Annette Macarthur-Onslow

Born on 21 March 1933, Macarthur-Onslow was the eldest daughter of Winifred Owen and Edward Macarthur-Onslow. She completed her secondary education at Frensham School, Mittagong, later attended by her siblings, Pamela (Harrison, 1936–2012) and Phoebe (Atkinson, 1939–2018).{{Cite web |last=Wrigley |first=John |date=2018-01-18 |title=Phoebe Macarthur-Onslow, Sydney model, socialite, 'wild child' and aviatrix |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/phoebe-macarthuronslow-sydney-model-socialite-wild-child-and-aviatrix-20180118-h0ka0k.html |access-date=2024-12-14 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} She then studied art at East Sydney Technical College.

Macarthur-Onslow worked for a time in Sydney as a commercial artist. She also assisted Norman Hetherington with his puppets at department stores and, in 1957, live on ABC television.{{cite news |last=Packer |first=R. C. |date=12 December 1956 |title=Television Parade |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41852309 |accessdate=15 December 2024 |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |location=Australia |page=10 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=24 |issue=}}[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E9BYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yOQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2423%2C5681493 ABN Channel 2: Wednesday 25 December 1957: 4:00PM: "KINDERGARTEN PLAYTIME — Jan McKay introduces the Meryla Puppets with Norm. Hetherington and Annette MacArthur-Onslow", Sydney Morning Herald TV Guide, (Monday, 23 December 1957), p.4.] She left for London by sea in January 1958, planning to study puppetry there and in Europe.{{cite news |date=20 November 1957 |title=Worth Reporting |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48208038 |accessdate=15 December 2024 |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |location=Australia |page=34 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=25 |issue=24}} She continued her art studies while working for publishers, including Oxford University Press (OUP).

In the early 1960s Macarthur-Onslow began illustrating children's books for Australian and British authors. Gwen Hutchings wrote of her work in Sheena Porter's Nordy Bank that "the fine line drawings by Annette Macarthur-Onslow at times show exquisite detail, while others are shadowy and impressionistic".{{cite news |last=Hutchings |first=Gwen |date=8 May 1965 |title=FOR YOUNG READERS Bringing up a badger |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105842590 |accessdate=15 December 2024 |newspaper=The Canberra Times |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=39 |issue=11,150}} The book won the 1965 Carnegie Medal,{{cite news |date=6 July 1965 |title=Advertising |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105759326 |accessdate=15 December 2024 |newspaper=The Canberra Times |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=39 |issue=11,200}} while Hesba Brimsmead's Pastures of the Blue Crane which she illustrated for OUP won that year's CBCA Book of the Year. Uhu, which she wrote and illustrated, won the CBCA Book of the Year in 1970. It is the story of a small tawny owl in the Gloucestershire countryside.

Macarthur-Onslow was the first author/illustrator to represent Australia at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava in 1971, where she was awarded a Diplome d'Honneur for Uhu and Minnie.

• Uhu, Ure Smith, 1969
• Minnie, Ure Smith, 1971
• Round House, Collins, 1975
• The Giant Bamboo Happening, John Ferguson, 1982

• Animal Stories by Ruth Manning-Sanders, OUP, 1961
• Half a World Away by Nan Chauncy, OUP, 1962
• Pastures of the Blue Crane by Hesba Brinsmead, OUP, 1964
• Winged Skis by Elyne Mitchell, Hutchinson, 1964
• Victoria: the story of a great queen by Elisabeth Kyle, Thomas Nelson, 1964
• Nordy Bank by Sheena Porter, OUP, 1965
• Silver Brumbies of the South by Elyne Mitchell, Hutchinson, 1965
• Silver Brumby Kingdom by Elyne Mitchell, Hutchinson, 1966
• Birds: Poems by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1967
• Trim by Matthew Flinders, Collins, 1977
• The Man from Snowy River by Banjo Paterson, Nelson, 1986

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• [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41852309 Annette Macarthur-Onslow with puppet, Nicky]

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Category:1933 births

Category:Living people

Category:Australian illustrators

Category:20th-century Australian women writers

Category:Australian children's writers

Category:Australian children's book illustrators

Category:National Art School alumni