Anna Williams (poet)
Encyclopedia
Anna Williams was a poet and companion of Samuel Johnson
.
, Pembrokeshire
to Zachariah Williams (1668/73–1755) (a scientist and doctor) and his wife, Martha. Her father provided her with a wide artistic and scientific education, including Italian
and French
. In 1726/7 Zachariah and Anna moved to London, staying at the Charterhouse
, where she helped him while he experimented in using magnetism
in pursuit of the longitude prize
and being his home-help when, from 1745, he became bedridden and hospitalised. Despite her failing sight in the 1740s, she was able to sew and, in 1746, to publish a translation of a French life of the emperor Julian
.
to operate on Anna's cataracts; after this failed, she became a member of his household, just before her death. She then lived with Johnson in all his various residences. The only exception is the period from 1759–65, when he moved from Gough Street into the Inner Temple
, during which time she lodged in Bolt Court, Fleet Street
- there Johnson drank tea with her "every night … before he went home, however late it might be, and she always sat up for him" and, in August 1763, Boswell
proudly made good his "title to be a privileged man" by being "carried by him in the evening to drink tea with Miss Williams" .
In 1765 Williams moved back into Johnson's household in 7 Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, and then from March 1776 to her death in 8 Bolt Court, supervising his household management and expenses from a ground-floor apartment in both houses. Regularly helping Johnson when he entertained at home, she also accompanied him on visits or, if not, had a dish sent home to her by him. Knowing a variety of literary works, she could express herself well and, having lived long with Johnson, knew his habits and how to draw him out into conversation, whilst Johnson, for his part, was not above playfulness towards her: Frances Reynolds
records that he would ‘whirl her about on the steps’ when visiting.
Anna had annual gifts of money from acquaintances, including Lady Philipps of Picton Castle
, an old family friend, but had this income supplemented by Johnson who, for example, arranged for David Garrick
to give a benefit performance
of Aaron Hill's Merope at Drury Lane theatre on 22 January 1756 ‘for a gentlewoman
deprived of her sight’ and in 1774 helped her application to Hetherington's charity at Christ's Hospital
(which failed since Welsh applicants were ineligible).
, London.
Her Dictionary of National Biography entry states that "as a writer Williams had craft but not genius...[a writer of] capable [and] effective if conventional ... verses". Miscellanies is a collection of disparate pieces, verse, prose, and dramatic fragments. Alexander Pope
is an influence, as seen in this quotation:
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
.
Early life
She was born at RosemarketRosemarket
Rosemarket is a village and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales.The name means "market in the hundred of Roose ". It was a marcher borough founded by the Knights Hospitaller in the 12th century. Owen, in 1603, described it as one of nine Pembrokeshire "boroughs in decay". The church, like many in...
, Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
to Zachariah Williams (1668/73–1755) (a scientist and doctor) and his wife, Martha. Her father provided her with a wide artistic and scientific education, including Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
. In 1726/7 Zachariah and Anna moved to London, staying at the Charterhouse
London Charterhouse
The London Charterhouse is a historic complex of buildings in Smithfield, London dating back to the 14th century. It occupies land to the north of Charterhouse Square. The Charterhouse began as a Carthusian priory, founded in 1371 and dissolved in 1537...
, where she helped him while he experimented in using magnetism
Magnetism
Magnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...
in pursuit of the longitude prize
Longitude prize
The Longitude Prize was a reward offered by the British government for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude...
and being his home-help when, from 1745, he became bedridden and hospitalised. Despite her failing sight in the 1740s, she was able to sew and, in 1746, to publish a translation of a French life of the emperor Julian
Julian the Apostate
Julian "the Apostate" , commonly known as Julian, or also Julian the Philosopher, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363 and a noted philosopher and Greek writer....
.
Life with Johnson
In 1748 her father was evicted from hospital and they appealed to Dr Johnson, who had taken an interest in Williams's experiments and assisted in his publishing of his theory of longitude. Johnson also later arranged for Samuel SharpSamuel Sharp (surgeon)
Samuel Sharp FRS was an English surgeon and author, son of Henry Sharp of Jamaica.-Development:He was born about 1700. He was bound apprentice for seven years to William Cheselden, surgeon at St. Thomas's Hospital, on 2 March 1724. He paid £300. when his indentures were signed, the money being...
to operate on Anna's cataracts; after this failed, she became a member of his household, just before her death. She then lived with Johnson in all his various residences. The only exception is the period from 1759–65, when he moved from Gough Street into the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
, during which time she lodged in Bolt Court, Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
- there Johnson drank tea with her "every night … before he went home, however late it might be, and she always sat up for him" and, in August 1763, Boswell
James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson....
proudly made good his "title to be a privileged man" by being "carried by him in the evening to drink tea with Miss Williams" .
