Anna Maria Porter poet, novelist and sister of Jane Porter

Jane Porter

Jane Porter was a Scottish historical novelist and dramatist.-Life and work:Jane Porter was an avid reader. Said to rise at four in the morning in order to read and write, she read the whole of Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene while still a child...

, was born in the Bailey in Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

, the posthumous child of William Porter (1735-1779), who had served as an army surgeon for 23 years. He is buried in St Oswald's church, Durham.

Anna, being fair-haired, pretty and gay, was nicknamed 'L'Allegra'. After the death of the father the family settled in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, where they enjoyed the friendship of Walter Scott

Walter Scott

Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....

. Anna at the age of 12 published Artless Tales.

She was in London by the 1790s, publishing verse in the Universal Magazine. After Artless Tales, she also wrote a short novel Walsh Colville published anonymously in 1797. Though her sister was the more popular writer, Anna was the more prolific. The Hungarian Brothers (1807), a stirring historical romance set against the French Revolutionary Wars was a considerable success and went into several editions.

Anna also produced the humanitarian Tales of Pity on Fishing, Shooting and Hunting in 1814, and collaborated with her sister on collections of stories. In all, she published some thirty works, many being translated into French.