Letter to Lady Forrest from Battye acknowledging her donation to the museum of a large collection of Aboriginal weapons.
Lady Forrest (22 October 1844 – 13 June 1929 in Picton, Bunbury), born Margaret Elvire Hamersley, was the wife of Sir John Forrest. Born in Le Havre, France, she was a member of the prominent and wealthy Hamersley family; her father was Edward Hamersley (
Lady Forrest had a great interest in fine arts. She had an interest in native plants, and was an accomplished painter of wildflowers. She was a founding member of the Wilgie Club, the first artists' society in Western Australia, and exhibited six wildflow
In September 1889 Ellis Rowan joined Margaret Forrest on a painting tour. At Boolantha Station, north of Carnarvon, and Geraldton, they painted desert flowers. Their joint exhibition at the Perth Railway Station Reading Room on 5 November is thought to ha
Both the Margaret River and the Elvire River in the Western Australian Kimberley region were named after her.
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See: File A13-73-1 Anthropology - Aboriginal cultural materials
