Doris Boyd Explained

Doris Boyd
Birth Date:20 November 1888
Burial Place:Brighton General Cemetery
Nationality:Australian
Spouse:Merric Boyd (m. 1915)[1]
Known For:Pottery, painting
Education:National Gallery School
Children:Lucy Boyd, Arthur Boyd, Guy Boyd, David Boyd, Mary Boyd

Doris Lucy Eleanor Bloomfield Boyd (; 20 November 1888[2] – 13 June 1960) was an Australian artist, painter and ceramicist.

Early life

Doris Boyd was the youngest of six children, born to Victorian Naval Forces Lieutenant Thomas Bunbury Gough and Evelyn Anna Walker Gough (née Rigg).Doris grew up in an unusual household, in which her mother's buoyant spirit, radical politics and Christian Science faith contrasted with her father's conservative background and temperament. Her family line ran directly back to Thomas Bunbury Gough, a Dean of Derry, brother to the great soldier Hugh Gough, the 1st Viscount Gough. Bunbury Gough was a Lieutenant in the Victorian Navy between 1885 and 1888, a high rank at the time. As Lieutenant, he was in charge of running the when the Commander was not on board. Outside of his naval career in Victoria, he worked variously as a merchant, as an insurance agent, and as a commission agent, as did his father-in-law. Evelyn was co-proprietor of The Sun: A Society Courier.[3] [4]

Doris Gough studied under Bernard Hall and Frederick McCubbin at the National Gallery School where she met Merric Boyd, a fellow student and potter. Boyd came from a background of artists who collectively formed the Boyd family.[5]

In 1915, she married Boyd, and together they raised five children: Lucy,[6] Arthur (painter, ceramics), Guy (pottery, sculpture), David (pottery, painting) and Mary.

Career

Doris decorated many of Merric Boyd's works between 1920 and 1930. These were mostly pieces for domestic use, featuring Australian flora and fauna.[7] Boyd's Murrumbeena studio and his pottery were destroyed by fire in 1926.[8]

With a strong faith in Christian Science, Doris influenced her husband, an epileptic, to convert in his latter years. She died on 13 June 1960, nine months after Merric. They are buried side by side at Brighton General Cemetery, Caulfield South, Victoria, Australia.[9]

Notes and References

  1. News: Family Notices . . CXXIII . [?]14[?] . Victoria, Australia . 21 October 1915 . 8 January 2019 . 25 . National Library of Australia., ...Weddings...MR. M. BOYD TO MISS D. GOUGH...The artistic young "potter," Mr. Merric Boyd, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Boyd, of the Esplanade, Brighton, was married on Tuesday, 12th October, to Miss Doris Gough, youngest daughter of the late Lieutenant T. B. Gough, R.N., and Mrs. Evelyn Gough. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Pelham Chase. B.A., at St. Stephen's Church, Garden Vale...
  2. Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Certificate 7962
  3. Web site: Thomas Bunbury Gough. Joy. Shirely. Victorian Naval Forces Muster for the Colony of Victoria (1853-1910). Friends of the Cerberus Inc.. 20 May 2013.
  4. Book: Niall, Brenda. Brenda Niall

    . The Boyds. Melbourne University Press. 2002. 0-522-84871-0. Melbourne. Brenda Niall.

  5. Web site: Smith, Colin, (2003) "Doris Boyd – A Life in Family and Art".. 18 January 2021.
  6. Web site: Smith, Colin, (2004) "Lucy Boyd Beck; a Life in Family and Art".. 18 January 2021. 3 May 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130503051936/http://members.optushome.com.au/tohalu.3/. dead.
  7. Marjorie J.. Tipping. Boyd, William Merric (1888–1959). boyd-william-merric-5608/text8993. 20 May 2013.
  8. Web site: Arthur Boyd (1920-1999): An obituary. Smith. Sue. 1999. Grafico Topico. 19 May 2013.
  9. Web site: Doris Lucy Bloomfield Boyd 1888–1960 BillionGraves Record. BillionGraves.