Lady Anne Barnard
| Lady Anne Barnard | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Lady Anne Lindsay 12 December 1750 Balcarres House, Fife, Scotland |
| Died | 6 May 1825 (aged 74) London, England |
| Occupation | poet, visual artist |
| Notable work | Auld Robin Gray |
| Partner(s) | Andrew Barnard |
Lady Anne Barnard (née Lindsay; 12 December 1750 – 6 May 1825) was a Scottish travel writer, artist and socialite, and the author of the ballad Auld Robin Gray. Her five-year residence in Cape Town, South Africa, although brief, had a significant impact on the cultural and social life of the time.
Anne was born at Balcarres House in Fife, the ninth child and first daughter of Anne Lindsay (née Dalrymple) and James, Earl of Balcarres. In 1793 she moved to London, where she met and was married to Andrew Barnard, who was twelve years her junior and the son of Thomas Barnard, Bishop of Limerick. She later obtained from Viscount Melville an appointment for him as colonial secretary at the Cape of Good Hope, which was then under British military occupation. The Barnards travelled there in March 1797, Lady Anne remaining at the Cape until January 1802.
Her letters written to Melville, then secretary for war and the colonies, and her diaries of travels into the interior have become an important source of information about the people, events and social life of the time. She is also retained in popular memory as a socialite, known for entertaining at the Castle of Good Hope as the official hostess of Earl Macartney.
The remarkable series of letters, journals and drawings she produced was published in 1901 under the title South Africa a Century Ago. In 1806, on the reconquest of the Cape by the British, Barnard was reappointed colonial secretary, but Lady Anne chose to remain in London rather than accompany him to the Cape. Barnard died there in 1807, and the remainder of Anne's life was passed in London, where she died on 6 May 1825.
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