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SIMCOE, Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim

Born
Northamptonshire, England, 1762
Died
Honiton, England, 1850
Biography synopsis
Elizabeth Simcoe (nee Gwillim) traveled in Canada with her husband John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791 to 1796. Simcoe wrote a diary describing her sojourn in Canada. She was considered an accomplished artist, and produced over 500 drawings and watercolours of Upper and Lower Canada. She also produced maps. Many of her works are held at the Archives of Ontario.
Media used
Drawing
Watercolour
File & Archive locations
Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
McMaster University, ON - Mills Memorial Library
Archives of Ontario
Canadian Museum of Civilization Archives, QC
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ON
Law Society of Upper Canada Archives, ON
Canadian Centre for Architecture, QC - Library
Yale University Library, CT
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, VA - John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
A Catalogue of Important Canadian Paintings, Drawings, Watercolours, Books and Prints of the 19th and 20th centuries including Mohawk Village, Grand River, 1793, by Elizabeth Simcoe Toronto: Sotheby, 1970
"Elizabeth Simcoe Drawings Discovered in Devon Archives." Ontario Bulletin (Oct. 1976)
"Old Times in Ontario ... No. 1." Toronto Daily Star 8 Feb. 1958
Archives of Ontario. "Travels with Elizabeth Simcoe: A Visual Journey Through Upper and Lower Canada." http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/exhibits/simcoe/index.html Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2005
Bassett, John M. Elizabeth Simcoe: First Lady of Upper Canada Don Mills, Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1974
Béland, Mario. Painting in Quebec, 1820-1850: New Views, New Perspectives Québec: Musée du Québec, 1992
Boutilier, Alicia & Tobi Bruce. The Artist Herself : Self-portraits by Canadian Historical Women Artists / L'artiste elle-meme : autoportraits de femmes artistes au Canada Kingston, ON: Agnes Etherinton Art Centre. Hamilton: Art Gallery Hamilton, 2015
Carnochan, Janet. "Mrs. John Graves Simcoe." Niagara Historical Society 36 (1924): 38-54
Dignam, Mary Ella. "Canadian Women in the Development of Art." Women of Canada: Their Life and Work Toronto: National Council of Women of Canada, 1900
Dufebvre, B. Cinq Femmes et Nous Quebec: Belisle, 1950
Forster, J. W. L. "The Early Artists of Ontario." Canadian Magazine 5 (May-Oct. 1895): 18-22
Fowler, Marian. The Embroidered Tent : Five Gentlewomen in Early Canada, Elizabeth Simcoe, Catharine Parr Traill, Susanna Moodie, Anna Jameson, Lady Dufferin Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 1982
Fowler, Marian. "Portrait of Elizabeth Simcoe." Ontario History 69.2 (June 1977): 79-100
Fryer, Mary Beacock. Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe 1796-1850: A Biography Toronto: Duncan Press, 1989
Gerry, Tom. "Extremes Meet: Elizabeth Simcoe's Birchbark Landscapes." Queen's Quarterly 106.4 (Winter 1999): 588-601
Ghent, Percy. "In The Spotlight: Mrs. John Graves Simcoe, Pioneer Artist and Diarist." Toronto Evening Telegram 30 Nov. 1950
Guillet, Edwin C. "Among the most valuable paintings in the Ontario archives collection are...." Toronto Star 8 Feb. 1958
Guillet, Edwin C. "Old Times in Ontario: Castle Frank Circa 1794." Toronto Daily Star 28 Feb. 1959
Hanlon, Michael. "Elizabeth Simcoe's drawings to go on view." Toronto Star 28 Apr. 1993
Hume, Christopher. "Mrs. Simcoe's romantic Upper Canada." Toronto Star 18 Aug. 1993
Jackson, Marg. "A Sure Sign of Spring: Birds come to McLaughlin gallery." Oshawa Times 29 May 1980: 3
Kear, Celine. "Canada's First Literary Ladies." Beaver 80.1 (Feb-Mar. 2002): 15-20
Korda, Andrea. "Femininity, the Picturesque, and the Canadian Landscape: The Drawings and Watercolours of Elizabeth Simcoe and Elizabeth Hale." Atlantis 30.2 (2006): 8-21
Longchamps, Denis. Elizabeth Simcoe (1762-1850): une amateure et intellectuelle anglaise dans les Canadas. Son oeuvre écrite et dessinée, et le projet colonial Concordia University, 2009
Mackenzie-Grieve, Averil. The Great Accomplishment London: Bles, 1953
McLaughlin, Florence. First Lady of Upper Canada Don Mills, Ontario: Burns & MacEachern, 1968
Miller, Eric. "Elizabeth Simcoe and the Fate of the Picturesque." The Rhetoric of Canadian Writing Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2002
Morgan, H. J., ed. Types of Canadian Women and of women who have been connected with Canada Toronto: W. Briggs, 1903
Public Archives of Canada. Image of Canada: Documentary Watercolours and Drawings from the Permanent Collection of the Public Archives of Canada Ottawa: Information Canada, 1972
Rand, Margaret. "Elizabeth Simcoe, 1766-1850: First Artist of Upper Canada." Canadian Antiques and Art Review 2.4 (Dec-Jan. 1980-81): 20-24
Ritzlin, Mary. Women's Contributions to North American Cartography: Four Profiles. Meridian 2 (1989): 5-16
Scadding, Henry. A Simcoe Relic among the Thousand Isles in 1796. Fragment of a MS. Journal of Mrs. Simcoe Toronto: 1896
Scadding, Henry. A Simcoe Relic Scrapbook, 1796-1886 Canada: Law Society of Upper Canada, 1886
Sotheby and Co. (Canada). Canadian Art At Auction 1968-1975 Toronto: Sotheby and Co, 1975
Van Steen, Marcus. Governor Simcoe and His Lady Toronto and London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1968
Wilson, Bruce. Elizabeth Simcoe (1766-1850): Introduction and Catalogue Ottawa: Public Archives of Canada, 1978

Writings by
Simcoe, Elizabeth. Elizabeth Simcoe: The Canadian Years, 1791-1796 London, Ontario: London Regional Art & Historical Museums, 1993
Simcoe, Elizabeth. The Diary of Mrs. John Graves Simcoe, Wife of the First Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Upper Canada, 1792-6. J Ross Robertson Toronto: Coles Pub. Co, 1911 [reprint 1973]
Simcoe, Elizabeth [edited by Mary Quayle Innis]. Mrs. Simcoe's Diary Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1965

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