This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Rebecca Minch. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
Born: Unknown (before 1733), Ireland (Assumed)
Died: Unknown (after 1770)
Country most active: Ireland
Also known as: Susannah or Susanna Warter
Drury, Susannah (fl. 1733–1770), watercolour painter, was one of five children (two boys and three girls) of Thomas Drury, descended from an Anglo-Irish family resident in Dublin since the sixteenth century , and Rebeckah Drury (née Franklin) of Norfolk. One of her brothers, Franklin Drury (d.1771), was a miniature painter; the other, John Drury, was vicar of the parish of Powerscourt, Co. Wicklow.
Little is known about Susannah’s life: neither her birth nor death dates have been recorded and nothing is known of her training, though a work entitled ‘One Tree Hill, Greenwich Park’ (signed and dated 1733) suggests that she spent time in London and received some instruction there. Her highly detailed technique also suggests that she may have trained as a miniature painter, as did her brother. She is best known for her paintings in gouache on vellum of the east and west prospects of the Giant’s Causeway, Co. Antrim, thought to have been painted in 1739. According to Mary Delany, writing in 1758, she spent three months at the causeway producing a number of drawings of it (Llanover, iii, 519). The technique of gouache on vellum is somewhat unusual for work on this scale, being associated more with miniature painting. Two versions of these scenes are known: one is in the collection of the Ulster Museum, the other in a private collection. They show a high level of draughtsmanship as well as meticulous observation, and so can be seen as a significant contribution to the tradition of topographical landscape painting in Ireland. They were the first accurate depictions of the Giant’s Causeway, which by this time was becoming a popular attraction for tourists. In 1740 Drury was awarded a premium of £25 (the first for landscape painting in Ireland) by the Dublin Society for these works. She has the distinction of being the first woman artist in Ireland to receive such recognition.
By 1745 engravings after these views had been made by François Vivares (1709–80) of London, which were dedicated to John Boyle, earl of Orrery, and Alexander McDonnell, earl of Antrim. These engravings do not correspond exactly with either of the two painted versions, though they contain details to be found in both. They were republished by Boydell in London in 1777, and another edition appeared in 1837. One of the pairs of watercolours was shown at the RDS’s exhibition of 1858. As a Susannah Warter is mentioned in the will of Franklin Drury (1770), it is thought that she had married by this date.