Description

Extended Data

DAAO URL

https://www.daao.org.au/bio/florence-gertrude-rushton

Birth Place

Kingston SE, South Australia, Australia

Biography

woodcarver, was born in Kingston in south-east South Australia, one of the seven children, including six daughters (three of whom died in infancy), of Benjamin Franklin Rushton and Susannah, née Atton. Her father’s work with the railways necessitated several moves between Port Pirie and Peterborough until he was appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer for Railways in 1906, when the family settled in Adelaide. Nothing is known of Gertrude’s training, but because her known work can be dated between 1910 and 1915 it is tempting to speculate that she studied wood-carving under L.H. Howie (1876-1963) and Robert Craig (1871-1933) at the School of Design, Adelaide. Their espousal of Arts and Crafts philosophies, encouragement of the adoption of Australian floral and faunal motifs for decorative purposes, and active promotion and practice of woodcraft, influenced a generation of Adelaide students in the first two decades of this century. Surviving photographs of the school’s annual exhibitions show much woodwork in a style similar to Rushton’s; if she did not actually participate, she would at least have been exposed to the work through attending these regular shows. Like many of her contemporaries, Rushton’s activity as a wood-carver was largely restricted to the execution of carved decoration on manufactured pieces. Of her life and personality we know little. She did not marry, but was apparently engaged to a Church of England minister killed in World War I; and she cared for her parents rather than establishing a career outside the home. A family friend recalled her as a good dressmaker but 'generally frail’, although her robust woodcarving style suggests that this was not a condition of her younger years. Gertrude Rushton died on 11 January 1957 at Dulwich, Adelaide, leaving a small collection of carved work with family members and friends. The sketchy picture we have of her indicates little of her interests or her motivation in taking up woodcarving. We can only infer that without the demands of husband and children she, like many other women of her generation, was drawn to the potentially satisfying and challenging possibilities of creative endeavour, perhaps as a temporary diversion from an otherwise routine middle-class existence. Writers: Watson, Anne Note: Heritage biography. Date written: 1995 Last updated: 2011

Born

b. 1884

Summary

We can only infer that without the demands of husband and children she, like many other women of her generation, was drawn to the potentially satisfying and challenging possibilities of creative endeavour, perhaps as a temporary diversion from an otherwise routine middle-class existence.

Gender

Female

Died

11-Jan-57

Age at death

73