Annie Matheson

Annie Matheson (29 March 1853 – 16 March 1924) was a British Victorian era poet. She was known to have written one of the first biographies of Florence Nightingale as well as several volumes of meditative and lyrical poetry. Because her poems were primarily centered on the ethical and spiritual experience of life, several Christian denominations have been known to appreciate her work. As evidenced by her several publications, she greatly advocated for the alleviation of poverty and social injustice in hope of reform. She contributed to several contemporary periodicals by writing short essays and biographies. Although she published several works, there is no significant biographical account of Matheson's life.

Life Annie Matheson was born in 1853 in Blackheath, Kent. She was the daughter of Rev. James Matheson, a Congregationalist minister in Nottingham and his wife Elizabeth Cripps, and older sister to Percy Ewing Matheson besides nine other siblings. Privately educated in Nottingham, Matheson discovered a passion for writing as she began to contribute to literary journalism. Her religious family background seems to have greatly influenced her outlook and writing.

Literary work At the age of thirty-seven, she published her first book, The Religion of Humanity and Other Poems (1890). In 1899, Matheson published Selected Poems Old and New as a compilation of popular shorter poems. According to a critical essay by Alfred Miles, Matheson's The Religion of Humanity and Other Poems (1890), has "impressed those able to discriminate by its earnestness of purpose, nobility of thought, and distinction of style and form."

Publications

(1890) The Religion of Humanity and Other Poems (1894) Love's Music and Other New Poems (1898) Love Triumphant, and Other New Poems (1899) Selected Poems Old and New (1900) Snowflakes and Snowdrops. Christmas Rhymes and Valentine Verses for Schoolroom and Nursery. (1909) By Divers Paths: The Note-Book of Seven Wayfarers (1910) The Story of a Brave Child: A Child's Life of Joan of Arc (1911) Roses, loaves, and old rhymes (1912) Leaves of Prose... With Two Studies by May Sinclair (1913) Florence Nightingale: a biography. London: Nelson. (1913) Maytime Songs (1920) A Plain Friend (1920) Our Hero of the Golden Heart... With Biography and Portrait of D. O. Barnett (1921) Hal's Book for Children of All Ages