Thomas Fothergill MacNay
Date of birth: 1836
Place of birth: Shildon, Durham
Date of death: 1907
Category: collector
Identity:
Thomas Fothergill MacNay was a civil engineer. He was the brother of J. E. McNay. He married Mary Isabella Cooke in 1865. They had a daughter Eleanore ('Nora') Ruth (1868-1886) and two sons Walter Laurie (1866-1946) and Harold Montague (b. 1872).
Life:
The MacNays were friends of C. A. Howell and Whistler in the early 1880s. Whistler made a couple of sketches at the family home at Upper Grove, South Norwood in 1882 that show either Mary MacNay or her daughter Nora reclining on a sofa, Mrs or Miss McNay m0868 and La Dormeuse m0869. Whistler, who was in correspondence with Nora in 1885, referred to her affectionately at this time as 'My dear lili Nora' (#04238). However, Nora died prematurely in 1886 at the age of eighteen. Whistler wrote to Mary MacNay on 20 February 1886 to express 'how sad we all have been about dear little Nora' whom he called a 'pretty child' (#08100). He painted a portrait of Nora for the family using an old sketch, Portrait of Miss Nora McNay y348.
Bibliography:
Information from family descendants; Mrs or Miss McNay m0868, La Dormeuse m0869; Portrait of Miss Nora McNay y348.
