Annette Rosemary Macarthur-Onslow (31 March 1933 – 25 April 2026) was an Australian author and book illustrator. She was best known for her 1969 book, Uhu, which won the CBCA Book of the Year in 1970.
Early life and education Born on 31 March 1933, Macarthur-Onslow was the eldest daughter of Winifred Owen and Edward Macarthur-Onslow. She completed her secondary education at Frensham School, Mittagong, later attended by her siblings, Pamela (Harrison, 1936–2012) and Phoebe (Atkinson, 1939–2018). She then studied art at East Sydney Technical College.
Career Macarthur-Onslow worked for a time in Sydney as a commercial artist. She also assisted Norman Hetherington with his puppets at department stores and, in 1957, live on ABC television.ABN Channel 2: Wednesday 25 December 1957: 4:00PM: "KINDERGARTEN PLAYTIME — Jan McKay introduces the Meryla Puppets with Norm. Hetherington and Annette MacArthur-Onslow", Sydney Morning Herald TV Guide, (Monday, 23 December 1957), p.4. She left for London by sea in January 1958, planning to study puppetry there and in Europe. She continued her art studies while working for publishers, including Oxford University Press (OUP).
In the early 1960s Macarthur-Onslow began illustrating children's books for Australian and British authors. Gwen Hutchings wrote of her work in Sheena Porter's Nordy Bank that "the fine line drawings by Annette Macarthur-Onslow at times show exquisite detail, while others are shadowy and impressionistic". The book won the 1965 Carnegie Medal, while Hesba Brimsmead's Pastures of the Blue Crane which she illustrated for OUP won that year's CBCA Book of the Year. Uhu, which she wrote and illustrated, won the CBCA Book of the Year in 1970. It is the story of a small tawny owl in the Gloucestershire countryside.
Macarthur-Onslow was the first author/illustrator to represent Australia at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava in 1971, where she was awarded a Diplome d'Honneur for Uhu and Minnie.
Death Macarthur-Onslow died in Camden on 25 April 2026, at the age of 93.
Selected publications
As author/illustrator Uhu, Ure Smith, 1969 Minnie, Ure Smith, 1971 Round House, Collins, 1975 The Giant Bamboo Happening, John Ferguson, 1982
As illustrator Animal Stories by Ruth Manning-Sanders, OUP, 1961 Half a World Away by Nan Chauncy, OUP, 1962 Pastures of the Blue Crane by Hesba Brinsmead, OUP, 1964 Winged Skis by Elyne Mitchell, Hutchinson, 1964 Victoria: the story of a great queen by Elisabeth Kyle, Thomas Nelson, 1964 Nordy Bank by Sheena Porter, OUP, 1965 Silver Brumbies of the South by Elyne Mitchell, Hutchinson, 1965 Silver Brumby Kingdom by Elyne Mitchell, Hutchinson, 1966 Birds: Poems by Judith Wright, Angus and Robertson, 1967 Trim by Matthew Flinders, Collins, 1977 The Man from Snowy River by Banjo Paterson, Nelson, 1986
References
External links Annette Macarthur-Onslow with puppet, Nicky