Anne Langton (June 24, 1804 – May 10, 1893) was an English artist who specialized in landscapes and miniature portraiture. In 1837, she settled on the

frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

, where she continued her artwork and also became known for her writing.

Life and career

She was born to Thomas and Ellen Langton in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills ri ...

, but within a few months, they moved to

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, where she was raised in a mansion named ''Blythe Hall'', near

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread. Geography and administr ...

. She and her brothers

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and John were educated at home by their parents and private tutors. Her family travelled extensively through Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland, while the children received private art lessons from masters and exposure to literary figures wherever they stayed. Following the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, which ended in 1815, Thomas Langton's business in England became unstable and the family was forced to return to England from their travels and studies in 1821. On their return they were forced to sell their mansion, dismiss all but one servant, and move to a small townhouse in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. At age 16, Anne took on many of the housekeeping duties and the care of her aging parents, while continuing her art work and training when possible. After further financial losses, the family moved to

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Histo ...

, a small spa town north of Liverpool. Anne continued to hone her artistic skills and to visit friends and relatives throughout Britain for access to landscapes to sketch. She was also adept at painting miniatures in watercolor on ivory. Rosedale in 1882

In 1833, Anne's brother John, after graduating from Cambridge, emigrated to Upper Canada and the family moved into a smaller house in Bootle. Langton's early years in Canada were published as ''A Gentlewoman in Upper Canada''. By this time, nearing 30 years of age, Anne had not married and was experiencing hearing loss. By 1836, Anne's brother William had become a very successful

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

businessman and he offered to pay his family's living expenses to enable them to stay in England, but the next year the family decided to join John Langdon in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Anne, her parents, and a maiden aunt, departed from Liverpool on May 24, 1837, and arrived in New York three weeks later. Their land journey through

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

to arrived

Peterborough, Ontario Peterborough ( ) is a city on the Otonabee River in Ontario, Canada, about 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of Toronto. According to the 2021 Census, the population of the City of Peterborough was 83,651. The population of the Peterborough ...

, took nearly two months, due to sightseeing at New York and

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

, visiting, and several illnesses on the way. They settled on John's farm on Sturgeon Lake, near

Fenelon Falls, Ontario Fenelon Falls is a village in Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Kawartha Lakes. Nicknamed the "Jewel of the Kawarthas," it has a population of 2,500 permanent inhabitants, which swells in the summer due to tourism and holiday cottages. Fenelon ...

. She died in 1893, in Toronto at age 88.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''''Anne Langton, Gentlewoman, Pioneer Settler and Artist'', online exhibit on Archives of Ontario website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langton, Anne 1804 births 1893 deaths Landscape artists English portrait painters Canadian portrait painters Canadian women non-fiction writers Artists from Lancashire People from Ormskirk English emigrants to pre-Confederation Ontario Canadian women painters 19th-century Canadian women artists 19th-century Canadian painters 19th-century Canadian women writers 19th-century Canadian non-fiction writers Immigrants to Upper Canada