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Rosetta Harris, nee Lucas by George Frederick Harris (1856-1926) Cyfarthfa Castle Museum & Art Gallery Rosetta was the second wife of George Frederick Harris. The work was originally a larger portrait but was cut down by Cromwell Harris (George F. Harris' son), losing the signature and the date. Rosetta was originally the nanny to George's children before the couple eloped. This work dates from shortly after the death of her second son, Karl Harris in the First World War. A tear in Rosetta's eye is a sign for the sorrow she felt for the loss of her son. She is buried in the same plot as her husband at South Coogee.

George F. Harris' two elder sons (Claude and Cromwell) had immigrated to Perth Western Australia, and Harris and his remaining family followed in 1920. They settled briefly in Perth, before finally settling in Sydney, either in 1920, or by some accounts in 1921.

Settles in Sydney
Though George Harris' stay in Sydney before his death in 1924 proved to be a relatively short one, he threw himself into the city's art scene and he seems to have made a reasonable impact on the city. The Art Gallery of NSW website says that Harris was instrumental in the establishment of the Archibald Prize which has become Australia's most important portraiture and art prize, and he exhibited in the 1921 and 1922 competitions. Sydney Sand's Directory for 1923 shows Frederick Harris conducting business as a 'portrait artist' at 279 George Street, Sydney, where he also maintained his studio. He was in demand as a portrait painter for Sydney's well-known. Among the subjects painted by Harris is a notable portrait of politician George Warburton Fuller, who was premier of NSW from 1922 to 1925. Other portraits of notable Sydney people included Sir Herbert Maitland, the former Lord Mayor of Sydney Sir James Joynton Smith, Sir Owen Cox, former Prime Minister William M. Hughes, W. H O'Malley Wood, president of the State Savings Bank and the Most Wor. Bro. Thompson (ex-Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of Freemasons of New South Wales).

Harris also relied on photography to supplement his income. He did work for the Monte Luke photograph studio as well.

Harris bought a weahterboard house for his family at nearby Bell Street, Maroubra (named "Thanet") for £700. This is on the high side of northern Maroubra and looks down on Maroubra Bay. His daughter Pixie produced a number of views of Maroubra that seem to be from this vantage point.

Harris, long a keen and prominent Mason, joined the Maroubra Masonic Club.

Harris also painted still life, including one piece of a vase of flowers called "Pride of Australia" which he entered into the Royal Art Society's 1922 exhibition. The following year's exhibition he had another still life titled In The Larder", a collodion of eggs and other articles lit by a candle. The same exhibition included two line drawings by his daughter, described then as "Miss Pixie Harris".

A landscape that features a sailing boat and a ship near Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour was acquired by the State Library of New South Wales which has been reproduced as a favoured print which can be purchased from the Library.

Painting of Fort Denison on Sydney Harbour by George F. Harris

Buried at South Coogee
George F. Harris died on June 14, 1924 at Sydney Hospital of pneumonia after a stay in a private hospital at Kensington. Shortly before that he had sold the house at Maroubra and moved to Kensington to be cloer to his studio. He was 67 years old, and as mentioned above, was buried at South Coogee in the Randwick General Cemetery, not far from the family home at Maroubra, by Anglican rites. Rosetta died at Waverley in 1946 aged 71, and was buried with her late husband.

So, that explains how George F. Harris' grave with its remarkable headstone came to be in South Coogee - his headstone hoping for immortality. Harris had at least two notable descendants.

Rolf Harris
George and Rosetta Harris followed the two elder Harris boys to Perth in 1920. One of them was Crom (Cromwell) Harris (1896-1980) who married Marge Robbins in 1922. Cromwell and Marge had two children Bruce (born 1924) and the Rolf (born 1930). Their son Rolf Harris (30 March 1930 - 10 May 2023), and therefore George F. Harris' grandson, was the disgraced artist, musician and entertainer.

Pixie O'Harris
George F. Harris' daughter Rhona "Pixie" Olive became a famous Australia children's book author and artist. Because she disliked the name "Rhona", she used the nickname that had been bestowed upon on the voyage to Australia by ships' crew, "Pixie". Because of a later typographical error by a newspaper editor, Pixie O. Harris became Pixie O'Harris - a name she continued to use professionally from the 1920s.

She was educated at Maroubra Bay Primary School. According to her autobiograpy, she was the first "surfer girl" at Maroubra Beach to the disdain or her father who forbade her to be phographed in the surf or on the beach.

Pixie O'Harris became a successful and much loved Sydney artist, newspaper, magazine and book illustrator, author, broadcaster, caricaturist and cartoonist, designer of book plates, sheet music covers, stationery, and children's hospital ward fairy-style mural painter. She was awarded a number of commissions to paint fairytale themed murals in childrens hospitals across New South Wales including at Bulli Hospital, Manning Valley Hospital and the Prince of Wales Hospital. She was often aided by her brother Olaf Harris.

Pixie married Bruce Pratt (1902 - 1989), later the editor of the Australian Encyclopedia, in July 1928 and they lived at Watsons Bay where she kept her studio. They were often referred to in the press as Mr Bruce and Mrs Rona Pratt. The pair were awarded Bronze Medals for bravery by the Royal Humane and Shipwreck Society in 1932 for diving into Sydney Harbour from a ferry in January that year to rescue a drowning man who had fallen overboard from another ferry and been in the water for two hours. When the man's plight became known to ferry passengers, Pixie handed her 10 month old daughter to another passenger, and she and her husband dived into the water to support the floundering man.

Predeceased by her husband and survived by her three daughters, she died on 17 November 1991 at Lindfield, Sydney, and was cremated. As a prolific author and illustrator, Pixie Harris had become a much loved figure and household name in Australia.

A portrait of Pixie O'Harris c.1951 : National Portrait Gallery, Canberra.

Olaf Harris
Olaf Llewellyn Harris was the sixth child of George and Rosetta, born in 1900. He married Beatric Kay in Redfern in 1933. Olaf passed away in February 1996 at the age of 97.

In 1924, Olaf joined the commercial art establishment of Crisp Brothers, where he worked for sixteen years, excelling both as an artist and designer. He also attended Julian Ashton’s art school where he likely became acquainted with many budding artists.

Olaf enjoyed painting for pleasure, and in 1943, his portrait of his sister, Pixie O’Harris, was a finalist in the Archibald Prize. This notable work depicted Pixie with one of the fairy characters that made her popular among Australian readers. He was often referred to in the press as Olaf O'Harris.

In 1946, Olaf partnered with Robert Coates to form the successful company O’Harris Advertising. Olaf collaborated with Pixie on several mural projects for children's hospital wards, clinics, and nurseries. One significant project was commissioned by the Manning Base Hospital Ladies Auxiliary in 1957, where they created 7 of the 25 paintings to brighten the hospital environment. These works have since been rediscovered, restored, and exhibited.

(left) Pixie O'Harris portrait in 1943 Archibald Prize entry by Olaf Harris and (right) his self portrait

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