Biography contributed by Bernadette Siebert
Fanny Malcolm was born at Auckland, New Zealand, on 29 January 1852, the second of 13 children of Emilie Monson Wilton and her husband, Neill Malcolm, a barrister. When Fanny was six years old the family moved to Great Barrier Island, where Neill Malcolm began cattle farming at Rosalie Bay, the property was extremely run down and life there was hard and isolated. Despite repeated petitions by the Malcolms to the government to survey and grant them title to their land, only a preliminary survey was begun and never completed. As a result, no official record of the farm appeared on the survey charts and when, in 1867, the government gave 40-acre grants to new settlers in the Tryphena area, the Malcolm property was included in the allotment. The first intimation the family had of the situation was when the claimants arrived by schooner. Angry scenes followed, many of the Malcolms' domestic cattle were shot and trees were felled indiscriminately. Eventually, on payment of £56 they received 80 acres which included their homestead. Their previous petitions and long residence were ignored.
In 1874 Fanny married Alfred Joseph Osborne, son of Joseph and Mary nee Ray, who also farmed on Great Barrier. Alfred was 27 years old, born and educated in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. The marriage took place in the private chapel of Bishop Cowie in Parnell, because both sets of parents disapproved of the match. Emilie Malcolm was so embittered that she cut herself off from her neighbours and remained estranged from her talented daughter Fanny, because she married the son of one of the claimants to Malcom land.
After their marriage Fanny and Alfred returned to the island to settle on the Osborne farm at Tryphena, where they raised 13 children:
- Harry (1874–1954)
- Lilian Mary (1877–1981)
- Ernest Alfred (1875–1961)
- Ellen Gertrude (1879–1949)
- Ava Winifred Barbara (1880–1977)
- Gordon George Malcolm (1882–1971)
- Reginald (1883–1972)
- Albert Nigel (1885–1914)
- Charles Noel (1886–1965)
- Harold Cedric (1888–1967)
- Ivy (1889–1979)
- Constance Marion (1893–1970)
- Cecil Russell (1896–1917)
In 1914, their son Albert, a resident of Tryphena, was drowned when his boat capsized. Two sons served in the First World War; Harold joined rifle brigade but was invalided out in 1917. Their youngest son Cecil was wounded in action in Belgium on 4 October 1917 and died a week later, aged 22.
Fanny’s mother Emilie had recognised talent in her children and gave it scope by providing proper art materials purchased from Auckland. Apart from these early sketching activities Fanny was given no training in art. It is not known when Fanny Osborne began to produce her exquisite watercolours of the Great Barrier Island flora, for she did not usually date her paintings. Her husband was well educated and probably encouraged her in her choice of subject matter with his extensive knowledge of the local plant life. By the 1920s her work had become quite well known and she was selling sets of paintings and single works from her home at Tryphena. Her most creative period was probably after her children had grown and her family responsibilities had lessened.
'From both scientific and artistic points of view, Fanny Osborne's paintings of the flowers of the indigenous trees, shrubs, vines and herbs of Great Barrier are exceptional and superbly crafted examples of botanical illustration. They are accurate in every detail, and yet simultaneously communicate the beauty and delicacy of the specimen. They also provide valuable historical documentation of the plant life of the island. The largest collection of her work is held by the botany department of the Auckland Institute and Museum.'
Alfred died 9 January 1920 aged 73 years and was interred in the Osborne family plot at Tryphena, Great Barrier Island. His handwritten will left an estate worth 1000 pounds to his wife, and for her 'to give my children some memento of their father', with a codicil to give 'lot 66 Tryphena to my son Charles to carry out my ideas where practical'.
All five of Fanny Osborne's daughters inherited her talents, the most active being Lilian, Ellen and Winifred. Lilian settled in England, and under her married name, Lilian Gibbard, became widely known for her flower studies. Towards the end of her life Fanny Osborne became crippled with arthritis. She died at Auckland, aged 82, on 12 March 1934 and was buried with her husband in Tryphena, Great Barrier.
Sources
PAPERS PAST New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21750, 15 March 1934, Page 1
PAPERS PAST Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 67, 20 March 1934, Page 3
PAPERS PAST Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 135, 8 June 1914, Page 1
Te Ara biography
Archway probate Alfred