Edith Dorothy Rees (1891 - 1967; Stamford Hill, London, UK)
E Dorothy Rees was an accomplished and prolific illustrator of children's books, who was most active during the 1920s - 1950s and her art style is reminiscent of Mabel Lucy Attwell.

Dorothy Rees, Edith was born in the Stamford Hill area of London in 1891, just as the Victoria era was coming to a close. She was a young woman during the First World War and in December 1916 she married George Vergette of Towngate House at St Michael and All Angels Church in Southfields, Wandsworth.

Already a budding artist, the country air fuelled the muse of this iconic illustrator and soon her lovable cherubic-style depictions of children were dancing over the pages of much-loved story books. Dorothy clearly had an eye to the commercial appeal of her books, and Nursery Rhymes with Sauc(e)y endings were traditional rhymes adapted to include references to HP Sauce.

She drew Billy and Betty for the nursery comic Chick's Own in 1920. The ABC Stories were published by Geographica in 1916 and in 1929 the Hull Mail recommended people ‘to buy for your children the Forget me Knot Book of Nursery Rhymes illustrated by E. Dorothy Rees’.

In 1930 when Dean & Sons first published Enid Blyton's book Jolly Days, it was Dorothy Rees who provided the cover illustration. She also designed picture cut-out books and in 1933 two were published: My Book of Dolls Ready to Dress and My Model Village to Cut Out.

When George died in 1936, Dorothy remained a widow for many years until in 1946 she married Eric Thacker. The couple set up home in Epping and it was here that Dorothy died in 1967.

Dorothy was a prolific artist but she still found time to raise a family. Son Nicholas was born in 1923. Inheriting his mother's artist talent, he became a well-known ceramicist and had his work exhibited in art galleries and museums in Britain, Europe and in the USA. His studies at the Chelsea School of Art were interrupted for five years when he served in the RAF during the Second World War. He married in the UK and then left these shores for the USA where he was Professor of Art & Design at Illinois University from 1960-74, when sadly he died from cancer aged just fifty.

Her eldest son, Bob worked on the farm with Mike Vergette, having been wounded during the Second World War; he had served first with a commissioned rank with the Mounted Artillery preparing for a campaign in Norway but was wounded while serving with the Royal Artillery in the Mediterranean and had transferred to the Parachute Regiment. A skilled horseman he was a successful steeple chase rider and followed the Cottesmore and Fitzwilliam hounds. But his hobby was art, and he specialised in wood sculpture. Before his premature death following a fall from his horse at the age of 33 in 1952, several examples of his work were exhibited in Peterborough.

Her younger sister Gladys was also an illustrator, working in watercolours. Gladys studied at the Chelsea School of Art where she later became a teacher. She often combined her painting with illustrative work and she was commissioned to do work for the London Underground. Although married to John P. Teasdale in 1927 she often signed her work using her maiden name. Living in Ryhall, she exhibited widely throughout the UK, including at the Royal Academy, and she often had her own shows in this county, mainly at the Arts Centre in Stamford.
Source: Illustration Art Gallery; Market Deeping, Lincolnshire