O-434

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painting (portrait)

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The Honourable George Airey Kirkpatrick

Portrait of Speaker George Airey Kirkpatrick

For many years a fountain erected in George Airey Kirkpatrick’s name stood in front of the courthouse in Kingston, Ontario. He was born in 1841, was a lawyer and businessman, and saw action during Fenian raids. In 1870 he won the Frontenac seat that had been held by his father. He became Speaker in 1883 and is remembered as impartial, though perhaps too impartial for Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, who later banished him to the backbenches. In 1892 he was named lieutenant-governor of Ontario. His portrait was painted by Frances E. Richards Rowley in 1887, and he died in 1899.

Frances E. Richards Rowley

Frances E. Richards Rowley was the first woman to paint an official portrait of a Canadian Speaker or Prime Minister. Born in Brockville, Ontario in 1852, she studied in London, Paris and New York, then in 1881 became head of the Ottawa School of Art. In London in 1887 she painted a portrait of the Irish wit Oscar Wilde, who she had earlier met during his lecture stop in Ottawa, and purportedly her portrait inspired Wilde to write The Picture of Dorian Gray. From 1888 she lived in London, married William Edwin Rowley, and died in 1934.