The celebrated watercolourist Louisa Fennell (1847–1930) is particularly known for her paintings that capture the buildings of historic Wakefield, many of which have now been lost to redevelopment. Born in Wakefield, the eldest of twelve children, Louisa Fennell lived at her family's wine merchant business in Westgate. She showed an early talent for art, which was encouraged in her youth with drawing lessons and visits to art galleries and cultural sites at York and Whitby. In 1865, aged eighteen, she received a First Class Medal at the Wakefield Industrial and Fine Art Exhibition, and by 1866 she had enrolled to study at the Wakefield School of Art under John Batty Tootal. In 1876 her studies continued at the prestigious Penzance School of Art, and she exhibited for the first time at the Royal Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street. Over the next six years she went on to exhibit eleven paintings at Suffolk Street and also regularly with the Society of Women Artists.
Fennell spent time painting in London and Rome, but after her mother's death in 1897 she returned home to Wakefield and re-focussed her attention on the city's historic buildings. She lived first at the family home on Westgate before moving to St John's Square with two of her sisters. After her death in 1930 Fennell's works were bequeathed to Wakefield Art Gallery (now The Hepworth Wakefield). More recently, she has been the subject of new research as one of the 'Forgotten Women of Wakefield', a project intended to give voice to the city's historical women and achieve Blue Plaque Parity for them.
