I said in my previous post that I hadn't been able to find out anything about E. Joyce Shillington Scales, other than the fact that she was born in 1897. At the time, I also couldn't find any reference to any artwork by her, aside from her contribution to Tedious Brief Tales of Granta and Gramarye by Arthur Gray. Well, no sooner had I said that than I stumbled across one of her etchings, The Library and King's College Chapel, for sale at a London print gallery, so I bought that. Then, after a bit of digging, I discovered a few entries in local newspapers, including an engagement announcement; in March 1930 she got engaged to Dermot Cather (brother of Geoffrey St. George Shillington Cather VC), and they married later that year.
She seems to have dropped the 'E.' (for Elizabeth) and simply called herself Joyce. She was the youngest daughter of Dr. Francis Shillington Scales, one of the early pioneers of radiology, who was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge. Her family home was no. 4 Adams Road, Cambridge, where her father pioneered x-ray techniques in the garage.
I realise that all of the above information may well be of interest to nobody but me, but I like Shillington Scales' illustrations for Arthur Gray's book so much that I simply can't help being curious about her.
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| The Library and King's College Chapel, etching with aquatint, signed and dated in pencil, E. Joyce Shillington Scales, 1923. |
When Joyce died her wedding ring was gifted to her cousin Mabel Shillingford (nee Shillington) and subsequently Mabel bequeathed it to my wife Deborah who is wearing it at this moment. Joyce and Dermot were both at our wedding.
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