Born

3 May 1877
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Died

15 April 1941
Perth, Western Australia

Occupation

Botanical artist, Equestrienne, Journalist and Print Journalist

Alternative Names

• Ixia (pen name)
• Sims, Emily (maiden name)

Summary

Born in St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, Emily Pelloe was educated at a private school in South Yarra before moving with her family to Western Australia. In 1902 she was married in Perth to Theodore Parker Pelloe, a bank manager. The pair had no children.

A member of the Perth Riding Club, Pelloe competed successfully in equestrian events in Sydney, Melbourne, Launceston and Perth. She made several long rides in New South Wales and Western Australia. In 1916 she turned her talents to the study of botany, and went on to produce a number of illustrated publications including Wildflowers of Western Australia. Some of her landscape watercolours were purchased by government departments.

From 1920, Pelloe was writing the 'Women's Interests' column for the West Australian. She supported the Country Women's Association, the Women Writers' Club, and the Women's Riding Club. A year after her death, Pelloe's husband Theodore presented 400 of her wildflower paintings to the University of Western Australia.