Sketches by Mavis Lightly

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Mavis Lightly

1967

Subcollections

Overview

Sketches of Busselton scenes by Mavis Lightly August 1967
1. St Mary's Church of England Built 1843
2. Early view of Albert Street looking west 1858 (taken from old photo)
3. Prospect Villa built by James Chapman 1855

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-124-2023.94

Item type

Ephemera

Themes

Art and Design

Material

Paper

Width

375 mm

Height or length

275 mm

Contextual Information

Mavis LIGHTLY (nee Allen) was born in Collie on 2 December 1911. Her paternal grandfather was an engineer in the family business W. H. Allen of Belfast, Ireland. When her father was 16 his family migrated to Australia and his father died of a snake bite shortly after their arrival.
Mavis’s father was an engineer and installed engines for the mining industry and her mother was from a farming family in Victoria. Mavis had a happy childhood – she had two brothers, Eric and Jack (who built a garage in Albert Street and named it Allen’s Garage), and three sisters, Ruby, Pearl and Stella, two of whom died as babies. Mavis was the youngest. She started school at five and a half years and left at 15 years but continued being tutored in art. She became an inaugural member of the Art Society in Busselton.

Mavis married Bruce Lightly at 20 years of age in 1932 and moved to Perth when her husband joined the Air Force. After the war, they returned to Busselton where Bruce worked for the Agricultural Bank, then joined Wesfarmers and went farming. They had two children, Lyn Elizabeth (who has three children) born in 1935 and Ian Bruce (who has two children) born in 1940.

Mavis became a serious painter and a student of Margaret Johnson. She used oil and also liked drawing on paper with charcoal being interested in all subjects – landscape, still life, and portraits. Mavis had her first Art Exhibition in 1952 in the Country Women’s Association Hall and every item was sold.

Her husband died suddenly of a heart attack in 1969 at the age of 58 and she sold the house and moved to Perth.
https://www.busseltonlibraries.com.au/portfolio-items/lightly-mavis/

Keywords

Mavis Lightly

Busselton

St Mary's Church Busselton

Prospect Villa

Albert Street

Place made

Busselton
Western Australia
Australia

Year

1967

Busselton Historical Society

Organisation Details
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