AustLit

Peg Maltby was born Agnes Newberry Orchard although her family always called her Peg and the name stayed with her throughout her life. She married George Bradley Maltby in 1917. They had four children. Peg and George migrated to Australia in 1924 and lived in Victoria for the remainder of their lives. While living in Coburg during the Great Depression, Maltby supplemented the family income by painting commercial items such as chocolate box lids and birthday cards. She became a member of the Victorian Artists' Society and studied art at the National Gallery School. In 1943 she exhibited paintings that were made into a book - Peg's Fairy Book (1944) went into five editions, sold over 180,000 copies and has been reissued by Angus and Robertson. Maltby established a gallery to exhibit her work at Olinda, near Melbourne.