Anna Maria Dawbin née Anna Maria Hadden (24 November 1816 – 22 November 1905) was a British

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

diarist.

Life

Dawbin was born in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

in 1816 to Elizabeth and William Frederick Hadden. Her father was an army officer. In 1834 she sailed for

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...

as the new wife of Andrew Baxter who was in charge of transported convicts. It was on 24 September 1834 that she started her first of 32 diaries that are extant, although it is clear that she had always kept a diary up to that point.Frost, L. (2004-09-23). Dawbin ée Hadden; other married name Baxter Anna Maria (1816–1905), diarist. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 29 Dec. 2017, se
link
/ref> She arrived aboard the ''Augusta Jessie'' and she and Andrew lived in

Hobart Town Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly half ...

and Launceston. Her husband was an officer in the

50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot The 50th (Queen's Own) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1755. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 97th (The Earl of Ulster's) Regiment of Foot to form the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment ...

and she established herself in Australian society. Her diary records that she was very "friendly" with

Richard Dry Sir Richard Dry, KCMG (20 September 1815 – 1 August 1869) was an Australian politician, the son of United Irish convict, who was Premier of Tasmania from 24 November 1866 until 1 August 1869 when he died in office. Dry was the first Tasmani ...

who was to be

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the Government of Tasmania, executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the Tasmanian House of Assem ...

In 1839 Anna and Andrew decided to become squatters in New South Wales. Andrew had sold his commission and they hoped to retire on their success but by 1845 they were moving to a new location and the marriage was no longer happy. In 1849 she left her husband to care for her niece and nephew in Hobart after their mother died. She became their carer and returned with them to England. her brother remarried and no longer needed her as a foster mother in England. She had no purpose until she heard that her husband had become rich and he had committed suicide. She returned to Australia in 1857 and met a young man named Richard Dawbin on board. They married on 1 September after she had sold what had been her husband's property. They bought a cattle station and Anna recorded her husband's failings. They were bankrupt by 1861 and she was left in Australia whilst her husband returned to England. She had male friends until 5 April 1865 when she sailed back on the ''Nimrod''. She was reunited with her husband in Somerset. Her diary goes blank for a while. They returned to Australia where Dawbin failed to manage a salmon breeding station. She published her earlier diaries as ''Memories of the Past'' in 1876 anonymously. However it is noted that these are edited decades later and lack the immediacy of the contemporary diaries.

Death

Dawbin died in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 1905. The 845,000 words that survived from her diaries were published as her diary in 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawbin, Anna 1816 births 1905 deaths 19th-century English diarists 19th-century English women writers 19th-century Australian writers 19th-century Australian women writers English emigrants to Australia Australian diarists Writers from Exeter