An accomplished author, artist, botanist and naturalist despite her lack of formal education, Louisa Anne Meredith was the first woman to write a description of life in Tasmania. Her first book of self-illustrated poetry, titled Poems, was published in London when she was in her early twenties. Her next volume, The Romance of Nature, or, The Flower-Seasons Illustrated, was likewise published by Charles Tilt in London and appeared in 1839. In the same year, Meredith married her cousin Charles Meredith and moved first to New South Wales and then 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.
Meredith was an active participant in the production of plays, concerts and poetry readings in Hobart. As an ardent conservationist Meredith 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 many and varied works. Meredith's remarkable collection of writing and painting provide 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, Meredith was awarded £100 per year by the British Government in recognition of her work in literature, art and science.
(Adapted from website Significant Tasmanian Women Sighted 17/1/2013 [Originally sighted (2006) at http://www.women.tas.gov.au/significantwomen/search/louisameredith.html]
