Queer Places:
Back St, Saint Ives TR26 1AD, UK
Bovingdon Green, Marlow, SL7 2JH, UK

Edith Caroline Hayes (May 21, 1860 - October 19, 1948) was born in Southsea, Portsmouth, on May 21, 1860. She established herself as a dedicated painter and wood engraver, pursuing her artistic education at St. John's Wood Art School and the Royal Academy Schools in London. Her career as an exhibiting artist spanned several decades from 1888 through 1912, taking her to various prominent art colonies and cultural centers across Europe.

In the late 1880s and early 1890s, Hayes was active in the West Cornwall art scene, maintaining a Newlyn address by 1887 and exhibiting a piece titled At Newlyn at the Royal Academy in 1889. By the 1891 Census, she was living on Back Street in St Ives, where she attended the founding meeting of the St Ives Arts Club and became an official member. Her works—including Street in St Ives (1890)—were showcased with Cornish painters' colonies at Dowdeswells, and she also exhibited internationally, including in Paris (1888–1889), Southsea (1891), and Italy (1892). Between 1894 and 1896, she lived and worked in Tuscany, Italy, and by 1910 she settled in Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire, where she resided for many years continuing to exhibit her art. She passed away in Maidenhead on October 19, 1948, at the age of 88.

Within artistic and biographical circles, Edith Hayes is historically linked through her domestic and professional life to fellow artists Harriet Mary Ford and Sydney Strickland Tully. Reflecting the independent lifestyles associated with the "New Woman" era, Hayes shared a cottage in England with Ford and Tully, living together in locations such as Newlyn and Bovingdon Green in Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire. These close personal and professional arrangements among unmarried, financially independent women artists form part of the historical network documenting women's lived experiences and supportive communities in late 19th- and early 20th-century artistic movements.

References:

• Cornwall Artists Index – Biographical database detailing Edith Caroline Hayes' life, birth and death records, education at St John's Wood and the Royal Academy Schools, and her involvement with the Newlyn and St Ives artist communities.
• General Register Office (GRO) Records – Vital statistics documenting her birth on May 21, 1860, in Southsea, Portsmouth, and her death on October 19, 1948, in Maidenhead.
• Historical Census Records (1891 Census) – Documentation placing her residence on Back Street in St Ives.
• Art Exhibition Catalogs and Records (1888–1912) – Archival records of her exhibitions at the Royal Academy, Dowdeswells, Paris, Southsea, Italy, and Great Marlow.
• Biographical and Archival Literature on Harriet Mary Ford and Sydney Strickland Tully – Historical documentation tracking the shared households, travels, and professional networks of independent women artists of the era, noting Hayes' domestic and artistic partnership with Ford and Tully in Newlyn and Buckinghamshire.

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