The following is from Alice Avina, great granddaughter of Francis and Bertha Hewitt Woolrych:
Francis Woolrych was born in Sidney Australia to English parents. He studied fine arts in Paris, France. His wife, Bertha Hewitt Woolrych, was born in Alton, Illinois. She also studied fine arts in Paris, France, where they met and were married.
Francis Humphrey Woolrych’s speciality was nudes, landscapes and portraits. He has a mural in the dome in the capital building named the “Wealth of the North” in Jefferson City, Missouri and in the St. Louis Library. He was noted in the 1904 Artists “Who’s Who in America.”
Bertha Hewitt was a wonderful artist; she was noted in 1904 artists “Who’s Who in America,” and “Women Artists of 1900’s,” and several other publications. Her speciality was portraits and still life in oil and pastel–her pastels were awesome! so life like, you could almost see them breathe!
They were my great grandparents, I grew up with their art on every wall, because my grandparents, Mr.& Mrs. F. H. Woolrych Jr. raised me.
