Helen Allingham (1848-1926) Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson was born on the 26th of September, 1848 in Swadlincote, near Burton on Trent in Derbyshire. She was the eldest of seven children. Her father was Alexander Henry Paterson, a rural physician, and her mother was Mary Chance Herford, daughter of a Manchester wine merchant. Before Helen was one year old, the Patersons moved to Altrincham, Cheshire where Helen's father had a medical practice. Her grandmother and her aunt were also accomplished artists. Helen's father died when he was 13. He died of diphtheria while treating other victims of the disease. Her sister Isabel also died of the disease. The family then moved to Birmingham and Helen went to Birmingham School of Design, and then at 17 went to the Royal Female School of Art in London. In 1867 she joined the Royal Academy School. Helen Allingham was influenced by Frederick walker, Sir Frederick Leighton and Sir John Everett Millais, the co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Although there were no school fees to pay, Allingham worked with engraving firms, sketching scenes for magazines and books to pay for her accommodation. In 1870 Helen began working at The Graphic, and by 1872 she left the Academy to work as a commercial artist. She received a commission to illustrate Thomas Harding's Far from the madding Crowd. At this time she met the Irish Poet William Allingham and they married on 22nd August 1874. William Allingham was born in Ballyshanon, Ireland and he was 24 years older than Helen - almost twice her age when they got married. He was an established poet and he was friends with Thomas Carlyle, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, John Ruskin and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Helen and William Allingham lived in Trafalgar Square. After marrying, Helen left her job and concentrated on her watercolours. She exhibited 2 paintings at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1874. Both works sold and she secured further commissions as a result. She became an Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1875 - later she was the first woman to be admitted to full membership. Helen and William Allingham had three children. Gerald Carlyle was born in 1875, Eva Margaret was born in 1877 and Henry William was born in 1882. Allingham lived in London for 7 years, and during this time she exhibited over one hundred watercolours, and she used her children as models in many of them. The family moved to Surrey in 1881 and took up residence at Sandhills near Witley. It was from here that Helen Allingham gained her reputation for painting Surrey cottages. Owing to the ill-health of her husband, the family returned to live in London in 1888 and moved to Hampstead, but she frequently returned to Surrey to paint. William died in 1889, leaving Helen dependent on her painting for the family income. As a prolific painter, she continued to paint and exhibit until she died in 1926 of a sudden illness while visiting a friend in Haslemere. She was 78 years old.

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