Anna Haining Bates (née Swan; August 6, 1846 – August 5, 1888), was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

famed for her great stature of . She was one of the tallest women ever. Her parents were of average height and were

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

immigrants.

Early life

Anna Swan was born at Mill Brook, New Annan,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. At birth she weighed . She was the third of 13 children, all of the others being around average height. From birth she grew very rapidly. On her fourth birthday she was tall and weighed 94 pounds. On her 6th birthday she was measured at tall, an inch or two (2.5–5 cm) shorter than her mother. On her 10th birthday she measured tall. On her 12th birthday she measured .A biographical Sketch – Anna H Swan – 1871 By her 15th birthday Bates was tall. She reached her full height three years later. Her feet measured long. The marriage of Captain Martin van Buren to Anna Swan

The marriage of Captain Martin van Buren to Anna Swan

Martin_Van_Buren_Bates_and_Anna_Haining_Bates

Swan excelled at

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

and

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

and was considered to be very intelligent. She also excelled at her studies of acting, piano and voice. She played

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...

in one play.

Circus career

When she was 17, Swan started working with American showman

P. T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...

. She lived in

Barnum's American Museum Barnum's American Museum was located at the corner of Broadway, Park Row, and Ann Street in what is now the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, from 1841 to 1865. The museum was owned by famous showman P. T. Barnum, who purchas ...

in New York City, and on 13 July 1865, she nearly burned to death when the museum was destroyed by fire. The stairs were in flames and she was too large to escape through a window. At the time she weighed 384 lb, but she usually weighed 350 lb. (159 kg). Her highest recorded weight was 392 lb. She got help and escaped safely. Swan later toured the western United States, followed by Europe where she appeared before

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. When visiting a circus in Halifax with which Martin Van Buren Bates — another enormously tall person known as the "Kentucky Giant" — was travelling, Swan was spotted by the promoter and hired on the spot. The giant couple became a touring sensation and eventually fell in love; they married on June 17, 1871 in

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Queen Victoria gave Anna a satin gown and diamond ring, and gave Martin an engraved watch.

Later life

The Bateses retired to

Seville, Ohio Seville is a village in Medina County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,296 at the 2010 census. History Seville was platted in 1828. It was named after Seville, in Spain. A post office was established in Seville in 1830. Geography Sev ...

, where they built a mansion with high ceilings and doorframes. The main part of the house had ceilings, while the doors were extra wide and were tall. The back part of the house was built an average size for servants and guests. Bates conceived two children with Martin. The first was a girl born on May 19, 1872; she weighed and died at birth. While touring in the summer of 1878, Anna was pregnant for the second time. The boy was born on January 18, 1879, and survived only 11 hours. He was the largest newborn ever recorded, at and nearly 30 inches tall (ca. 75 cm); each of his feet was long. For this he was posthumously awarded a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. The Bateses resumed touring with the W.W. Cole Circus in the summer of 1879, and again in the spring of 1880. Bates spent her remaining years quietly on the farm that she and her husband owned. She had joined the local

Baptist Church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

in 1877 and attended services with her husband. Bates died suddenly and unexpectedly of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

in her sleep at her home on August 5, 1888, one day before her 42nd birthday. The cause of her height was never discovered in her lifetime.

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

s were not discovered until 1895, so it could not be ascertained if she had a

pituitary tumor Pituitary adenomas are tumors that occur in the pituitary gland. Most pituitary tumors are benign, approximately 35% are invasive and just 0.1% to 0.2% are carcinomas.The Anna Swan Digital CollectionArchived
2009-10-25)
A photograph of Swan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Anna Haining 1846 births 1888 deaths Canadian people of Scottish descent World record holders People from Seville, Ohio People from Colchester County People with gigantism Pre-Confederation Nova Scotia people Sideshow performers Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)