Payne was born on 7 May 1885 at Kangaroo Point, Brisbane, daughter of English-born parents Arthur Peel Payne, shipping clerk, and his wife Julia Finch, née Batchellor. At an early age Payne studied at the Brisbane Technical College under Godfrey Rivers, and exhibited with the Queensland Art Society. In the period 1905 to 1907, Payne travelled Britain and Europe with her mother, during which time Payne studied at the Académie Colarossi, the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, ‘La Grande Chaumière', and Frank Brangwyn's studio in London. Payne sent articles about her ‘grand tour’ back to Queensland to be published in the Brisbane Courier. Upon her return to Brisbane, Payne took up work as a commercial artist for the Courier, the Queenslander, the Bulletin, and for Finney Isles & Co.'s department store (commercial catalogues), and the Australasian Union Steam Navigation Company (travel brochures).
By 1916 Payne had left Queensland and lived in Sydney. In 1934 Payne became the Founding President of the Women's Industrial Arts Society. It is said that Payne assisted former Nationalist Prime Minister, Billy Hughes, campaigned for the House of Representatives seat of North Sydney in 1946. It suggests a conservative outlook for Payne, but further research is required.
See Frances Mallalieu Payne on Scatterplot Matrix.
References
Philp, Angela. 'Payne, Frances Mallalieu (Frank) (1885–1976)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/payne-frances-mallalieu-frank-11354/text20281, published first in hardcopy 2000, accessed online 6 September 2015.
Frances (Frank or Frankie) Mallalieu Payne (1885–1976)
Artist – Illustrator, Painter
