Series 20 - Mounted sketches

Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe was born in 1762, the daughter of Thomas Gwillim and Elizabeth Spinkes. Her father died seven months prior to her birth, and her mother died in childbirth. She was in the care of her mother’s sister, Margaret, who was married to Admiral Samuel Graves. Through this connection, she met John Graves Simcoe. Through a sizeable inheritance from her mother and father, she was able to purchase and restore Wolford Lodge, which would serve as the Simcoe family estate. She accompanied her husband to Upper Canada in 1791, alongside her two youngest children, Sophia, aged 2, and Francis, aged 3 months.
Throughout her five years in Upper Canada, Elizabeth Simcoe maintained an active social and artistic life. She was a leader in the social life of the province and served as an unofficial secretary and cartographer for her husband. She was an accomplished artist, and the time spent in Upper and Lower Canada was well-documented through her sketches and water colours. She was also an avid diarist, recording many of her experiences in the province.
In 1796, she returned to Wolford Lodge, where she would live for the remainder of her life. She remained active as an artist, and although she maintained active correspondence with friends in Upper Canada, she never returned. She died in 1850 at the age on 87.