Anne Wright (1793 – 18 January 1861) was a British author, most notably of children's books about natural sciences. Her most well-known work was originally published as a series of letters and later compiled into one volume, titled ''The Observing Eye, or Letters to Children on the Three Lowest Divisions of Animal Life'' (1851).

Biography

Personal life

Anne Wright was born in 1793 in

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

.Ancestry.com. ''1861 England Census'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. In 1816 she married John Wright, whose uncle is known for launching the first sea-going

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

. Most of her writing was complete from a farm in Buxton, Norfolk, where she was a very active participant in the community.E. H. ''A Brief Memorial of Mrs. Wright, late of Buxton, Norfolk.'' Anne Wright, Jarrold and Sons, London, 1861. UIN: BLL01017098189 Wright had two children, Jonathon and Fredrick. She died on 18 January 1861, in

Blakeney, Norfolk Blakeney is a coastal village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Blakeney lies within the Norfolk Coast AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and the North Norfolk Heritage Coast. The North Norfol ...

.Ancestry.com. ''England, Select Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

Writing

Anne Wright's most well-known work during her time was ''The Observing Eye''. It received great critical acclaim, a geologist,

Hugh Miller Hugh Miller (10 October 1802 – 23/24 December 1856) was a Scottish geologist, writer and folklorist. Life and work Miller was born in Cromarty, the first of three children of Harriet Wright (''bap''. 1780, ''d''. 1863) and Hugh Miller ...

, saying "

he Observing Eye He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...

is quite a model of the way in which the study of living nature ought to be brought before the minds of children." In fact, this work was chosen by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

to be in the collection that was to be read by the royal children. Wright herself took an interest in

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

, sometimes gathering and studying different specimens. Several of her works involved the geology and other natural sciences: * ''Our World: Its Rocks and Fossils'' (1859) * ''The Globe Prepared for Man: A Guide to Geology'' (1853) * ''What is a Bird? The Forms of Birds – Their Instincts –'' ''and Use in Creation Considered'' (1857)

Community involvement

Wright was an active participant in her neighborhood. She was a figure often present at the local school, and "Mrs. Wright's Stories" drew a lot of interest from the children. In 1853, Wright's husband John established a

reformatory A reformatory or reformatory school is a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries. In the United Kingdom and United States, they came out of social concern ...

in their own neighborhood; Anne Wright was very enthusiastic about helping reform the inmates through instruction.

Selected works

* ''Listen and Learn: A Short Narrative of a Three Days' Ramble'' * ''The Observing Eye, or Letters to Children on the Three Lowest Divisions of Animal Life'' (1851) * ''Passover Feasts and Scripture Sacrifices'' (1852) * ''The Globe Prepared for Man: A Guide to Geology'' (1853) * ''What is a Bird? The Forms of Birds – Their Instincts – and Use in Creation Considered'' (1857) * ''Our World: Its Rocks and Fossils'' (1859)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Anne 1793 births 1861 deaths 19th-century British women writers People from the Borough of Milton Keynes