Betty Temple Watts was a scientific illustrator who provided watercolour bird paintings for works published by CSIRO. In 1965 she designed three new postage stamps and five of her earlier designs were adapted for decimal currency (1). Some of her work is held by the National Library of Australia and is on display at the Library’s website (2).
So what is her connection to Nelson? According to the book ”The Quintessential Bird”(3) ;
“Earlier that year (1945), the whole family holidayed for three weeks at Nelson on the Glenelg River…………. They fell in love with the place and it was their holiday destination for years, giving Betty the opportunity to fill sketchbook pages with lively watercolours and pencil drawings. It was a wild and free place where one could roam on the river, following it downstream to the mouth, or row up into the state forest, explore the swamps and dunes or go beach-combing on the storm-lashed beach. Joan, John and Stephen soon made friends with the locals and “The Cottage’ became home away from home.(3)”
There is a nice anecdote about Betty receiving a parcel from Nelson. At first it was thought to be fish, but “when we opened it we found a beautiful albatross! – only slightly high.” The albatross went to the National Museum of Victoria. It had been sent by one Allen Miller, a farmer near the mouth of the Glenelg. No coincidence then that the old route to the beach over the dunes was called “Miller’s Blow”.
REFERENCES
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Temple_Watts
- National Library of Australia https://nla.gov.au/
- Temple Watts, Viola (2011) The Quintessential Bird: the art of Betty Temple Watts. National Library of Australia ISBN 9780642277312
- Photo: Postmaster-General’s Department” (PMG) (1901-1975) of the Australian Federal Government under supervision of the British Royal Mail, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Words by M Styles
Nelson Coastcare 