Portrait of Shirley Cameron Wilson

Painted by artist S. Fort while Shirley Cameron Wilson was serving in the Australian Army Nursing Services in New Guinea in 1944. Signed 'Fort '44 N.G.' at bottom right corner.

Little is known of the artist S Fort in the art world of published and online resources. Possibly she was a gifted amateur who was serving in New Guinea as the same time as her subject.

Shirley Cameron Wilson was part of a significant South Australian family. She was born at Kadina in South Australia in 1918 and went to school at Walford. During World War II she served in the Australian Army nursing service in Papua New Guinea. After the war she gained a Diploma in Social Science at the University of Adelaide with a distinction in social history.

Her interest in family history led her to accumulate and sort the papers of her father, grandfather and great-grandfather Wilson, her aunt Emily A.L. Wilson, her mother's Strawbridge heritage and her own sisters' after their deaths. She wrote a biography of one of her forbears, Thomas Wilson, who in 1842 became the second mayor of Adelaide and was South Australia's first recognised art collector.

Combining her interest in social history and art she began to research the social conditions of South Australia's women artists since colonisation, and From shadow into light is a wonderful memorial to her lifelong love of art. She became a volunteer guide at the Art Gallery of South Australia, and at Carrick Hill where she developed her knowledge of painting, furniture and the decorative arts.

In 1999 Shirley Cameron Wilson was awarded the medal of the Order of Australia. She donated her extensive collection of original artworks and the private papers of several families to the Library covering the years ca.1654-2003.

No copying or publication without written permission from donor's executors. Contact State Library for details.