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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

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Adela Russell Walker

1864
William P. Dowling

albumen print photograph, carte de visite format on paper on card (support: 10.6 cm x 6.3 cm, image: 9.2 cm x 5.5 cm)

Adela Russell Walker (1847–1932), the youngest of her parents' thirteen children, was born in Longford and was 22 when she married George Coleridge Nixon, who was the son of Francis Russell Nixon – an amateur artist and Anglican Bishop of Tasmania from 1843 to 1862. Adela and her husband eventually settled in a home in Elizabeth Bay, Sydney. George Nixon died, aged 41, in 1885. Thereafter, Adela appears to have resided at Rhodes with Anna and another of her unmarried sisters, Octavia. Adela never remarried, and died at Rhodes, aged 85, in June 1932. By this time, the Rhodes estate had been largely sold off and subdivided, with only the house itself and the block it occupied remaining in family hands. In 1936, when Octavia, the last of her siblings, died, the house was described as 'a veritable historical museum. On the walls were a number of oil paintings of the Blaxland family, including a fine painting of John Blaxland, and one of Miss Walker's mother.'

Purchased 2022

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. Works of art from the collection are reproduced as per the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). The use of images of works from the collection may be restricted under the Act. Requests for a reproduction of a work of art can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

Artist and subject

William P. Dowling (age 40 in 1864)

Adela R. Walker (age 17 in 1864)

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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

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