Doris Boyd

Doris Lucy Eleanor Bloomfield Boyd (née Gough; 20 November 1888^[2] – 13 June 1960) was an Australian artist, painter and ceramicist.

Doris Boyd
Born	Doris Lucy Eleanor Bloomfield Gough (1888-11-20)20 November 1888
Died	13 June 1960(1960-06-13) (aged 71)
Burial place	Brighton General Cemetery
Nationality	Australian
Education	National Gallery School
Known for	Pottery, painting
Movement	Boyd family
Spouse	Merric Boyd (m. 1915)[1]
Children	Lucy Boyd, Arthur Boyd, Guy Boyd, David Boyd, Mary Boyd

Early life

Doris Boyd was the youngest of six children, born to Victorian Naval Forces Lieutenant Thomas Bunbury Gough and Evelyn Anna Walker Gough (née Rigg).

Ironclad HMVS Cerberus with training ship HMVS Nelson at a distance, Victorian Naval Force ships

Doris grew up in an unusual household, in which her mother's buoyant spirit, radical politics and Christian Science faith contrasted with her father's conservative background and temperament. Her family line ran directly back to Thomas Bunbury Gough, a Dean of Derry, brother to the great soldier Hugh Gough, the 1st Viscount Gough. Bunbury Gough was a Lieutenant in the Victorian Navy between 1885 and 1888, a high rank at the time. As Lieutenant, he was in charge of running the HMVS Cerberus when the Commander was not on board. Outside of his naval career in Victoria, he worked variously as a merchant, as an insurance agent, and as a commission agent, as did his father-in-law. Evelyn was co-proprietor of The Sun: A Society Courier.^[3][4]

Doris Gough studied under Bernard Hall and Frederick McCubbin at the National Gallery School where she met Merric Boyd, a fellow student and potter. Boyd came from a background of artists who collectively formed the Boyd family.^[5]

In 1915, she married Boyd, and together they raised five children: Lucy,^[6] Arthur (painter, ceramics), Guy (pottery, sculpture), David (pottery, painting) and Mary.^[4]

Career

Graves of Doris and Merric Boyd at Brighton General Cemetery

Doris decorated many of Merric Boyd's works between 1920 and 1930. These were mostly pieces for domestic use, featuring Australian flora and fauna.^[7] Boyd's Murrumbeena studio and his pottery were destroyed by fire in 1926.^[8]

With a strong faith in Christian Science, Doris influenced her husband, an epileptic, to convert in his latter years.^[8] She died on 13 June 1960, nine months after Merric.^[7] They are buried side by side at Brighton General Cemetery, Caulfield South, Victoria, Australia.^[9]

References

1. "Family Notices". Melbourne Punch. Vol. CXXIII, no. [?]14[?]. Victoria, Australia. 21 October 1915. p. 25. Retrieved 8 January 2019 – via National Library of Australia. , ...Weddings...MR. M. BOYD TO MISS D. GOUGH...The artistic young "potter," Mr. Merric Boyd, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Boyd, of the Esplanade, Brighton, was married on Tuesday, 12th October, to Miss Doris Gough, youngest daughter of the late Lieutenant T. B. Gough, R.N., and Mrs. Evelyn Gough. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Pelham Chase. B.A., at St. Stephen's Church, Garden Vale...
2. Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Certificate 7962
3. Joy, Shirely. "Thomas Bunbury Gough". Victorian Naval Forces Muster for the Colony of Victoria (1853-1910). Friends of the Cerberus Inc. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
4. Niall, Brenda (2002). The Boyds. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-84871-0.
5. "Smith, Colin, (2003) "Doris Boyd – A Life in Family and Art"". Retrieved 18 January 2021.
6. "Smith, Colin, (2004) "Lucy Boyd Beck; a Life in Family and Art"". Archived from the original on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
7. Tipping, Marjorie J. "Boyd, William Merric (1888–1959)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
8. Smith, Sue (1999). "Arthur Boyd (1920-1999): An obituary". Grafico Topico. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
9. "Doris Lucy Bloomfield Boyd 1888–1960 BillionGraves Record". BillionGraves.