Project Institutions

The Gwillim Archives is a digital archive. The letters and watercolours are held in three institutions - the Blacker Wood Natural History Collection at McGill University in Montreal, the South Asia Collection Museum in Norwich in the UK, and the British Library in London.

Small bird with a greyish-brown head and back, brown wings and fanned tail, pale yellow front, black beak with long bristles at the base, and pink legs; perches on a branch facing left with tail angled upwards.
Gwillim, Elizabeth, 1763-1807 | 1763 à 1807
Jungle Prinia (Prinia sylvatica) | Prinia forestière

Blacker Wood Natural History Collection

Elizabeth Gwillim's watercolours are held in the Blacker Wood Natural History Collection at McGill University Library in Montreal, Canada. There are 121 bird paintings and 12 watercolours of flowers. The Blacker Wood also holds 28 fish paintings by Mary Symonds or an unknown Indian artist.

The collection is available online in the McGill Archival Collections Catalogue

A man and woman sit in a palanquin draped in red cloth with plumes of red feathers and white tassels along the top with one larger tassel in the centre, and a decorative animal head at the end of the front carrying pole; carried by 4 men in loincloths and blue head coverings; a tree to the left, behind a man entering a straw hut.
Symonds, Mary, 1772-? | 1772 à ?
A Hindoo bride and bridegroom in their palanquin 1804 | Femme hindoue et son époux dans leur palanquin, 1804

The South Asia Collection

The South Asia Collection Museum in Norwich (UK) is administered by the South Asian Decorative Arts and Crafts Trust. The 'Madras Album' contains 78 watercolours attributed to Mary Symonds and other artists. The Museum is a partner in the Gwillim Research Project.

For more information about the collection, visit: South Asian Museum

A handwritten address on a square sheet of paper with a red circular seal at bottom and lines showing four foldmarks.
Cover of a letter from Mary Symonds addressed to her sister Hester James, written 19 August 1803. Courtesy of British Library (Mss Eur C240)

British Library

The British Library, India Office and Private Papers, in London (UK) holds the letters of Elizabeth Gwillim and Mary Symonds (Mss Eur C240). In 2019 McGill University applied for and received an Orphan Works License to share the letters and transcriptions for non-commercial purposes. For more information about this collection, see the British Library.

Other collections have also provided resources to the project.

Brightly coloured painting of a man and woman seated beneath trees under a dark sky and before a pond with flowers and birds.
Unknown artist, Radha and Krishna seek shelter from the rain

Aga Khan Museum

The Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada presents and collects art from historically significant Muslim civilizations as well as contemporary Muslim communities and diasporas around the world. The Museum is a partner in the Gwillim Research Project. For more information about the collection, visit Aga Khan Museum.