Anne Monson

Lady Anne Monson (née Vane; 25 June 172618 February 1776), also known as Lady Anne Hope-Vere, was an English botanist and collector of plants and insects. Life She was the daughter of Henry Vane, 1st Earl of Darlington, and his wife, Lady Grace Fitzroy; she was a great-grandchild of Charles II. Her aunt, also Anne Vane, was a royal mistress. In 1746, she married Charles Hope-Vere of Craigiehall and had two sons before the marriage was dissolved by Act of Parliament in 1757, due to the birth of an illegitimate child. No details of this child's father are known. Later in 1757, she married Colonel George Monson of Lincolnshire. Since her new husband's career was with the Indian military, she spent most of her time in Calcutta, where she became prominent in Anglo-Indian society.