Anna Williams
(1706-1783), Poet and companion of Samuel JohnsonSitter in 2 portraits
Anna Williams was a blind poet who lived as a lodger in the house of Samuel Johnson, after the death of his wife in 1752 together with a number of other lodgers. The two had met a few years earlier when Johnson helped her father, a medical practitioner, to publish his theory of longitude. After a failed operation to improve her sight, Williams joined Johnson's household and began to manage his accounts. Johnson was evidently fond of Williams, despite her reputation as a difficult woman. He drank tea with her late into the night and in 1766 contributed to her Miscellanies in Prose and Verse.
by Ebenezer Stalker, published by Alexander Beugo, after Frances Reynolds
line engraving, published 28 May 1817
NPG D8592
by Ebenezer Stalker, published by Alexander Beugo, after Frances Reynolds
line engraving, published 28 May 1817
NPG D13935
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