• Entry type: Person
  • Entry ID: AWE0329

Rowan, Marian Ellis

(1848 – 1922)
  • Born 30 July 1848, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  • Died 4 October 1922
  • Occupation Botanical artist, Botanical collector

Summary

Ellis Rowan was a botanical artist who had no formal art training. She received encouragement from her family and husband, Frederick Charles Rowan, whom she married in 1873, to develop her own style in painting wildflowers.
Her work was exhibited in both Australia and overseas for which she won a variety of art prizes.

Archival resources

  • National Library of Australia, Manuscript Collection
    • Papers of Ellis Rowan, 1873-1895 [manuscript]
    • Cutting book, 1895-1922 [manuscript]
    • Collection of papers relating to Ellis Rowan 1892-1956 (bulk 1892-1896) [manuscript]
  • Royal Historical Society of Victoria Inc
    • Ellis Rowan 1848-1922: a biography of a remarkable Australian woman
  • State Library of Victoria
    • Papers, 1926-1934. [manuscript]

Published resources

  • Resource Section
  • Journal Article
    • Botanical and Wildlife Artist, Intrepid Explorer and Writer, Whitaker, Dinah, 1966
  • Book
    • Catalogue of Water Colour Drawings of Wild Flowers etc., Rowan, Marian Ellis (Ryan), 1847-1922
    • Flower Paintings of Ellis Rowan: from the collection of the National Library of Australia, Rowan, Ellis, 1848-1922, 1987
    • Bill Baillie, Rowan, Ellis, 1848-1922, 1908
    • Ellis Rowan 1848-1922: A Biographical Sketch, Collins, Kate, 1988
    • Ellis Rowan, A Flower-Hunter in Queensland, McKay, Judith
    • A Flower-Hunter in Queensland & New Zealand, Rowan, Ellis, 1898
    • Press Opinions of Mrs F C Rowan's Water-color Flower Drawings, [1905]
    • A Guide to the Trees, Lounsberry, Alice, c1900
    • A Guide to the Wild Flowers, Lounsberry, Alice, 1899
    • Southern Wild Flowers and Trees: Together with Shrubs, Vines and various forms of growth through the Mountains, the Middle District and the Low Country of the South, Lounsberry, Alice, 1901
    • The Human Side of Trees: Wonders of the World, Dixon, Royal, c1917
  • Resource
  • Edited Book
    • 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Radi, Heather, 1988

Related entries


  • Related Cultural Artefacts
    • Ellis Rowan Building (1966 - )
  • Niece
    • Casey, Ethel Marian Sumner (Maie) (1891 - 1983)
  • Related Concepts
    • Women and Botany