Andrew MacCormac
Andrew MacCormac was a portrait painter in South Australia.
History
Andrew was born on 23 December 1826 in Banbridge, County Down, Ireland and studied at Lee's Academy in London. His father John MacCormac was the town clerk of Banbridge County Down, Ireland. Andrew was persuaded to come to Australia by the G. C. King, Town clerk of Melbourne, who was in England lobbying to stop the transportation of convicts to Victoria. MacCormac and his wife travelled by steamer Golden Age to Melbourne in 1854. He was ordained a minister of the Presbyterian Church, but at some stage became a Baptist. He moved to South Australia in 1868 and ministered to the Moonta Baptist Church for a year, then moved to North Adelaide where he turned professional portraitist in oils.He was also a writer and poet of some ability. He published one small volume of verse Via Crucis; or Death and Life dedicated to Lord Hallam Tennyson.
He attempted painting landscapes, but those he exhibited at the Adelaide Easel Club, of which he was a member, were received without enthusiasm.
Some portraits
- Sir Henry Ayers
- Sir Richard Baker
- Sir John Cox Bray
- John Howard Clark
- Sir Lewis Cohen
- G. W. Cotton
- Daniel Cudmore
- John Darling, Sr.
- Rev. James Jefferis Congregationalist minister
- George S. Kingston
- Sir William Milne
- Sir John Morphett
- Admiral W. J. S. Pullen
- Sir Robert Ross
- Sir R. R. Torrens
- Rev. James Way Congregationalist minister
- John Whinham, founder of North Adelaide Grammar School
- Silas Mead, founding minister of Flinders street Baptist Church, portrait hangs in Mead Hall at Flinders Street Baptist Church.
Family
He married Emily Mary Johnson. Their children included:- Alexander Henry MacCormac married Esther May Leedham on 14 September 1910 at the residence of her parents at Bowden on the Hill, SA
- Nicholas Chevalier MacCormac married Margaret Mary Edith Turner on 12 April 1906 in Goodwood, SA
- David Johnson MacCormac
- Mitchell Henry MacCormac married Mary Louise McGregor on 14 January 1915 at the Methodist Parsonage South Terrace, Adelaide
- Idelette MacCormac Never married
- Muriel MacCormac married Harry Thomas Percy Macklin on 19 August 1899 in Cuthburt Street Prospect, lived at Semaphore
- Emily Mary MacCormac
- Irene MacCormac married Friedrich Wilhelm Altmann on 16 October 1915, lived at Wilmington
Recognition
- He was awarded a gold medal at the International Exhibition in London 1862.
- He was awarded a gold medal at the International Exhibition in London 1873.
- Samples of his work are held by the Art Gallery of South Australia.
- Several of his portraits adorn the chamber walls of the House of Assembly, Adelaide City Council and the Town of Gawler.