Jemima Blackburn facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jemima Blackburn
Photograph by Alinari of Florence (1852)
Born	(1823-05-01)1 May 1823 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	9 August 1909(1909-08-09) (aged 86) Roshven, Moidart, Scotland
Nationality	Scottish
Known for	Painting
Notable work	Birds from Moidart, Birds from Nature
Spouse(s)	Hugh Blackburn married 12 June 1849, Edinburgh

Jemima Wedderburn Blackburn (born May 1, 1823 – died August 9, 1909) was a talented Scottish painter. She was famous for her artwork that showed what life was like in the countryside of 19th-century Scotland.

Jemima was one of the most popular illustrators in Victorian Britain. She created pictures for 27 books! Her biggest achievement in drawing birds was the second edition of her book Birds from Nature (1868). Most of her pictures were watercolors. Some early ones even used ink. She also made a few collages. For these, she would cut out a bird's shape and put it onto a different background. This was similar to how John James Audubon worked.

Her many watercolors showed everyday family life in the Scottish Highlands during the late 1800s. She also drew fantasy scenes from children's stories. People knew her widely by her initials, JB, or by her married name, Mrs Hugh Blackburn.

About Jemima Blackburn

Jemima was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, at 31 Heriot Row. She was the youngest child of James Wedderburn, who was a lawyer for Scotland. Her father passed away a few months before she was born. Her mother, Isabella Clerk, came from a well-known family.

Jemima was the first cousin of James Clerk Maxwell, a very famous scientist. He lived with her family in Edinburgh when he was a schoolboy. Jemima was a young woman then, and she encouraged him to learn how to draw.

Jemima also became friends with and learned from famous artists like John Ruskin and Sir Edwin Landseer. Both of them praised her artwork very highly.

In 1849, she married Hugh Blackburn, who was a mathematician. In 1854, they bought the Roshven estate. Their home became a popular place for many important people of that time to visit. These visitors included the Duke of Argyll, Lord Kelvin (a famous scientist), and the writer Anthony Trollope.

Her Amazing Artwork

A lot of Jemima's art showed the Roshven estate, its animals, and its birds. She became one of the best bird painters of her time. Sir Edwin Landseer, a famous artist, once said about her work: "...in portraying animals, I have nothing to teach her..."

Jemima Blackburn was very good at watching how birds behaved. She wrote about her observations, like when a baby common cuckoo pushed a baby meadow pipit out of its nest. She even included a small drawing of this. This behavior had been reported before, but some people didn't believe it. Jemima's detailed account helped prove it was true. Charles Darwin, the famous scientist, even mentioned her observations in his book On the Origin of Species.

Jemima illustrated 27 books in total. One of her oil paintings, "Plough Horse Startled by a Railway Engine," was shown at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1849. It was also displayed at the first exhibition of the Society of Female Artists in London in 1857. That same year, she was asked to show her work in the first exhibition of modern British art in America.

Her artworks have been shown in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London. Many important places now own her work. These include the British Museum, the British Library, and the Natural History Museum.

Famous Bird Books

In 1868, Jemima Blackburn published her book Birds drawn from Nature. It was an instant success with the public. A special copy, colored by hand under Jemima's own supervision, was given to the Zoological Society of London. A newspaper called The Scotsman wrote in 1868: "...We have seen no such birds since Bewick's. We say this not ignorant of the magnificent plates by Selby, Audubon, Wilson and Gould..." This means they thought her bird drawings were as good as, or even better than, those by other very famous bird artists.

Beatrix Potter, who is famous for her own illustrations of animals, loved Jemima Blackburn's work from when she was a child. Beatrix remembered how happy she was when she got a copy of Blackburn's Birds drawn from Nature for her tenth birthday. As an adult, Beatrix Potter thought Jemima was a "broad intelligent observer with a keen eye for the beautiful in Nature." She also said that Mrs. Blackburn's birds didn't always stand as well as those by Bewick, but that Bewick was her only real competitor.

The two artists met in 1894. Beatrix Potter found Jemima to be an incredibly interesting woman. It's thought that Jemima Blackburn's work might have influenced Beatrix Potter's own illustrations. For example, her pictures for "Little Red Riding Hood" in 1894, and possibly "The Cat's Tale" from 1870. A botanist named Mary Noble even suggests that Beatrix Potter might have named her famous character, Jemima Puddle-duck, after Jemima Blackburn! Jemima Blackburn passed away just a year after Beatrix Potter's Tale of Jemima Puddle-duck became very popular.

Roshven Life and Legacy

During her time living at Roshven, Jemima Blackburn created many valuable paintings. These pictures show us all sorts of things about life and customs from her era. She painted almost every day, capturing different parts of her interesting life.

She drew her family and friends, important visitors, and local people doing their daily work. This included activities like cutting peat (a type of fuel), gathering plants, and making hay. These paintings give us a wonderful look into the lives of people and the activities in that area during her time.

Jemima's main interest was always the countryside and all the amazing wildlife it supported. Her best work can be found in her paintings of Roshven, its animals, and its birds. Because of these, she became known as one of the best bird painters of her time.

Ornithological illustrations

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  'Tawny owl,' from plate 12 of Birds from Moidart and elsewhere (1895).

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  'Redwing,' from plate 19 of Birds from Moidart and elsewhere (1895).

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  'Blackbird,' from plate 20 of Birds from Moidart and elsewhere (1895).

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  'The raven,' from plate 47 of Birds from Moidart and elsewhere (1895).