Lady Forrest (22 October 1844–13 June 1929 Picton,
BunburyThe port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after Mandurah and Perth the state capital. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...
), born
Margaret Elvire Hamersley, was the wife of Sir
John ForrestSir John Forrest GCMG was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....
. Born in
Le HavreLe Havre is a city in north-western France situated on the right bank of the mouth of the Seine River as it flows into the Bay of the Seine in the English Channel. It is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region. The inhabitants of the city are called Havrais or...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, she was a member of the prominent and wealthy
Hamersley familyThe Hamersley family were a wealthy and well-connected family of early settlers in the colony of Western Australia. Members of the Hamersley family emigrated to Western Australia from England in 1837.Prominent members and connections of the family include:...
; her father was
Edward HamersleyEdward Hamersley was an early settler in colonial Western Australia. He became a successful and wealthy pastoralist, and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council. The Hamersley family became one of the most prominent families in the colony.Edward Hamersley was born at Sandgate,...
(Senior), and amongst her brothers were
Edward HamersleyEdward Hamersley was a Western Australian pastoralist, and a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for nearly ten years....
(Junior) and
Samuel HamersleySamuel Richard Hamersley was a Western Australian pastoralist, and a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for six years....
. She married Forrest in 1876 and enjoyed many years in public life, as John Forrest became the first
Premier of Western AustraliaThe Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
, and later a federal politician.
Lady Forrest (22 October 1844–13 June 1929 Picton,
BunburyThe port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after Mandurah and Perth the state capital. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...
), born
Margaret Elvire Hamersley, was the wife of Sir
John ForrestSir John Forrest GCMG was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....
. Born in
Le HavreLe Havre is a city in north-western France situated on the right bank of the mouth of the Seine River as it flows into the Bay of the Seine in the English Channel. It is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region. The inhabitants of the city are called Havrais or...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, she was a member of the prominent and wealthy
Hamersley familyThe Hamersley family were a wealthy and well-connected family of early settlers in the colony of Western Australia. Members of the Hamersley family emigrated to Western Australia from England in 1837.Prominent members and connections of the family include:...
; her father was
Edward HamersleyEdward Hamersley was an early settler in colonial Western Australia. He became a successful and wealthy pastoralist, and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council. The Hamersley family became one of the most prominent families in the colony.Edward Hamersley was born at Sandgate,...
(Senior), and amongst her brothers were
Edward HamersleyEdward Hamersley was a Western Australian pastoralist, and a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for nearly ten years....
(Junior) and
Samuel HamersleySamuel Richard Hamersley was a Western Australian pastoralist, and a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for six years....
. She married Forrest in 1876 and enjoyed many years in public life, as John Forrest became the first
Premier of Western AustraliaThe Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
, and later a federal politician. Their family homestead was called
Wilberforce.
Both
Margaret RiverThe Margaret River is a river in the Kimberley of Western Australia.The headwaters of the river rise in the King Leopold Range West of Halls Creek and flows in a westerly until it merges with the Fitzroy River of which it is a tributary...
and
Elvire RiverElvire River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.The river rises North of Halls Creek below Mount Barrett and it flows in an easterly direction before turning north and discharging into the Panton River which is a tributary of the Ord River.The first European to see Elvire river...
in the Western Australian Kimberley region were named after her.
Lady Forrest had a great interest in fine arts. She was a founding member of the Wilgie Club, which was possibly the first artists' society in
Western AustraliaWestern Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. Australia's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.2 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state.The state's capital...
, and in 1896 became also a founding member of the West Australian Society of Arts. She also had an interest in native plants, and was an accomplished painter of wildflowers. After her death in 1929, her collection was bequeathed to the
Art Gallery of Western AustraliaThe Art Gallery of Western Australia is a public gallery that is part of the Perth Cultural Centre, in Perth, Western Australia. It is located near the Western Australian Museum and State Library of Western Australia...
.
Ellis RowanMarion Ellis Rowan known as Ellis Rowan was an Australian naturalist and well known illustrator.Marion, the daughter of Charles and Marian Ryan, was born at Killam, one of her father's pastoral stations in Victoria...
visited Western Australia a number of times during her life. In September 1889 she joined Margaret Forrest in a painting tour. At Boolantha Station, north of
CarnarvonCarnarvon is a coastal town situated approximately 900 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean. The popular Shark Bay world heritage area lies to the south of the town...
and Geraldton, they painted desert flowers. Their joint exhibition at the Railway Station Reading Room in
PerthPerth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. With a population of 1,650,000 , Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation's cities, with a growth rate consistently above the national average....
on 5 November is thought to have been the first art exhibition ever held in the colony.