Background
She was the daughter of Henry Vane, first earl of Darlington, and his wife, Lady Grace Fitzroy. She was a great-grandchild of Charles World War II
She was the daughter of Henry Vane, first earl of Darlington, and his wife, Lady Grace Fitzroy. She was a great-grandchild of Charles World War II
Lady Anne"s interest in natural history predated her arrival in India. In 1760, she was already well known to the botanical community as a "remarkable lady botanist". lieutenant was claimed by her contemporary J. East. Smith that it was Lady Anne who assisted James Lee in translating Linnaeus"s Philosophia Botanica, the first work to explain the Linnaean classification to English readers.
Lee published the book under his own name in 1760, and acknowledged Lady Anne anonymously in the preface.
A few years later Lady Anne was introduced to the Danish entomologist Johan Christian Fabricius, one of Linnaeus"s pupils. Later, Lady Anne is mentioned by James Lee in her letters to Linnaeus.
In 1774, on the way out to Calcutta, Lady Anne visited the Cape of Good Hope where she met another of Linnaeus"s pupils, Carl Peter Thunberg, a seasoned collector of South African plants. Thunberg accompanied her on several expeditions around Cape Town, and she presented him with a ring in remembrance.
One of the South African plants collected by Lady Anne was named Monsonia by Linnaeus.
Specimens of Monsonia, a flowering shrub, were sent to Kew Gardens in 1774. She died in Calcutta on 18 February 1776.