Beatrice Annie Fairless
Epithet: Artist (1883-1943)
Record type: Biographies
Biography: Beatrice Annie Fairless was born in 1883, in Somerset. Her father was Rev. Thomas I. Fairless, and she was the youngest of three daughters. The family moved to live on the Isle of Man when Fairless was young, as her father was working as a Methodist minister in Castletown and her mother worked for many years as the manager of Martin’s Bank in Ramsey. Fairless attended the Douglas School of Art between 1901 and 1907, inspiring her to paint many works of art - which often depicted local scenes and people's daily lives. Fellow artist, William Hoggatt, took interest in Fairless’s art - and they painted together regularly whilst she entered into exhibitions.
It is reported that Fairless suffered from arthritis for much of her later life. Constance Radcliffe, a contemporary to Fairless, described her as 'a thin little lady, pale and rather stooped' in her later life. However, Fairless was also described by the Ramsey Courier as ‘extremely bright and cheerful and a most pleasant personality to meet’. She died at the family home in 1943 and the Isle of Man Courier remembered her as 'an artist of considerable ability…her water colourings of Manx scenes were a real delight to the eye'. In 1950 her sister, Maud Fairless, gave many of her paintings to friends and acquaintances in Ramsey when she moved lodgings. It can be presumed there are many still in houses in Castletown to this day. One of Fairless’s most prominent paintings depicts The White House at Hango Hill, c.1910.
Occupation / profession: Artist
Gender: Female
Date of birth: 1883
Place of birth: Somerset
Date of death: 1943
Place of death: Isle of Man
Name Variant: Fairless, Beatrice A.