Betty (Flower) Temple Watts

Ancestors

Descendants

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Biography

Betty (Flower) Temple Watts is Notable.

Joan Margaret Flower or "Betty" as she always asked to be called, was born in 1901.

She was the daughter of Arthur Smyth Flower and Alberta Maitland Chambers.^[1]

She married Hal Temple Watts in 1927, at twenty-six years of age.^[2]

They travelled the world, starting with the USA shortly after they were married. Travelling was a way of life with husband Hal working as an Engineer in the oil exploration business, a critical industry during the years of World War II.

Everywhere Betty travelled she had a pencil and sketch book and she continually sketched and painted in water colours. They lived in Persia (before it was Iran) then Papua and finally settled down in Victoria, Australia. There were odd trips to Canada and England to visit family but they were putting down roots, slowly and surely.

Betty honed her drawing and painting skills everywhere she went and eventually it paid off. High speed cameras were not yet invented for the person on the street so birds had to be painted in order to see the details of their plumage, beaks etc.

Betty was just the person to step into this vocation and she took it on with gusto.

She was asked to paint for such publications as "Birds of the Australian High Country" by Harry Frith of the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). Betty and Hal moved to Canberra so Betty could be closer to the scientists at the CSIRO. After years of painting birds for publication, Betty was finally an accomplished bird artist known for her beautiful renderings of (especially) native Australian birds. She also designed and painted two runs of Australian stamps featuring birds.^[3]

Her talent and accomplishments are described on Wikipedia^[4]

Hal passed away in 1971 and Betty moved from Canberra to live with her youngest son on a farm near Pittsworth on the Darling Downs in southern Queensland.

Betty's little cottage at "Karinya V" (Irongate)

Betty wasted no time in making friends and often bird watchers would venture to the farm to spend the day with her spotting various species of bird in the surrounding countryside. Some of the friends she made became lifelong friends. People like the late Dorothy, wife of David (Dave) Gordon, late of Myall Park, Glenmorgan, Queensland and breeder of the Grevilia "Robyn Gordon" ^[5], and the late Betty Ballingal would often call to visit Betty at the farm.

When the family moved to another farm at Oakey in 1975, Betty moved her little house there on a truck and rebuilt her garden from scratch for a second time. She was an avid gardener and although she was now finding it more difficult to get down on the ground to arrange stones and look after plants, she would always find a way to carry on. She had a beatiful garden full of native plants. Everything from succulents to Grevillias and Banksias and at Oakey... rocks, rocks everywhere!

Betty with Husband, Hal and grandson.

Betty painted many birds during her life on both farms and some went on to grace the walls of galleries and museums.^[6] In the age of the high speed camera it seems anyone can get a picture of a bird, but to depict the bird in such a way as to show all its plumage and other characteristics is still a skill belonging to artists such as Betty.

Betty Temple Watts passed away in1992 at a nursing home for the aged in the state of Queensland, Australia. She spent her last hours with her youngest and shortest-lived son sitting by her bedside. I remember this because I was a couple of rooms away from my father when my grandmother passed. She managed a formidable 91 Years of age which left behind a lagacy of beautiful artworks that will live on in memory of all those who see them.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Betty's Birth at FamilySearch

   "England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008."

   Plomesgate, Suffolk, England. Jul-Aug-Sep, 1901.

   Volume: 4A, Page: 1089, Line: 82.

2. ↑ Betty's Marriage

   "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005,"

   St.Thomas, Devon, 1927, Apr-May-Jun.

   Page: 143; Affiliate Line#: 5; Volume: 5B.

3. ↑ Betty's Australian Stamps
4. ↑ Betty on Wikipedia
5. ↑ Grevillea Robyn Gordon
6. ↑ Australian National Library: Betty Temple Watts

   "National Library of Australia: Temple Watts, Betty (1901-1992)"

   (Trove database: 29 December 2021)

7. ↑ Betty's Memorial at FindaGrave

See also:

• Wikipedia : Betty Temple Watts

• Wikidata: Item Q59440263, en:Wikipedia