Lilian's Tree

In my two previous post about Adelaide Ironside,  (read them both through these links,  Adelaide   and Famous ) I said that I would do another post and well here it is, somewhat late. In 1987 Jill Poulson wrote a book about Adelaide titled Adelaide Ironside, The Pilgrim of Art. The book is a beautiful account of Adelaide's life and her art. Adelaide was born in Sydney in 1831 and died in Rome in 1867. She was Australia's first woman artist to study overseas and defied the time to become a professional artist. After her death, Adelaide's body was taken to London and buried with her mother, in West Norwood Cemetery, London. In 1985 a headstone was placed on the grave. A search of Find-a-Grave doesn't show any memorial photo. Today her painting, The marriage at Cana of Galilee hangs in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Here is a link to her entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography,  Adelaide Ironside  

Years ago my husband’s, Paul’s aunt said that we were related to a famous artist, Adelaide Ironside. Well in a way he is and this is how I worked it out. Adelaide Eliza Ironside born 17 November 1831 [1] , to James Ironside and Martha Rebecca Redman.   It was looking into Martha that I got all excited, as her father, John Redman, could have been either a guard on the First Fleet or a convict on the Second Fleet. Well Martha isn’t on Paul’s line.   So scrap that bit of excitement. Sometime before Adelaide turned three, Martha and James separated and as divorce required a great deal of effort, they didn’t divorce. James didn’t waste any time in finding another lady, one Ellen Oak/Oaks. It is through this line that Paul is a descendent. James and Ellen had five children, according to James’ death certificate, four males and one female. [2]   I can only find one birth, that of Frederick James Ironsides, born 23 October 1836 [3] .   Frederick would m...