miles from

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

. Murray's fairy paintings were inspired by the rich folklore of the Isle of Man and many of them had embossed borders. They date to the early 1820s and the watercolor pictures suggest that Murray had significant knowledge of the flora and fauna. They are often based on

Manx folklore The culture of the Isle of Man is influenced by its Celtic and, to a lesser extent, its Norse origins, though its close proximity to the United Kingdom, popularity as a UK tourist destination, and recent mass immigration by British migrant wor ...

and depict delicate fairies in the natural beauty of the landscape. In 1829, she married Sir John Oswald of Dunniker, who was twenty-nine years older than she. They moved to

Fife, Scotland Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

where she looked after his six children from his previous marriage, as well as their own two. Murray's paintings of fairies were later published for the first time in 1985, in a book called, ''A Regency Lady’s Fairy Bower''.Murray, Amelia Jane. ''A Regency Lady's Faery Bower''. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1985.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Amelia Jane 19th-century British women artists 1800 births 1896 deaths