Jessie's father was Robert Thorburn Ross (15 July 1816 - 13 July 1876), son of Robert Ross who was a Scottish soldier from Edinburgh. Robert Thorburn Ross was also an artist. Jessie's mother was Margaret Scott (17 May 1816 - 24 November 1887) from Strathaven in Lanarkshire. They married on 1 January 1843 in Avondale parish in Lanarkshire.
Jessie Smith Ross was one of their five children. Her brother Joseph Thorburn Ross (1849 - 28 September 1903) and sister Christina Paterson Ross (27 November 1843 - 26 January 1906) also became artists.
Jessie is born in Leith, after the family return to Scotland from Berwick Upon Tweed.
Her family stay at 78 Queen Street. Around 1879 Jessie and her brother Joseph visit Italy.
She later rents a place at 6 Atholl Crescent in Edinburgh with her sister Christina and brother Joseph.[1]
R.S.A. MEMORIAL FUND. The late Miss Jessie Smith Ross has, subject to the life-rent of a relative, left the Royal Scottish Academy the residue of her estate for the institution of a fund in memory of her father, the late Robert Thorburn Ross, R.S.A., and her brother, the late Joseph Thorburn Ross, A.R.S.A. The free income of the fund, which is to known as The Thorburn Ross Memorial Fund, is be devoted to the purchase of paintings.
The rest of her possessions went up for auction at Dowell's Rooms, George Street in Edinburgh on 12 and 13 February 1915.[7][8]
