Biography

Mildred Florence Blakiston was born in Australia. In 1911, at the age of 19, she visited her uncle, George Montynm Brown-Westhead, a barrister and his family at Lea Castle (1), Wolverley, Kidderminster, Worcestershire. In 1917 she married, in Warwick, Bernard Robert Blakiston (2) (1876-1933). She was called “Milly” by her friends and family. Before 1958 she lived at Bobbits Hall, Stratford St Mary (3) and died in the district of Bury St Edmunds. She was an associate member of the Ipswich Art Club from 1942-1947 and a member of Colchester Art Society in around 1948.

Statement

Mildred Blakiston painted in watercolour and used to visit Benton End, when Cedric Morris (q.v.) and Arthur Lett-Haines (q.v.) had an art school. This colourful flower painting is vaguely reminiscent of work by Cedric Morris. Milfred, who had poor eyesight, had a great love for plants.

Selected Exhibitions

1946 Bobbit’s Hall, Higham, Suffolk, A Painting (No 231) (4)

1976 The Minories, Colchester, Heseltine, Blakiston and Hay, CAS sponsored

Suffolk Painters

(1) The Castle, owned by the Brown-Westhead family, was sold in 1933 and demolished in 1945

(2) Bernard R. Blakiston died in Bath, Somerset. His father, Ralph Milburn Blackiston (1843-1909) died in Hadleigh, Suffolk.

(3) I am grateful to David Lovett for finding this address.

(4) The title of the painting is missing from the exhibition catalogue, which can be seen at the Suffolk Record Office in Ipswich.