Elizabeth May (Bess) Norriss

Elizabeth May Norriss, later Bess Norriss Tait, (17 May 1878 – January 1939) was an Australian artist. Life Norriss was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1878. She studied at Melbourne Art Gallery School and in 1905 at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. She specialised in watercolours and miniatures. In 1907, she was made a member of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters. She became a member of the British Watercolour Society and Society of Women Artists. In 1908, she married the Australian entrepreneur J. Nevin Tait (1876–1961), the UK representative of and partner in the theatrical company J. & N. Tait. They travelled to South Africa in 1909 before returning to Australia. The National Portrait Gallery hold a self-portrait c.1900-10. Norriss Street in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm is named in her honour.