Born in Galt, Ontario, a distant relation to Thomas Carlyle, British author and historian, her patents moved to Woodstock when she was only three. Her mother organized an art class and brought in Paul Peel, art teacher from New York; he had been active in London, Ontario before going to the United States. Peel encouraged her to continue her studies in Paris, France. She travelled there with Peel and his sister and studied for six years under T. Robert- Fleury, Jules Lefebvre, and Adolphe Bouguereau. She returned to Canada in 1896 and established a studio at London, Ontario, and also at Woodstock.
A painter of landscapes, figures and domestic interiors, her work was described by E.F.B. Johnston in these words, “her figured depend to a considerable extent upon the fine massing of rich colour, and frequently the value of line in long sweeping curvature is better illustrated in her work than in that of any other Canadian artist...it is quite beyond question that her art shows talent of a high order.†She was one of the first woman members of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1897 (ARCA). In 1893 she was awarded a silver medal at Chicago.
She spent the summer os 1897 in British Columbia with the Canadian Alpine Club and painted scenes of the mountains. She settled in New York in 1899 where she opened a studio and enjoyed a large market for her work. In 1900 she was elected a member of the Ontario Society of Artists and in 1901 won honourable mention for her painting at Buffalo, New York. She settled in England in 1912.
During the First World War, she did hospital work and sold her finest paintings to aid the Red Cross as well as serving in the Women's Land Army. She was forced to retire for a rest in 1918 when her health gave out. She died at her home at Crowborough, Sussex, England at the age of 59 where she had settled in 1912.
During her life she had travelled in many parts of Europe. A number of her paintings were owned by Mr. C.G. Ellis of Brantford, Ontario, also Mr. A.H. Wilson, a jeweller at Woodstock, Ontario.
A memorial exhibition and private sale of 86 of her works was held at the Jenkins Art Galleries in Toronto in the early summer of 1925. She is represented in the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Ontario Parliament Buildings, the National Gallery of Canada and elsewhere.
Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume I: A-F", compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1977
