Olive Cockerell was an artist and illustrator, primarily for fairy stories. She was the sister of the curator Sydney Cockerell and the naturalist Theodore Cockerell. She was also a friend of the Morris family and remained connected to them through her brother Sydney who was William Morris’s private secretary towards the end of his life.
Olive provided illustrations for stories by Anna Marie Diana Wilhelmina Pickering, sister of Evelyn Pickering de Morgan, including her popular Queen of the Goblins published in 1892. She also illustrated The Windfairies by Mary de Morgan, sister of William de Morgan, which was published in 1900. Mary de Morgan’s previous books of fairy stories had been illustrated by William de Morgan and Walter Crane.
Olive developed an interest in fairy stories from a young age. Her godmother, the social reformer Octavia Hill, send her a brooch in 1876 writing: ‘It is a funny little old-fashioned brooch, but I thought it was very pretty; and I liked it, because it looked as if it had a history. I thought you might like it for this reason too. But I am afraid it will not begin to speak to you, like those delightful things in Andersen’s stories.’
