Abstract
Henry Clarence Whaite (1828-1912) was an English artist, drawn to North Wales by his desire to paint the landscape, becoming part of a burgeoning arts scene based around Betws-y-Coed. Lily F. Whaite (1876-1959), his daughter, was an artist in her own right and one of the founding members of the first women's arts group in Wales, the Gwynedd Ladies’ Arts Society. The archive of H. Clarence and Lily F. Whaite, located at the National Library of Wales, is extensive in nature and includes a number of photographs, sketches, personal papers, and, crucially, personal letters among father, daughter, and Jane Alice Whaite (1836-1906), Lily's mother. Of particular interest for this examination are Lily Whaite's letters, spanning her preteens until her 30s, which pay heed to the life of a female artist in Wales. The letters (and the wider archive) form an impression of the life of a woman artist active in both local and national artist circles, her experiences living in Wales and other parts of the United Kingdom, and her relationships with family and other artists, and in this regard, the archive represents a key uncovering. In this article, I explore the opportunities presented by existing archival resources related to established and renowned men to shed light on underrepresented voices: those of Victorian women artists, including Lily F. Whaite.
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