Mrs. Elizabeth Simcoe, 1790
Artist: Burges, Mary Anne (1763-1813)
Medium: grey and blue wash on wove paper
Dimensions: 15.1 x 12 cm (oval sheet)

Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim (1766-1850) married John Graves Simcoe in 1782 and accompanied him to Canada in 1791 when he took up his post as the first lieutenant-governer of the newly created Province of Upper Canada (Ontario). She was a petite woman with a vivacious but exciting nature, and during the five years she spent in Canada, she kept a diary in which she recorded her day-to-day experiences and observations. She also produced many watercolours of the landscape and settlements, some of which are in the National Archives of Canada.

This portrait is by Mrs. Simcoe's close friend Mary Anne Burges and was done on the eve of her departure for Canada. It was acquired by the NA in 1972 from the Simcoe family.

National Archives of Canada, negative no. C-081931