Barbara Macdonald was born Barbara Crisp, daughter of F.A. Crisp ('Manor House', Goldalming, Surrey) on 28 June 1892.
She trained as an artist in London before World War I, and began to exhibit before the war, including having two of her watercolours hung at the Royal Academy (Design & Art Australia Online). During the war, she worked as a cook in a soldier's hospital in London, where she likely met her husband: she married Captain Ian Macdonald, from a well-known Australian grazing family, in 1916. Macdonald's family ran Wantabadgery Station, which was notorious as the site of the capture of Captain Moonlite (Andrew Scott), who beseiged the station for two days in 1879 before being captured and subsequently hanged.
Ian Macdonald had been educated at Charterhouse and at Oxford (New College), before enlisting in 1914, as a lieutenant in the Leicestershire Yeomanry. He ended the war as a captain in the 16th (Queen's Own) Lancers ('Air Disaster'). After he was demobbed in 1919, he and Barbara sailed for Australia.
In Australia, she illustrated the children's books, A New Book of Old Rhymes (1920) and Princess Herminie and the Tapestry Prince and Other Stories (1922). She also wrote and illustrated The Epistles of Pamela for Home. Her other work included illustrations for the Sydney Mail (e.g., for Gertrude Hart's 'A Bachelor Gay'): it is likely that she contributed more artwork to Australian periodicals than has been traced. (See notes below for works illustrated by Macdonald that have not been individually indexed on AustLit.)
The Macdonalds divided their time between Australia and England, where they lived in Falcon Manor, Towcester, Northamptonshire. After c.1922, although her husband regularly returned to Australia, Barbara's visits were more occasional.
Contemporary newspapers noted that both her husband and her son had tragic ends:
The tragic sequence began when Ian Macdonald set out from Australia on his return to England, intending to divorce his wife and alter his will, leaving the bulk of his property to his son, Keith ('Kim') who was his only child. Mr. Macdonald was killed in a 'plane accident. His widow inherited nearly all the estate, married another man, and sold Wantabadgery to Sir Keith Murdoch, a distant relation. This distressed young Macdonald, for he was much attached to Wantabadgery. When he became engaged to Suzanne Crane, daughter of Captain Crane, E.N., of Flinders, Victoria, he was under age, and had to send several cables to his mother to get her consent to a speedy marriage. After a week's honeymoon in Sydney, he had an accident, driving to Melbourne. As you know, his bride was killed, and Kim shot himself after the funeral. ('The Macdonald Tragedy').
Captain Macdonald's death occurred in December 1937, at Brindisi. Kim (who had been educated in England) married in September 1940. His wife was killed in an accident on the Hume Highway on 1 October 1940, and Kim Macdonald shot himself after returning home from her funeral. It is unlikely that Barbara Macdonald had any further involvement with Australia after this time.
Barbara Macdonald married Major Clarence John Henry with whom, according to her death notice in the London Gazette, she lived at Stoneygreen Hall in Sussex. She died on 30 May 1969.
Sources:
'Air Disaster', Daily Advertiser, 7 December 1937, p.4.
'Barbara Macdonald', Design & Art Australia Online. https://www.daao.org.au/bio/barbara-macdonald/biography/ (Sighted: 10/9/2015).
'Flying Officer Found Shot', Western Star and Roma Advertiser, 11 October 1940, p.4.
'The Macdonald Tragedy', Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser, 18 October 1940, p.6.
'Well-known Grazier's Fate', News, 7 December 1937, p.6.
'Young Bride Killed in Smash', Barrier Miner, 2 October 1940, p.1.
(Compiled with the assistance of the NLA.)
