Isa Outhwaite

Anne Jane Louisa Outhwaite (1842 – 13 December 1925) was a New Zealand watercolour artist, poet social activist and philanthropist. As an artist, she exhibited in Auckland from 1875 until 1900. Some of her works are held in the Alexander Turnbull Library.

Biography Outhwaite was born in Auckland in 1842. Her father was Thomas Outhwaite, New Zealand's first Supreme Court Registrar, and her mother was the French-born Marie Henrietta Louise Outhwaite (née Roget). Outhwaite exhibited with the Auckland Society of Artists and the New Zealand Art Students Association between 1875 and 1900. Some of her sketches were published in the newspaper New Zealand Graphic in 1879. 1867 painting by Isa Outhwaite, "Parnell, looking towards North Head and Rangitoto" Outhwaite and her mother were close friends of Suzanne Aubert, founder of the religious order the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion. She conducted a correspondence with Mother Aubert for many years. When Aubert spent six years in Rome seeking recognition from Pope Benedict XV for her order, Outhwaite supported her financially. Outhwaite was also a prison "official visitor" and welfare worker for women prisoners at Mount Eden Prisons. Isa Outwaite also gave money for the relief of poverty in Besançon, France and is publicly remembered there for her philanthropy.

Legacy In 2015, St Peter's College completed a 12-classroom block on Mountain Rd named the "Outhwaite Building" in memory of Isa Outhwaite and her family and in gratitude for the legacy of funds and land on which the college was established.