Mary Herbert
Watercolour Artist

ary Herbert (1817 - 1893) was the second daughter born to James Balfour and Lady Eleanor Maitland, daughter of the 8th Earl of Lauderdale. She enjoyed a happy childhood at home in Whittinghame, East Lothian, Scotland but also travelled extensively. As two of Mary's siblings were delicate children, the family were frequent visitors to various continental health resorts and spas.

Mary was a typical young 19th century lady and was educated by a permanent staff that travelled with the family. She did receive drawing lessons but little other formal artistic training. Mary married Henry Arthur Herbert in September 1837 bringing a large dowry to the union. Following their marriage, the couple returned to Muckross, which reminded Mary of the Highlands of her native Scotland.

While the present Muckross House was under construction (1839 - 1843), Mary travelled extensively overseas. Her four children were all born abroad between 1839 and 1846. During the years of the Great Famine (1845 - 1850) Mary helped raise money for famine relief. Returning to England following a visit to Muckross in 1848, she succumbed to typhus and was unable to return to Ireland with her children until late 1849.

In the years following her marriage, Mary continued to develop her talent as an artist, especially her skill as a landscape colourist. Initially her landscapes tended to be over-elaborate and fussy. But, with experience, her work became more relaxed, simplified and confident. She captured and depicted, with real talent, the Killarney landscape. For her husband's birthday in 1860 Mary presented him with an album of 42 landscape views of Killarney and surrounding district. This album is displayed in Muckross House. Her paintings received a special mention in the press at the time of Queen Victoria's visit in 1861:

'Perhaps the most valuable of all the ornaments of the saloons were to be found in the superb collection of watercolours in which Mrs Herbert has portrayed the most beautiful parts of the lakes. Among watercolour artists Mrs Herbert is held to be the most gifted amateur in the kingdom.'
(The Times, Friday, August 30th, 1861.)

Following her husband's death in 1866, Mary moved to London with her two daughters, Eleanor and Blanche. Here she renewed her literary and artistic friends. She enjoyed the company of, among others, her nephews Arthur and Francis Balfour. Arthur Balfour was Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1887 until 1891, a position that Mary's husband had also briefly held thirty years earlier. Arthur later became Prime Minister of Great Britain, from 1902 until 1905. Arthur is believed to have introduced Mary to the artist Edward Burne-Jones, a close friend of William Morris, of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Following her daughter Eleanor's marriage in 1871 to Thomas Thoroton Hildyard of Flintham Hall, Nottingham, Mary spent even more time abroad. She rented a property in Bellagio, a small town on the shore of Lake Como in Italy. Here she painted and entertained guests. But Mary never forgot Muckross and claimed that, 'she had only to close her eyes to be in Muckross', She died in London in 1893. Her body was returned to Ireland and she was buried with her husband in Killegy graveyard, close to Muckross House.