{{Short description|Australian author and illustrator (1933–2026)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}{{Use Australian English|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Annette Macarthur-Onslow | image = Annette_Macarthur-Onslow.png | caption = Macarthur-Onslow in 1954 | birth_name = Annette Rosemary Macarthur-Onslow | birth_date = {{Birth date|1933|03|31|df=y}} | birth_place = Australia | death_date = {{Death date and age|2026|04|25|1933|03|31|df=y}} | death_place = Camden, New South Wales, Australia | education = East Sydney Technical College | occupation = {{hlist|Author|Illustrator|Artist}} | known_for = ''Uhu'' (1969) | notable_works = {{hlist |Uhu |Minnie |Pastures of the Blue Crane }} | awards = {{hlist |CBCA Book of the Year (1970) |Diplôme d'Honneur, Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (1971) }} }}
'''Annette Rosemary Macarthur-Onslow''' (31 March 1933 – 25 April 2026) was an Australian author and book illustrator. She was best known for her 1969 book, ''Uhu'', which won the CBCA Book of the Year in 1970.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date= |title=Judges' awards |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110331635 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307204358/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110331635 |archive-date=2023-03-07 |access-date=2024-12-14 |website=The Canberra Times}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Born on 31 March 1933, Macarthur-Onslow was the eldest daughter of Winifred Owen and Edward Macarthur-Onslow. She completed her secondary education at Frensham School, Mittagong, later attended by her siblings, Pamela (Harrison, 1936–2012) and Phoebe (Atkinson, 1939–2018).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wrigley |first=John |date=2018-01-18 |title=Phoebe Macarthur-Onslow, Sydney model, socialite, 'wild child' and aviatrix |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/phoebe-macarthuronslow-sydney-model-socialite-wild-child-and-aviatrix-20180118-h0ka0k.html |access-date=2024-12-14 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref> She then studied art at East Sydney Technical College.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Annette Macarthur-Onslow |url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A46709 |access-date=2024-12-14 |website=AustLit: Discover Australian Stories |publisher=The University of Queensland}}</ref>
== Career == Macarthur-Onslow worked for a time in Sydney as a commercial artist. She also assisted Norman Hetherington with his puppets at department stores and, in 1957, live on ABC television.<ref>{{cite news |last=Packer |first=R. C. |date=12 December 1956 |title=Television Parade |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41852309 |accessdate=15 December 2024 |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |location=Australia |page=10 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=24 |issue=}}</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=E9BYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yOQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2423%2C5681493 ''ABN Channel 2: Wednesday 25 December 1957: 4:00PM:'' "KINDERGARTEN PLAYTIME — Jan McKay introduces the Meryla Puppets with Norm. Hetherington and Annette MacArthur-Onslow", ''Sydney Morning Herald TV Guide'', (Monday, 23 December 1957), p.4.]</ref> She left for London by sea in January 1958, planning to study puppetry there and in Europe.<ref>{{cite news |date=20 November 1957 |title=Worth Reporting |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48208038 |accessdate=15 December 2024 |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |location=Australia |page=34 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=25 |issue=24}}</ref> She continued her art studies while working for publishers, including Oxford University Press (OUP).<ref name=":0" />
In the early 1960s Macarthur-Onslow began illustrating children's books for Australian and British authors. Gwen Hutchings wrote of her work in Sheena Porter's ''Nordy Bank'' that "the fine line drawings by Annette Macarthur-Onslow at times show exquisite detail, while others are shadowy and impressionistic".<ref>{{cite news |last=Hutchings |first=Gwen |date=8 May 1965 |title=FOR YOUNG READERS Bringing up a badger |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105842590 |accessdate=15 December 2024 |newspaper=The Canberra Times |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=39 |issue=11,150}}</ref> The book won the 1965 Carnegie Medal,<ref name=":2">{{cite news |date=6 July 1965 |title=Advertising |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105759326 |accessdate=15 December 2024 |newspaper=The Canberra Times |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=39 |issue=11,200}}</ref> while Hesba Brimsmead's ''Pastures of the Blue Crane'' which she illustrated for OUP won that year's CBCA Book of the Year.<ref name=":2" /> ''Uhu'', which she wrote and illustrated, won the CBCA Book of the Year in 1970.<ref name=":1" /> It is the story of a small tawny owl in the Gloucestershire countryside.<ref name=":1" />
Macarthur-Onslow was the first author/illustrator to represent Australia at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava in 1971, where she was awarded a Diplome d'Honneur for ''Uhu'' and ''Minnie''.<ref name=":0" />
== Death == Macarthur-Onslow died in Camden on 25 April 2026, at the age of 93.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2026-05-02 |title=Annette Macarthur-Onslow Obituary |url=https://tributes.smh.com.au/au/obituaries/smh-au/name/annette-macarthur-onslow-obituary?id=61374123 |access-date=2026-05-03 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref>
== Selected publications ==
=== As author/illustrator === * ''Uhu'', Ure Smith, 1969 * ''Minnie'', Ure Smith, 1971 * ''Round House'', Collins, 1975 * ''The Giant Bamboo Happening'', John Ferguson, 1982
=== As illustrator === * ''Animal Stories'' by Ruth Manning-Sanders, OUP, 1961 * ''Half a World Away'' by Nan Chauncy, OUP, 1962 * ''Pastures of the Blue Crane'' by Hesba Brinsmead, OUP, 1964 * ''Winged Skis'' by Elyne Mitchell, Hutchinson, 1964 * ''Victoria: the story of a great queen'' by Elisabeth Kyle, Thomas Nelson, 1964 * ''Nordy Bank'' by Sheena Porter, OUP, 1965 * ''Silver Brumbies of the South'' by Elyne Mitchell, Hutchinson, 1965 * ''Silver Brumby Kingdom'' by Elyne Mitchell, Hutchinson, 1966 * ''Birds: Poems'' by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1967 * ''Trim'' by Matthew Flinders, Collins, 1977 * ''The Man from Snowy River'' by Banjo Paterson, Nelson, 1986
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41852309 Annette Macarthur-Onslow with puppet, Nicky] {{Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers}}{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macarthur-Onslow, Annette}} Category:1933 births Category:2026 deaths Category:20th-century Australian illustrators Category:20th-century Australian women writers Category:Australian children's writers Category:Australian children's book illustrators Category:Australian women children's writers Category:Australian women children's book illustrators Category:National Art School alumni