Mary Anne Barker

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Mary Anne Barker (later Broome: she published both as Lady Barker and Lady Broome) put her considerable talent to work during the 1870s in London journalism (reviewing, reporting, editing) and in miscellaneous writing: stories for children and adults, and books on domestic management and cookery. She had already written letters home from her earliest sojourns abroad. Turning her letters from in New Zealand into a highly successful travel book laid the foundation for the writing for which she is best remembered, vividly describing one far-flung corner after another of the British Empire.
  • BirthName: Mary Anne Stewart
  • Nickname: Annie
  • Married: Barker; Broome; Mrs Broome
  • Titled: Lady

Milestones

29 May 1831

Mary Anne Stewart (later MAB ) was born at Spanish Town in Jamaica, where her father was secretary of the island colony.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

New Year 1870

MAB published her first book of travel, Station Life in New Zealand (the station being the sheep farm run by her husband and herself).
The Athenaeum Index of Reviews and Reviewers: 1830-1870. http://replay.web.archive.org/20070714065452/http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/~asp/v2/home.html.
2201 (Jan 1, 1870):22
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.

By Christmas 1871

A Christmas Cake: in Four Quarters, published this year, became the best-known of MAB 's books for children.
The Athenaeum Index of Reviews and Reviewers: 1830-1870. http://replay.web.archive.org/20070714065452/http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/~asp/v2/home.html.
2304 (December 23, 1871) 834-6
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.

6 or 7 March 1911

Mary Anne Broome, formerly Barker , died of heart disease at her home, 42 Eaton Terrace, London.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography gives the date as 7 March, as does her biographer, but the obituary published in The Times that day says she died yesterday.
Gilderdale, Betty. The Seven Lives of Lady Barker. Canterbury University Press, 2009.
341
“The Times Digital Archive 1785-2007”. Thompson Gale: The Times Digital Archive.
39526 (7 March 1911): 11
“The Times Digital Archive 1785-2007”. Thompson Gale: The Times Digital Archive.
39526 (7 March 1911): 11

Biography

Birth and Family

29 May 1831

Mary Anne Stewart (later MAB ) was born at Spanish Town in Jamaica, where her father was secretary of the island colony.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.