Anne Pratt was a botanical illustrator from Strood

Strood

Strood is a town in the unitary authority of Medway in South East England. It is part of the ceremonial county of Kent. It lies on the north west bank of the River Medway at its lowest bridging point, and is part of the Rochester post town....

, Kent. She was one of the best known English botanical illustrators of the Victorian age. She was the second of three daughters of Robert Pratt (1777–1819), a grocer, and Sara Bundock (1780–1845). Due to poor health and a 'stiff knee' in childhood she missed out on 'outdoor activities' and was encouraged to occupy herself by drawing. Anne Pratt was educated at Eastgate House, Rochester, and was introduced to botany by Dr. Dods, a family friend. She moved to Brixton, London in 1826 where she developed he career as an illustrator. She settled in Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

 in 1849, then in East Grinstead

East Grinstead

East Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...

 in 1866 where she married John Pearless. They then moved to Redhill

Redhill

Redhill can refer to:* Redhill, South Australia, Australia* Redhill, Nottinghamshire, England* Redhill, Shropshire, England* Redhill, Somerset, England* Redhill, Surrey, England**Redhill railway station**Redhill Aerodrome* Redhill, Singapore, Singapore...

. She died in Shepherd's Bush

Shepherd's Bush

-Commerce:Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green....

, London.

Anne Pratt wrote more than 20 books which she illustrated with chromolithographs.. Anne Pratt's works were written in popular style but were said to be accurate. She was responsible for the popularising of Botany. She never achieved critical acclaim on the grounds that she was self taught. She collaborated with William Dickes, an engraver skilled in the

Selected works

• The field, the garden, and the woodland, published in 1838.
• The Pictorial Catechism of Botany. Suttaby and Co, London, 1842.
• The ferns of Great Britain, c. 1850
• Wild Flowers 1852 (2 vols.) Also published as classroom wall hangings.
• Poisonous, Noxious, and Suspected Plants, of our Fields and Woods. 1857
• The flowering plants, grasses, sedges, and ferns of Great Britain and their allies the club mosses, pepperworts, and horsetails., 1855–1866, 5 vols. London: Frederick Warne and Co. A sixth vol was added in 1873, on the grasses sedges and ferns.It was promoted by The Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (SPCK). The original 5 volumes were titled The Flowering Plants of Great Britain.
• The Language of Flowers the Associations of Flowers Popular Tales of Flowers, with Thomas Miller, Simpkin & Co Limited, London. 1846
• Chapters on Common Things of the Sea-side, S.P.C.K., 1850.
• Our Native Songsters, SPCK, 1857.
• Haunts of the Wild Flowers. Routledge, Warne and Routledge, 1863
• The Garden Flowers of The Year, Religious Tract Society, 1846
• Wild Flowers of The Year, Religious Tract Society, 1846