Annie Dorrington

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Annie Dorrington (1866–1926) was an Australian painter known for her watercolours of Western Australian wildflowers. Born Annie Whistler near Southampton, England, she was the second of nine children. After her father’s death, the family moved to Melbourne, and in 1892 Annie married Charles Dorrington. The couple later moved to Western Australia, living in Fremantle and Perth. Annie became famous for botanical paintings—often detailed and realistic, sometimes with brighter colours—showing wildflowers such as morning iris, waxflower, and kangaroo paw.

In 1901 she entered Australia’s Federal Flag Design Competition under the pseudonym Ahasuerus, and was the first named and the only woman among five entrants who designed similar flags; she shared the £200 prize with the other four winners. By 1901 she was exhibiting widely, and London’s Franco-British Exhibition in 1908 featured about 50 of her paintings. To support herself, she taught painting classes at home from 1902 to 1906.

Dorrington suffered from depression and spent time in Claremont Mental Hospital in 1908 and 1918. In 1914 the couple moved to Serpentine, where Charles worked as a farmer and fruit grower. Annie died of cancer in 1926 at the age of 60; Charles died in 1935. In 1936, many of her paintings were donated to the Art Gallery of Western Australia, and she is remembered as an important Western Australian flower painter and as a designer of the Australian flag. A commemorative monument at her grave was added in 1999, with further restorations and recognitions occurring in subsequent years.