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CREASE, Susan Reynolds

Born
Antron, Cornwall, England, 1855
Died
Victoria, British Columbia, 1947
Biography synopsis
Second daughter of Sir Henry Pellew Crease and Lady Sarah Lindley Crease, Susan Reynolds immigrated to Victoria in 1860 and became a student at Mrs. E.C. Fellow's Private School for Girls. She moved with her family to New Westminster in 1862 when her father became attorney-general of the colony. Six years later, they returned to Victoria and settled into their family home, Pentrelew. Like her mother and sisters, she exhibited an interest in art and, from 1889-91, attended King's College in London, England where she took antique and life classes with Albert William Holden. She also took private lessons with many artists both in England and Canada, such as Lottie Aliston, who taught her sketching, Ainslie Borrow for freehand drawing, and Georgina de L'Aubiniere. In the company of her sister, Josephine, and Sophie Pemberton, she took sketching trips around Vancouver Island, and executed many watercolour views of the area. A member of the Island Arts and Crafts Society, she participated in several of their exhibitions, and also had occasional private commissions. Art was not her only pastime, however: Susan Reynolds was also a passionate activist for women's rights. Not only was she a member of the Local Council of Women from 1884-1933, but she ensured that the visit to Victoria of suffragist leader, Emily Pankhurst, was a success.
Media used
Drawing
Painting
Watercolour
Education
King's College, London, 1889 - 1891 (under Albert William Holden)
Private study, 1889 (under Lottie Aliston)
Private study (under Ainslie Borrow)
De L'Aubinière Studio, Victoria, 1887 - 1888 (under Charles and Georgina de L'Aubiniere)
Memberships
Island Arts and Crafts Society
File & Archive locations
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
British Columbia Archives
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
"Obituary" Colonist (Victoria, BC) Victoria, BC: 16 July 1947
Bonson, Anita. "Sarah Crease and Susan Crease: diaries, British Columbia, 1878" The small details of life: twenty diaries by women in Canada, 1830-1996 Toronto, Buffalo: University ot Toronto Press, 2002
Gilmore, Bernice C. Artists Overland: A Visual Record of British Columbia 1793-1886. Burnaby: Burnaby Art Gallery, 1980
Harper, J. Russell. Early Painters and Engravers in Canada Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1970
Johnson-Dean, Christina B. The Crease Family and the Arts in Victoria, British Columbia. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1983
McKendry, Blake. Dictionary of Folk Artists in Canada: From the 17th Century to the Present. Elginburg: Blake McKendry, 1988
Petteys, Chris, et al. Dictionary of Women Artists: An International Dictionary of Women Artists Born Before 1900. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985
Powell, Barbara. "The diaries of the Crease women" BC Studies Nos. 105/106 (1995): 44-58
Vancouver Centennial Museum. An inventory and catalogue of historical paintings and drawings done in 19th-century British Columbia Vancouver: Centennial Museum, 1969

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