Anna Jameson was a British author best known for her travel memoirs, which detail her incredible journeys and unforgettable experiences. She was the eldest of five daughters and the most responsible. She was a bright and ambitious young lady. She began her career as a governess, caring for the children of numerous affluent families. She received her first travel opportunity through one of her employers, which left an indelible mark on her mind. She developed an affinity for travel and developed into an art gallery connoisseur and an intrepid sightseer. Later in life, she published her trip’s recorded experiences and achieved widespread acclaim for her work. She captivated readers with her enthusiasm and created a book that deservedly achieved great success. She went on to write a number of other popular travel memoirs. Additionally, she delivered public lectures on the importance of female education and equal employment opportunities for women, and served as a mentor and adviser to a group of young women. In her later years, she studied a variety of subjects, all of which concerned the principles of active compassion and the most effective ways to put them into practice. She was an avid traveler who found solace in her journeys and meticulously documented her experiences.
Childhood & Adolescence
She was born in Dublin, Ireland, on May 19, 1794, to Denis Brownell Murphy, a miniaturist and portrait painter. She was the eldest of her parents’ five daughters.
The family immigrated to England in 1798, just prior to the Irish rebellion, leaving behind two daughters, Louisa and Eliza. Her two sisters joined them in 1802 in Newcastle-on-Tyne.
By 1806, her father had achieved modest success as a miniaturist and relocated to London with his family. With the birth of two additional daughters, Camilla and Charlotte, the family now numbered five daughters.
Anna was an aspirational child and the most gifted of her sisters. She was eager from an early age to take on some of the responsibility for the family’s welfare. As a result, she was entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring her sisters’ proper education.
Later Decades of Anna
At the age of 16, she took her first job as a governess to the four small sons of Charles Paulet, 13th Marquess of Winchester. She remained employed there until 1814.
In 1819, she entered into an engagement with the Rowles family and became Laura’s governess. She also accompanied them to Continental Europe in 1821, traveling through the Low Countries and into Italy in luxury “à la MilorAnglais.”
In 1822, she returned to England and became the governess of Edward John Littleton’s children. Edward John Littleton was later created 1st Baron Hatherton. She worked here until 1825, when she married Robert Sympson Jameson.
She wrote two books for young children over the next few years, ‘Much coin, much care,’ a drama, and ‘Little Louisa,’ a vocabulary of useful words.
In 1825, she published her first successful book, ‘The Diary of an Ennuyée,’ a fictitious account of her travels in Italy. It was a romanticized and fictionalized account of her European travels that ended with the death of the narrator and heroine.
When Robert left England in 1829 to become chief justice of Dominica, the couple parted amicably, and she returned to Continental Europe with her father. She became more and more devoted to a life of travel and writing. Her book ‘The Poets’ Loves’ was published in 1829.
In 1832, she published ‘Characteristics of Women,’ a study of William Shakespeare’s heroines. It promoted her name throughout the Continent, in both America and England. Her 1834 book ‘Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad’ details a Continental trip in 1829 and another in 1833.
She reluctantly moved to Toronto in 1836 to join her husband, who had been appointed attorney general of Upper Canada in 1833. He later became vice-chancellor, and the couple lived together briefly before she left again in 1837.
She embarked from Canada on a tour that took her through Niagara, Hamilton, London, and Port Talbot, as well as to Detroit, Michilimackinac, and Sault Ste Marie, before returning via Lake Huron and Manitoulin Island.
In September 1837, she sailed from Canada to the United States, where she spent several months before sailing to England. In 1838, she published her memoir ‘Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada,’ which chronicled her winter in Toronto as well as her summer trip to Canada.
‘Sacred and Legendary Art’ (1848), ‘Legends of the Monastic Orders’ (1850), ‘Legends of the Madonna’ (1852), and ‘The History of Our Lord’ (1853) were among her published works during the last two decades of her life (1864).
Significant Works of Anna
Several of her published works, including ‘Women’s Characteristics’ and ‘Sacred and Legendary Art,’ developed cult followings in both England and America. ‘Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada,’ her travel memoir, is considered a classic.
She was always emphasizing the importance of improving women’s education. She was a determined woman and an early feminist, speaking out for women’s rights, as well as their needs and opportunities in society.
Personal History and Legacies
She died in Ealing, London, on March 17, 1860, following a brief illness.
Estimated Net Worth
Anna is one of the wealthiest novelists and is ranked as one of the most popular novelists. Anna Brownell Jameson’s net worth is estimated to be around $1.5 million, based on our analysis of Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.