Lady Anne Barnard (1750–1825)

Lady Anne Barnard, née Lindsay, was the eldest daughter of James Lindsay, 5th Earl of Balcarres, and his wife Anne Dalrymple. Lady Anne was a poet and a talented artist whose works included oil paintings and drawings. In 1793, at age 43, she married Andrew Barnard, a dozen years her junior, son of Thomas Barnard, Bishop of Limerick. She obtained for her husband the position of colonial secretary at the British military installation at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. The couple lived there from 1797 to 1802. Lady Anne was widowed in 1807, and returned to London. She wrote the popular 1771 ballad "Auld Robin Gray," which first appeared anonymously, and became the author of published memoirs, diaries, letters, and travelogues.