Anna Brassey, Baroness Brassey ( Allnutt; 7 October 1839 – 14 September 1887) was an English traveller and writer. Her bestselling book ''A Voyage in the Sunbeam, our Home on the Ocean for Eleven Months'' (1878) describes a voyage around the world.

Life

Annie Brassey was born Anna Allnutt in London in 1839 to John Allnutt. As a child, she faced serious health problems. In ''The Last Voyage'', her husband recalled that Allnutt suffered from an inherited "weakness of the chest", apparently a form of

chronic bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

. As a young woman, she also suffered severe burns when she stood too close to a fireplace and her skirt caught fire. It took six months for her to recover from them. In 1860, she married the English Member of Parliament

Thomas Brassey Thomas Brassey (7 November 18058 December 1870) was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about o ...

(knighted in 1881 and became Earl Brassey in 1886), with whom she lived near his

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. The couple had five children together before they travelled aboard their luxury yacht . The yacht was said to have been named after their daughter – Constance Alberta – who was nicknamed Sunbeam; she died of

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Group A streptococcus (GAS). It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore ...

, aged four, on 24 January 1873. The golden figurehead of the yacht depicting her is at the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...

Greenwich, London Greenwich ( , , ) is an area in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian ( ...

. ''A Voyage in the Sunbeam'', describing their journey round the world in 1876–1877 with a complement of 43, including family, friends and crew, ran through many English editions and was translated into at least five languages. Her accounts of later voyages include ''Sunshine and Storm in the East'' (1880); ''In the Trades, the Tropics, and the Roaring Forties'' (1885); and ''The Last Voyage'' (1889, published

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

ly). She had published privately earlier works including ''A Flight of the Meteor'', detailing two cruises in the Mediterranean on their earlier yacht ''Meteor'' and ''A Voyage in the Eothen'' a description of their travels to Canada and the United States in 1872. She was also involved with the publication of Colonel Henry Stuart-Wortley's 1882 ''Tahiti, a Series of Photographs''. In July 1881, King

Kalākaua Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamanakapuʻu Māhinulani Nālaʻiaʻehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891), was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, reigning from February 12, 1874, u ...

of Hawaii, who had been greatly pleased with her description of his kingdom, was entertained at Normanhurst Castle, and invested Lady Brassey with the Royal Order of Kapiolani. At home in England, she performed charitable work, largely for the St John Ambulance Association. Her collection of

ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

and

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

material was shown in a museum at her husband's London house until it was moved to Hastings Museum in 1919. There are also several photograph albums and other ephemera held at Hastings Library. However, the vast majority of her photograph albums are now housed in the

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington and Arabella Huntington in San Marino, California, United State ...

San Marino, California San Marino is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It was incorporated on April 25, 1913. At the 2020 United States census the population was 12,513, a decline from the 2010 United States census. History Origin of name Th ...

. The collection of 70 albums, each of 72 to 80 thick board pages, contain works by Brassey and others she collected, including those of commercial photographers. Brassey herself was an accomplished photographer. She joined the Photographic Society of London (later the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

) in 1873 and remained a member until her death, and she exhibited some of her work in its exhibitions in 1873 and 1886. Lady Brassey's last voyage on the ''Sunbeam'' was to India and Australia, undertaken in November 1886 to improve her health. On the way to

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, she died of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

on 14 September 1887, and was buried at sea.'Lady Anna Brassey', ''National Portrait Gallery''
Retrieved 22 February 2008.''The Last Voyage'' (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1889).

Works

*''The Flight of the "Meteor", 1869–71'' (Mann, Nephews) 1872 *''A Cruise in the "Eothen", 1872'' (Printed for private circulation, F. Platts) 1873
Voyage in the "Sunbeam", our home on the ocean for eleven months''
(Longmans, Green) 1878. In the United States: *''Around the World in the Yacht 'Sunbeam', our home, etc.'' (Henry Holt) 1878
''Sunshine and Storm in the East, or Cruises to Cyprus and Constantinople''
(Longmans, Green) 1880 *''In the Trades, the Tropics, & the Roaring Forties'' (Longmans, Green) 1885
''The Last Voyage, to India and Australia, in the "Sunbeam"''
(Longmans, Green) 1889 *''Tahiti'', a series of photographs taken by Colonel Stuart-Wartley, with letterpress by Lady Brassey (Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington) 1882 *"St. John Ambulance Association: its Work and Objects" (supplement to the ''Club and Institute Journal'') 23 October 1885 File:Anna Brassey.jpg File:Steam Yacht Sunbeam.jpg, Sunbeam under full sail File:Kalakaua at Normalhurst (PP-96-13-006).jpg, Lord Brassey and his wife entertaining King

of Hawaii, 1881 File:Anna Brassey 438-victorian-woman-writing-jornal.gif, From ''A Voyage in the Sunbeam''Illustrations from A Voyage in the 'Sunbeam', by Annie Allnut Brassey
/ref> File:Monkshaven on fire September 28 1876.jpg, Monkshaven on fire, possible sketch by Anna Brassey 28 September 1876 File:Brassey memorial, Catsfield.jpg, Memorial plaque to Brassey in Catsfield church

References

Sources

*''Brassey ée Allnutt Anna nnie Lady Brassey (1839–1887)'', entry in the ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

External links

* * *
Annie Brassey, The Online Books Page, University of Pennsylvania
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brassey, Anna 1839 births 1887 deaths

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

British baronesses English travel writers Victorian women writers Victorian writers British women travel writers Recipients of the Royal Order of Kapiolani 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British writers