A Powerhouse of the Spirit

A Powerhouse of the Spirit: The Life and Art of Sister Margaret Watson of Grahamstown tells the story of a remarkable woman, Margaret Watson, who left her conventionally middle-class home in England to join an Anglican sisterhood in Grahamstown (now known as Makhanda) in what was then the Cape Colony at the start of the twentieth century. This extraordinary community of inspiring women engaged themselves in educational and caring work among young people of all races in South Africa.

They built an impressive network of schools, orphanages and homes across the subcontinent that left their mark both nationally and in countless individual lives. It was in this community of dedicated women that Margaret Watson found fulfilment and self-expression both spiritually and artistically. Her work as a painter, whose vision was nourished by her inner life, is becoming increasingly recognised and appreciated. Her greatest achievements include her murals for the Chapel of the Training College which the Sisters established in Grahamstown, and for the cathedrallike Anglican church of St Augustine’s in Zululand. For the Church of Christ the King in Sophiatown, Johannesburg (later associated with Father Trevor Huddleston), she painted St. Francis amid the mine dumps of Johannesburg and Mary the mother of Jesus set in Sophiatown, surrounded by its people.

In this biography, which is richly illustrated with photographs and reproductions of Sister Margaret’s paintings, William Barham recounts the life and times of this unusual woman, drawing on archives and interviews to produce a very special account of this visionary and
artist.

A book launch will be held at Amazwi South African Museum of Literature on 12 May 2025 at 17h30 for 18h00. The book will be available for sale at a special book launch price of R350.00. 

The book can be viewed on our website here.