Louisa Anne Meredith

(1812-1895)
Early author, artist and botanist, who was the first woman to write a description of life in Tasmania

Louisa Anne Meredith (Twamley) was born in Birmingham in 1812. Despite her lack of formal education she had became an extremely competent writer, artist, botanist and naturalist by her teens. Her first book of poems, which she illustrated herself, was published when she was 20 years old.

In 1839 Louisa married and moved to Oyster Bay, Tasmania where she continued to write and paint. Notes and sketches of New South Wales was published in 1844 and My Home in Tasmania in 1852. Louisa was an active participant in the production of plays, concerts and poetry readings in Hobart.

As an ardent conservationist Louisa lobbied to have an act of parliament passed to protect Tasmania’s wildlife and also helped found the Tasmanian branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Her love of flora and fauna was clearly illustrated in her publications Tasmanian Friends and Foes, Feathered Furred and Finned, published in 1880 and Bush Friends in Tasmania, published in 1891.

Louisa was a prolific author with many and varied publications to her credit. Her remarkable collection of writing and painting give us a clear picture of the life of white Australian settlers spanning 50 years of the pioneer era of Tasmania.

In 1884, four years after the death of her husband, Louisa was awarded £100 per year by the British Government in recognition of her work in literature, art and science.

An extensive selection of publications by Louisa Meredith are available at the State Library of Tasmania including:

Meredith, Louisa Anne, An Autumn ramble by the Wye, London: Charles Tilt, 1839

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Bush friends in Tasmania: native flowers, fruits and insects, drawn from nature, with prose descriptions and illustrations in verse, London: Macmillan, 1891

Meredith, Louisa Anne, The country maid and the pimpernel-flower, [s.l.]: [s.n.], [19?]

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Grandmamma’s verse-book for young Australia. Part 1, [Orford], Tas., Printed for the author by W. Fletcher, 1878

Meredith, Louisa Anne, The Hon. Charles Meredith, late Colonial Treasurer of Tasmania, [s.l], [s.n.], [19-?]

Meredith, Louisa Anne, A lady’s journey to Bathurst in 1839, [s.l.]: [s.n.], [19-?]

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Loved, and lost! : the true story of a short life: told in gossip verse and illustrated, London: Day and Son, [1860]

Meredith, Louisa Anne, My home in Tasmania, Adelaide: Sullivan’s Cove, 1979

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Notes and sketches of New South Wales, London: John Murray, 1846

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Our island home: a Tasmanian sketch book, Hobart Town: London: J. Walch, Marcus Ward, 1879

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Our wild flowers : familiarly described and illustrated, London: Charles Tilt, 1839

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Over the straits: a visit to Victoria, London: Chapman and Hall, 1861

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Phoebe’s mother: a novel, London: Tinsley Brothers, 1869

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Poems, London: Charles Tilt, 1835

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Poems by Louisa Anne Twamley: with original illustrations, drawn and etched by the authoress, London: Charles Tilt, 1835

Meredith, Louisa Anne, The romance of nature: or, The Flower — seasons illustrated, London, Charles Tilt, 1836

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Some of my bush friends in Tasmania: native flowers, berries and insects, London: Day, 1860

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Souvenir of the masques of Christmas, and of the old and new year, Hobart Town: Tasmanian Morning Herald, 1866

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Tasmanian friends and foes, feathered, furred, and finned: a family chronicle of country life, natural history, and veritable adventure, London: Marcus Ward, 1881

Meredith, Louisa Anne, A Tasmanian memory of 1834: in five scenes, Hobart Town: J. Walch & Sons, 1869

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Tasmania’s welcome to H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, N.p: [s.n.], 1868? Printed on cloth

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Travels and stories in our gold colonies, London: Charles Griffen, [1865?]

Meredith, Louisa Anne, Waratah rhymes for young Australia, London: Vincent Brooks, Day and Son [1891]

References:

Meredith, Louisa Anne, My Home in Tasmania, New York: Bunce, 1853, p.113

Rae Ellis, Vivienne, Louisa Anne Meredith: A Tigress in Exile, St. Davids Park: Hobart, 1990

Links:

Council of heads of Australian herbaria page

< Index of Significant Tasmanian Women