Margaret Gillies was a Scottish painter, known for miniatures and water-colours.
Background
She was the second daughter of William Gillies, a Scottish merchant in Throgmorton Street, London, where she was born on 7 August 1803. Before she was twenty, Gillies decided to earn her own living, and returned with her sister to her father"s home in London.
Career
They were educated by him, and then introduced to Edinburgh society. Mary Gillies became an author, while Margaret took the direction of a professional artist. She received lessons in miniature-painting from Frederick Cruikshank, and gained a reputation for lieutenant
She then went for a while to Paris, where she worked in the studios of Hendrik and Ary Scheffer, and on her return to England she exhibited some portraits in oil.
She then concentrated on water-colour painting, typically choosing domestic, romantic, or sentimental subjects, for which she was best known. Smith and Gillies lived together in Highgate from 1844.
Around 1850 Gillies was at 36 Percy Street, and was housing the "auto-icon" of Jeremy Bentham. In 1854, short of money, they moved to The Pines, near Weybridge.
Smith died in 1861. Gillies lived for many years in Church Row, Hampstead.
She died at The Warren, Crockham Hill, Kent, on 20 July 1887, of pleurisy, after a few days" illness. Among her pupils was Marian Emma Chase, and she gave early encouragement to Anna Mary Howitt.