Ann Hawkshaw facts for kids

Ann Hawkshaw (born October 14, 1812 – died April 29, 1885) was an English poet. She wrote and published four books of poems. Her books came out between 1842 and 1871.

Ann Hawkshaw's Early Life

Ann Hawkshaw was born Ann Jackson on October 14, 1812. She was the third child of Reverend James Jackson. He was a Protestant minister in Green Hammerton, Yorkshire. Her mother was Mary Clarke. Ann was one of fourteen children, but only seven lived to be adults. Her family had lived and worked in Green Hammerton (North Yorkshire) for over 300 years. Ann lived there until she was fourteen. Then, she went to a boarding school. It was the Moravian School in Little Gomersal. This school was about forty miles from her home.

Family and Important Friends

In the 1820s, Ann met John Hawkshaw. They got married on March 20, 1835, in Whixley. Soon after, they moved to Salford. While living in Manchester, the Hawkshaws met many interesting people. They became friends with members of the Unitarian community. These friends included John Relly Beard, William and Elizabeth Gaskell, and Catherine Winkworth. John Hawkshaw became a member of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society in 1839. This helped Ann and John meet other important thinkers. Some of these were Richard Cobden and John Dalton.

Ann and John had six children. Their names were Mary Jane Jackson (born 1838), Ada (born 1840), John Clarke (born 1841), Henry Paul (born 1843), Editha (born 1845), and Oliver (born 1846). Sadly, Ada passed away in 1845. Oliver also passed away in 1856. This happened when the family was on holiday in Scotland.

In 1850, John Hawkshaw started his own engineering business. The family then moved to London. From the early 1850s, they had a governess named Mary Pugh. She later worked for Charles Darwin at Down House.

On June 24, 1862, Ann's oldest child, Mary, married Godfrey Wedgwood. Her brother John Clarke married Godfrey's sister Cecily in 1865. Mary and Godfrey had their first child, Cecil Wedgwood, on March 28, 1863. Just fifteen days later, Mary passed away. By this time, three of Ann and John's six children had passed away.

In 1865, the Hawkshaws bought a large estate called Hollycombe. It was near Liphook, Hampshire. They spent their time between this country home and London. Many famous people visited them there. These visitors included Charles and Emma Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Henry James, Anne Thackeray, and Alfred Tennyson. The Hawkshaws built a school nearby in memory of their three children who had passed away. They also had a special stained-glass window made. It showed a mother and three children. The window had the words 'Fides, Spes et Caritas' (Faith, Hope, and Charity). Later, this window was replaced with a stone. The stone says 'To the Memory of Ada, Oliver and Mary'.

Ann Hawkshaw's Writing Career

Ann Hawkshaw's first book of poems was called Dionysius the Areopagite' with other poems. It was published in 1842. This book had twenty-two poems. The main poem tells the Bible story of Dionysius the Areopagite. He was a leader in Athens mentioned in the New Testament (Acts 17:34). Ann's poem imagined Dionysius's journey to becoming a Christian. It showed his choice of faith over romantic love.

Other poets in Manchester liked her first book. Samuel Bamford even mentioned her work in his own book of poems in 1843. In 1844, John Hawkshaw sent a copy of the book to Thomas Carlyle. Carlyle then sent it to his mother to read. Two of Ann's shorter poems, 'Why am I a Slave?' and 'The Mother to her Starving Child', are in a collection called Nineteenth-Century Women Poets: An Oxford Anthology.

Her second book, Poems for My Children, came out in 1847. Six of the twenty-seven poems in this book were written for her own children. This included poems for Ada, who had passed away in 1845. Some poems celebrated nature. Others described the city of Manchester. The book also had five poems about British history. These poems hinted at her bigger history project that came out later.

Sonnets on Anglo-Saxon History was published in 1854. This book had one hundred sonnets. Each sonnet told a part of British history up to the Norman Conquest. Next to each sonnet was a short piece of writing. These pieces included quotes from famous historians of the time. Some historians were Sharon Turner, Francis Palgrave, and J.M. Kemble. There were also quotes from old texts like The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Bede's Ecclesiastical History. In her sonnets, Ann Hawkshaw talked about what these historians wrote. She also shared her own ideas about Anglo-Saxon history. She showed how history could be told in different ways.

Ann Hawkshaw's last book was Cecil's Own Book. It was printed in 1871 for private use. This book had three short stories and ten poems. She wrote it to entertain her young grandson, Cecil Wedgwood. He was the son of her daughter Mary, who had passed away in 1863. The book was dedicated to Mary's memory. The last poem in the book, 'In Memoriam', is very special. It is a sad but touching poem about children passing away. It talks about the loss of Ann and John's three children.

Some books about children's poetry in the 1900s thought Ann Hawkshaw was 'Aunt Effie'. 'Aunt Effie' wrote Aunt Effie's Rhymes for Little Children (1852) and Aunt Effie's Gift to the Nursery (1854). However, the real 'Aunt Effie' was Jane Euphemia Saxby.

Ann Hawkshaw's Death

Ann Hawkshaw passed away on April 29, 1885. She was seventy-two years old. She died at her home in London from a stroke. The Manchester Guardian newspaper wrote about her death on May 1, 1885. Lady Hawkshaw was buried at St Mary-the-Virgin Church in Bramshott. This church was a few miles from her family's Hollycombe estate. Sir John Hawkshaw had a stained glass window made for the church. It was to remember his wife.