Ann Agnes Trail or Agnes Xavier Trail (17 February 1798 – 3 December 1872) was a

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Roman Catholic nun and artist. She took a leading role in establishing

St Margaret's Convent ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

in Edinburgh.

Life

Trail was born in

Panbride Panbride is a village and civil parish in the council area of Angus, Scotland. It is situated north-east of Carnoustie and west of Arbroath. Etymology The name ''Panbride'' may be Pictish in origin, and derived from the element ''*pant'' mea ...

in 1798. She came from an unusual family in that her great grandfather, grandfather and father had led the same church in Scotland. Trail was educated at home, but in return she had to teach her ten siblings. She was given an 18 month break when she was seventeen but then returned to teaching her brothers and sisters. She did good works and was a teacher at an Irish

charity school Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...

. She decided to be an artist and she was taught these skills before 1824. When she set off for Italy in 1826 having already completed commissions for customers in London. She traveled to paint in Florence and Venice but she returned to Rome twice. She had met

David Wilkie David Wilkie may refer to: * David Wilkie (artist) (1785–1841), Scottish painter * David Wilkie (surgeon) (1882–1938), British surgeon, scientist and philanthropist * David Wilkie (footballer) (1914–2011), Australian rules footballer * David ...

and others vied for her attention but she saw her future in the Catholic Church after talking with

Augustine Baines Peter Augustine Baines (1786/87–1843) was an English Benedictine, Titular Bishop of Siga and Vicar Apostolic of the Western District of England. Life For his early education he was sent to Lamspringe Abbey, near Hildesheim, in the Kingdom of ...

. left, Bishop James Gillis in 1841 by Trail The following years she was back in England where she met Canadian catholic James Gillis in Hammersmith in 1832. He shared his ambition to start a convent and Trail became committed to supporting this plan. The following year she and another Scotswoman entered the Ursuline convent at

Chavagnes Chavagnes (; also called Chavagnes-les-Eaux) is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department of western France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new Terranjou commune.John Menzies John Menzies plc ( , ) is the holding company of Menzies Aviation plc, an aviation services business providing ground handling, cargo handling, cargo forwarding and into-plane (ITP) fuelling, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History The compa ...

who gave the land. Although St Margaret's Convent was the first new convent in Scotland it led to a wave of others. Nearly twenty new Scottish convents would be established in the next 50 years. Tail would paint miniatures in the convent and teach drawing but importantly she socialised with upper and middle class women. She showed that Catholicism could be at home in Scotland. Trail also created paintings of leading Catholics including Bishop Gillis. She took a leading role in establishing the

in Edinburgh in 1834. She joined the Catholic church in 1828 in Italy by Cardinal

Carlo Odescalchi Carlo Odescalchi, (5 March 1785 – 17 August 1841) was an Italian prince and priest, Archbishop of Ferrara, cardinal of the Catholic Church and Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome. For years a close collaborator of popes Pius VII and Gregory XV ...

. Trail was to later paint his portrait.

Death and legacy

She was described as a "unique Presbyterian feminist". She died in 1872 and in 1886 a book was published concerning the history of "her" convent and her autobiography.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trail, Ann 1798 births 1872 deaths People from Angus, Scotland Scottish Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Ursulines