Jessie Constance Alicia Traill was born at ‘Westra’ in Brighton, Melbourne on the 29th of July 1881. She was the youngest of four daughters of George Hamilton Traill and Jessie Frances Montague Neilley. She signed up to the National Gallery art School in Melbourne in 1901 under the instruction of Frederick McCubbin and Bernard Hall with friends Janet Cumbrae Stewart and Norah Gurdon. Early on in her education, Jessie developed an interest in print making and took lessons briefly with John Mather who ran an art school in Collins Street, Melbourne. Before she could complete her studies at the National Gallery School, Jessie travelled to Europe with her father and older sister. It was to be an opportunity for Jessie to study the Great Masters but tragically, George Traill died at their hotel in Rome. Jessie did not return immediately to Australia, choosing instead to continue developing her passion for print making. She enrolled at the London School of Art where she developed her skill in etching under the tuition of Frank Brangwyn and toward the end of 1907, Jessie travelled to Paris where she also enrolled briefly to the Academie Colarossi. 

Jessie was to lead a spontaneous and adventurous life, travelling regularly through Europe and to remote areas of Australia. She saw beauty in everything around her; from steel structures to the natural environment, and documented them extensively. She understood the historic importance of her subjects and what sights and scenes would be of interest to the general public.  During the war, she worked as a nurses aid in Rouen under the Volunteer Aid Detachment of the Red Cross. She understood her own privileged position and set about using it to help those less fortunate. During her career, Jessie exhibited at the Paris Salon and the Royal Academy of Arts, but she generally preferred to exhibit her work in less ostentatious venues. She regularly exhibited with the Victorian Artists’ Society, Society of Women Painters, Australian Painters-Etchers’ Society and the Arts and Crafts Society, and others, and often held solo exhibitions in her own gallery or in that of fellow artists, or in small rural venues across the country, making her work more accessible to the general public.

Jessie is represented by the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, State Library of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, State Library of New South Wales, Art Gallery of South Australia, Queensland Art Gallery, State Library of Queensland, The British Museum, and numerous Australian regional galleries and collecting institutions.