Julia Bullock-Webster (1826-1907)
     

Julia Bullock-Webster in her parlour in Oxford, England

  

When Mrs. Julia Bullock-Webster came to Canada in 1894 to visit her sons Edward and William, she was almost seventy years old. Accompanied by two of her daughters, Nell and Lizzie, the family reunion lasted about 20 months.

William Howard Bullock-Webster (1866-19??) had come to British Columbia in about 1887. He joined the British Columbia Police in 1892 and eventually became Chief Constable of the West Kootenay, working in the Interior of British Columbia. He later became a barrister. He had originally settled on a homestead in Keremeos, B.C., with his brother Edward. Edward continued to farm after his brother joined the police force, but eventually returned to Great Britain.

During her stay in Keremeos, from August of 1894 to April of 1896, she kept a journal of her activities. These diaries are in the collection of the Archives of British Columbia. She also did some paintings in watercolour. Her preferred subject matter may have been the detailed botanical studies in which she excelled, but she also sketched the landscape as she saw it from the homestead to the southeast of present-day Keremeos.

To read the first pages of Julia Bullock-Webster's diary, where her trip from Oxford to Keremeos is described, click here. To read the last page of the diary, relating her departure in April of 1896, click here.

     

Julia Bullock-Webster in about 1847 or 1849,
artist unkown,
graphite on paper,
9.8 x 7.3 cm, Accn. Num. 1983.01.01

The drawing is unsigned, but is inscribed "Lion-sur-Mer, October 25, 1847" and "Julia Rachel Price Bullock-Webster 1849" on the reverse, with both dates. This is presumably a youthful portrait of Julia Rachel Price before her marriage in Paris in 1849 to Captain Thomas Bullock-Webster.

  

Apart from her own detailed account of her life during her 20 month stay, we know relatively little about her. She was apparently born in 1826, and married Captain Thomas Bullock-Webster (1820-1872) of the Bombay Light Infantry in Paris in 1849 (November 12) at the British Embassy. Thomas Bullock-Webster seems to have left the Army in 1853 and worked as a civilian but what he did is not known. They lived in South Africa between 1853 and 1855. In August of 1854, Julia gave birth to a son (Sydney Carlyon) at Stellenbosch. The Bullock-Websters lived in Capetown in 1855 and may have moved to India since Thomas was appointed Deputy Collector in the district of Sind, north of Bombay. Some of her watercolours have also been located in South Africa.

The Bullock-Websters seem to have returned to England by about 1858, since their son George Russell was christened at Eaton Bishop (Herefordshire) that year. William Howard was also christened there in 1867. After the death of her husband in 1872, Julia may have continued to live in Herefordshire. George Russell (1858-1934) became an Anglican Minister. He died in 1934 in Parkstone, Dorset, where he had retired two years earlier. Julia Bullock-Webster was living in Oxford at the time of her trip to Canada, and mentions Oxford as her point of departure in her diaries. Records indicate that she lived at 26 St. Margaret's Road (St. Giles parish) from 1891 until 1899 with both her daughters Evelyn and Helen. She then moved to Canford, in Dorset. The date of Julia's death is probably 1907, as a Will, dated July 2, 1906, received probate on March 9 of 1907.

There are 34 watercolours by Julia Bullock-Webster in our collections. All were donated to the Gallery in 1983 by the artist's grand-daughter, the late Mrs. Barbara Steel.
     
The collection can be viewed in three distinct groupings.

Thumbnail images are provided, along with information on the images. You may click on the thumbnail image to magnify it.

RHB

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