Biography.guide
Home › People › Scientific illustrator › Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead
Portrait of Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead

Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead

1904 – 1997

British botanical illustrator

Scientific illustrator Botanical illustrator
Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead

Lived 1904 – 1997 (aged 93). Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead was a British scientific illustrator and botanical illustrator.

Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead (17 September 1904 – 21 September 1997) was an artist and botanical illustrator known as Olive Shaw and Margaret Olive Shaw.

She was born at Woodbridge, Suffolk, the daughter of Agnes Margaret (née Airy) and Herbert Alfred Shaw. Her older brother was botanist Herbert Kenneth Airy Shaw (1901−1985). In 1933, she married botanist Edgar Milne-Redhead (1906−1996), a friend of her brother's, and thereafter she was known as Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead.

She was a member of the Ipswich Fine Art Club from 1926 to 1930, recognized as an oil painter. A 1927 exhibition in Woodbridge in 1927 showed three oils by Shaw titled Molly, Maimie, and The Mighty Hunter. Laudatory reviews in the women's pages of newspapers also cited Shaw's illustrations as contributing to the overall effect of the “pleasing production”. The book was instrumental in launching Poucher to a long and successful career with the House of Yardley.

Milne-Redhead's botanical illustrations appeared in the Kew Bulletin from the 1940s to 1960s. Her illustrations contributed to the ongoing botanical project to record the plant species of Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania, which resulted in Flora of Tropical East Africa. Her husband recorded 161 new names for the volumes.

She died at Colchester, Essex on 21 September 1997.

Publications W. A. Poucher. Illustrated by Olive Shaw. Eve's Beauty Secrets. London: Chapman & Hall, 1926.

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Also known as
Margaret Olive Shaw, Margaret O. Milne-Redhead, Margaret Milne-Redhead, M. O. Milne-Redhead

People in Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead?

British botanical illustrator (1904 - 1997)

When was Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead born?

Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead was born on 17 September 1904 in Woodbridge.

When did Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead die?

Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead died on 21 September 1997.

What was Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead's occupation?

Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead was a scientific illustrator and botanical illustrator.

What nationality was Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead?

Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead was British.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead

· Wikidata: Q27159236

· DBpedia: Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead. https://biography.guide/margaret-olive-milne-redhead/

MLA: "Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/margaret-olive-milne-redhead/.

Chicago: "Margaret Olive Milne-Redhead." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/margaret-olive-milne-redhead/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:10 UTC