Lady Anne Barnard

Lady Anne Barnard was a Scottish travel writer, artist and socialite, and the author of the ballad Auld Robin Gray. Her fiveyear residence in Cape Town, South Africa, although brief, had a significant impact on the cultural and social life of the time.

Anne was born at Balcarres House in Fife, the ninth child and first daughter of James, Earl of Balcarres and Anne Lindsay . In 1793 she moved to London, where she met and was married to Andrew Barnard, who was twelve years her junior and the son of Thomas Barnard, Bishop of Limerick. She later obtained from Viscount Melville an appointment for him as colonial secretary at the Cape of Good Hope, which was then under British military occupation. The Barnards travelled there in March 1797, Lady Anne remaining at the Cape until January 1802.

Source: Wikipedia