Anna McNeill Whistler was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, to Daniel McNeill, a physician, and Martha Kingsley McNeill, daughter of Zephaniah Kingsley, Senior (one of the founders of the University of New Brunswick) and youngest sister of Zephaniah Kingsley, Junior. (a slave trader and plantation owner).
She gave birth to two sons, James McNeill Whistler and William McNeill Whistler. Her husband soon accepted a job in Russia as a railway engineer between Moscow and Saint St. Petersburg. She had a son named Kirkie who died age 4.
A son named Charlie also died before Anna had moved to Russia.
When James was nine, his art brought the attention of Scottish painter Sir William Allen. Anna then enrolled James in the Imperial Academy of Arts at Saint St. Petersburg.
Her husband died in 1849 from cholera. Anna returned to the United States, to live in Connecticut.
Her daughter remained in England after marrying a surgeon.
James entered West Point just before his 17th birthday, was expelled soon after, and moved back to England. Her son William became a surgeon in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. She later relocated to Street Mary"s Terrace, Hastings, east Sussex.
She was surprised by her son"s "flamboyant Bohemian lifestyle".
However, she tolerated it, and befriended some of his friends as well. This was around the time the famous painting was made, although it was not the only one.
Anna was 67 during the painting of the picture. She died a decade later and is buried in Hastings Cemetery.