In 1765 Williams moved back into Johnson's household in 7 Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, and then from March 1776 to her death in 8 Bolt Court, supervising his household management and expenses from a ground-floor apartment in both houses. Regularly helping Johnson when he entertained at home, she also accompanied him on visits or, if not, had a dish sent home to her by him. Knowing a variety of literary works, she could express herself well and, having lived long with Johnson, knew his habits and how to draw him out into conversation, whilst Johnson, for his part, was not above playfulness towards her: Frances Reynolds
Frances Reynolds
Frances Reynolds was an English artist, and the youngest sister of Sir Joshua Reynolds.-Life:Born on 6 June 1729, she kept Sir Joshua's house for many years after he came to London, and employed herself in miniature and other painting. But when her nieces, the Misses Palmer, were old enough to...
records that he would ‘whirl her about on the steps’ when visiting.
Anna had annual gifts of money from acquaintances, including Lady Philipps of Picton Castle
Picton Castle
Picton Castle is a medieval castle near Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Originally built at the end of the 13th century by Sir John Wogan and is still inhabited by his descendants, the Philipps family ....
, an old family friend, but had this income supplemented by Johnson who, for example, arranged for David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
to give a benefit performance
Benefit performance
In a benefit performance the performers usually do not earn any money.Instead, the takings will go to raise money for some mutually agreed upon cause: e.g. the Actors Benevolent Fund; a hospital; a foundation...
of Aaron Hill's Merope at Drury Lane theatre on 22 January 1756 ‘for a gentlewoman
Gentlewoman
A gentlewoman in the original and strict sense is a woman of good family, analogous to the Latin generosus and generosa...
deprived of her sight’ and in 1774 helped her application to Hetherington's charity at Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital is an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside just south of Horsham in Horsham District, West Sussex, England...
(which failed since Welsh applicants were ineligible).
Last days and death
As Williams grew old and frail she became more and more intolerant towards the other members of the household, though this did not affect Johnson's care for her - he wrote a prayer for her in her last illness, and after her death wrote that: ‘Her curiosity was universal, her knowledge was very extensive, and she sustained forty years of misery with steady fortitude. Thirty years and more she has been my companion, and her death has left me very desolate’. His circle, whilst acknowledging her peevishness, also acknowledged her learning and intelligence. She left £200 in stocks at her death, and £157 14s. in cash left to the Ladies' Charity School, Snow HillSnow Hill
Snow Hill may refer to:in Antarctica* Snow Hill Island, Antarctica, where the Swedish Antarctic Expedition explorers over-wintered in 1902in the United Kingdom* Birmingham Snow Hill station** Snowhill, the development project adjacent to the station...
, London.
Works
- Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, published in 1766 as a quarto edition by Thomas Davies with Johnson adding a preface and several prose and verse pieces. First advertised in 1750, there were waspish claims from Anna's friends that Johnson had not put himself out in getting it produced, though it was moderately successful and earned the author about £100.
- A dictionary of philosophical terms probably inspired by Johnson's own Dictionary - begun in 1754 but abandoned despite Johnson's support (he wrote to Richardson the printer that ‘she understands chimistry and many other arts’).
- Occasional verses, such as "On the Death of Sir Erasmus Philipps, Unfortunately Drowned in the River Avon".
Her Dictionary of National Biography entry states that "as a writer Williams had craft but not genius...[a writer of] capable [and] effective if conventional ... verses". Miscellanies is a collection of disparate pieces, verse, prose, and dramatic fragments. Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
is an influence, as seen in this quotation:
- For me, contented with a humble state
- 'Twas ne'er my care, or fortune, to be great.
Sources
.- Boswell, Life, 1.232–3, 241, 350, 393, 421, 463; 2.5, 286, 427; 3.48, 132; 4.235; 5.276
- J. Hawkins, The life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., ed. B. H. Davis (1962), 134–6
- Lady Knight, ‘Anecdotes and remarks’, in Johnsonian miscellanies, ed. G. B. Hill, 2 (1897), 171–5
- J. P. Phillips, ‘Mrs Anna Williams’, N&Q, 3rd ser., 1 (1862), 421–2
- Richard FentonRichard Fenton-Life:Fenton was born at St. David's, Pembrokeshire, received his education in the cathedral school there, and at an early age obtained a situation in London in the custom house...
, A Historical Tour through Pembrokeshire (1811), 197–200 - Johnsonian miscellanies, ed. G. B. Hill, 2 vols. (1897), vol. 1, pp. 114–15, 401–3; vol. 2, pp. 217–18, 279
- The letters of Samuel Johnson, ed. R. W. Chapman, 3 (1952), 69–75
- Nichols, Lit. anecdotes, 2.178–84
- G. W. Stone, ed., The London stage, 1660–1800, pt 4: 1747–1776 (1962), 522
- ESD Journal