McCann, Annie Bellew (née McDonald) (1838 - 1924)

Born in Ireland, 1838; died in Albury, NSW, on 20 June 1924.

Born at Rockharshall, Ireland, to Capt. Andrew and Margaret McDonald. In 1856, Annie married Torrens McCann (c.1831-1896), and they had nine children (three of whom died in childhood). The family migrated to Vic. in 1858 and settled at 'Rockalpine House', Snowy Creek (later known as Granite Flat), which they ran as a hotel. Annie also gave lessons to local children until a school was built in the late 1870s.

Annie collected (numbered) MEL specimens (including liverworts and mosses) at Buffalo Range 1881-1882; Snowy Creek, 1881, 1885-1886; Mount Hotham, 1882; and the Ovens River, 1882-1887, 1890-1891.

She collected types of :

Frullania hamaticoma Steph. (1889),
Frullania. victoriensis Steph. (1910),
Zygodon remotidens Müll.Hal. (1898) and
Orthotrichum acroblepharis Müll.Hal. (1898).

Franz Stephani identified Annie's liverworts for Mueller, and Carl Müller identified her mosses.

After Mueller's death, Annie continued to send specimens for identification to J.G. Luehmann and Alfred Ewart at MEL.

Her husband and a daughter (see MISS McCANN) also collected MEL specimens. There are also Annie McCann specimens at BM, G and GLAM.

She was an artist in watercolours, embroidered wildflowers (which she called 'needle painting'), and published a book of poetry in 1888.

After her husband died, Annie lived in Albury NSW and worked as a teacher and postmistress.

She died in Albury in 1924 aged 86.

Two letters from Annie to Mueller survive.

A bushfire destroyed 'Rockalpine House' in 1939.

Source: extracted from: Maroske, Sara and Vaughan, Alison (2014) 'Ferdinand Mueller's female plant collectors: a biographical register', Muelleria Vol.32 [consult for source references]
Portrait Photo: from Apendix 1, Maroske, Sara and Vaughan, Alison (2014) 'Ferdinand Mueller's female plant collectors: a biographical register', Muelleria Vol.32