Barbara Briggs became an internationally respected wildlife artist, printer, illustrator and traveller before devoting herself to campaigning for working women’s rights in post-war Canada. In September 2026 she will be honoured with a blue plaque in Wakefield alongside her cousin, Gertrude McPherson, whose story has already been told by Yorkshire Bylines.
Following in remarkable footsteps
Readers who enjoyed Gertrude McPherson’s story will recognise another member of the highly respectable and opulent Briggs family. Their grandfather, Isaac Briggs, was a pioneering engineer engaged in railway and canal construction across England.
Barbara Briggs (1887–1976) grew up in Wakefield at a time of profound social change. Like her cousin Gertrude, she had an enquiring mind hungry to be fed and thrived under headmistress Gertrude McCroben at Wakefield Girls’ High School. This then linked her to formidable women from Wakefield who were campaigning locally, regionally and nationally for advancements in women’s health care, education and equal suffrage.
Barbara’s first love, however, was art and her own path would lead her far beyond Yorkshire, establishing her as an internationally recognised wildlife artist, illustrator and later an advocate for women’s rights in Canada.
Her talent for and interest in observational, detailed art were recognised early. In 1906 she was awarded 2nd class in anatomy from Wakefield’s Technical and Art School.
As a member of the Yorkshire Union of Artists, she exhibited widely in the years leading up to the First World War, making a name for herself as an exemplary watercolourist of landscapes with a penchant for her ‘several clever humorous watercolours.
Art during wartime
Like many women during the First World War, Barbara supported the war effort, serving with a Voluntary Aid Detachment in the canteen at Wentworth House, then operating as a military hospital.
Even while carrying out wartime duties, she continued exhibiting her work.
Her painting Still Life appeared in the Royal Scottish Academy exhibition in 1919. By 1922, three paintings – Aysgarth, Still Life, and Silvery Sunshine – had been accepted by the Society of Women Artists, one of Britain’s most prestigious organisations devoted to promoting female artists. Acceptance there marked Barbara as an artist whose reputation was extending well beyond Yorkshire.
Opening doors
Barbara increasingly collaborated with writers on commercial publications, illustrating children’s books including All About Pets: Told in Stories by Lillian Gask, published in 1921.
As a result of this, Barbara was commissioned by publisher Sir Humphrey Sumner Milford to produce animal illustrations for the books and postcards aimed at their younger readers. Never happier than when painting animals, a passion she had developed from childhood, this commission opened doors for her in London.
As an only child educated at home by one of the wealthiest families in Wakefield, Barbara had access to notable people through her extensive family network. One of those was Henry Crowther, a curator at Leeds Museum, who delivered lectures to thousands of children about insects and animals. Crowther, along with David Seth Smith, zoologist and fellow member of the London Zoological Society, nominated Barbara to become a fellow in 1925.
Women supporting women
The Zoological Society was one of the first learned societies to admit women on equal terms with men.
Barbara joined an impressive group of female Fellows including suffragist and reptile expert Joan Procter and broadcaster, journalist and golfer Eleanor Helme. Barbara later collaborated with Helme on a series of books called the Friends of Field and Forest series, producing detailed wildlife illustrations of animals that might be found in the wild which were subsequently used in schools because of both their artistic quality and botanical accuracy.
Following her father’s death in 1925 she spent increasing amounts of time studying animal anatomy at London Zoo. Although she continued to give her family home in Wakefield as her address, documents already show her spending significant periods in British Columbia in Canada.
A woman who travelled the world
Barbara’s determination to study wildlife in its natural environment took her around the globe. Canadian artist Katharine Maltwood later recalled:
“Wishing to see wild nature (‘the wilder the better,’ she said), Mrs Woodward became an ardent traveller.”
Barbara sketched wildlife on African safaris and travelled into Arctic regions seeking new subjects. Wherever she travelled, her work continued to be exhibited in Britain, and her illustrations were recommended to schools as outstanding examples of wildlife and botanical art.
Canada and a new chapter
Barbara probably met engineer Edward John Tindal Woodward during a transatlantic voyage in 1931. They married in British Columbia in 1938 and settled near Victoria.
There she quickly became active within the Island Arts and Crafts Society, while major solo exhibitions in the Vancouver Gallery during the 1940s led to commissions to paint wildlife for the luxury Canadian Pacific coastal passenger car ferries Princess Patricia and Princess Marguerite.
Art and activism
After the Second World War Barbara increasingly turned her attention to women’s rights.
As many women found themselves expected to surrender jobs they had undertaken during the war, Barbara joined the Victoria Business and Professional Women’s Club. The organisation campaigned nationally and locally for women’s employment rights, educational opportunities and equality, influencing public policy especially for women of colour. The club also defended the rights of single and married women to remain in paid work – a controversial position at the time.
Barbara served as one of its directors between 1947 and 1948, placing her at the heart of campaigns that helped shape opportunities for working women in post-war Canada.
A lasting legacy
Barbara continued painting under her maiden name until her death in 1976 at the age of 89.
She is remembered across two continents for bringing wildlife vividly to life through her paintings and illustrations. Her colour plates of British birds remained classroom teaching aids for many years and can still be found in books today.
In September 2026 Barbara Briggs will become the 33rd Dream Time Creative Forgotten Woman of Wakefield to be honoured with a blue plaque. Shared with her cousin Gertrude McPherson, it will be placed at the Briggs family home on South Parade, celebrating two women whose lives demonstrate the opportunities that talent, determination and education could create at a time when few women were expected to forge such independent paths.
Written by Sarah Cobham based on the research of Sarah Cobham, Helga Fox and Lorraine Simpson. With special thanks to Gordon Briggs for access to family archives.
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