Millais Watercolour Appeal
Kingston Museum has been offered a fine watercolour of the Thames at Kingston by William Henry Millais under a local will and will need to raise £1,000 to purchase it. The Museum has no funds to purchase items for the collections and relies on grant-aid and public donation. Grant applications are now being made and local donations are being invited. We must raise at least 25% locally to qualify for grant aid so we need to raise a minimum of £250--more if our grant applications are unsuccessful.
We also need additional funds to pay for essential conservation work so that the picture can be safely displayed, said Anne McCormack, Head of Service.
William Henry Millais (1828-1899) was the older brother of the more famous pre-Raphaelite painter, John Everett Millais. The family lived in the Portsmouth Road in Kingston for a time, and G.W. Ayliffe in his Recollections of an Octogenarian (pub. 1914), remembers them visiting his photographic studio.
William Henry also lodged for a short time in Worcester Park Farm near Kingston where his brother, who was painting his Ophelia, and Holman Hunt stayed in 1851. William was a fine singer and his tenor voice was by all accounts supposed to be one of the best in the kingdom. He sang at the Drill Hall in Kingston to great acclaim.
He married Judith Agnes Boothby in All Saints Church, Kingston, in 1860 and their daughter attended a private boarding school in Surbiton.
Cheques may be made payable to the Friends of Kingston Museum & Heritage Service and sent to Kingston Museum, c/o North Kingston Centre, Richmond Road, Kingston upon Thames KT2 5PE. For more information please telephone Anne on 020 8547 6756.