Ann Fowler

Ann Fowler's family moved from Liverpool in NSW to London in order to find a cure for Ann's deafness. When this was unsuccessful, they turned to a school for deaf children – most likely the Old Kent Road School in London – and Ann was a pupil there from 1842 until 1853, living with her uncle and his family.

Ann returned home to NSW in 1853, and lived with her mother until her mother's death in 1889. Family records mention that “Ann remained in her mother’s company, for each understood the need of the other. By finger and hand gesture, or by slate, they communicated.” In the late 1800s, Ann and her mother lived in Redfern, not far from the Institute, and in the same area as Arthur Renwick. This makes it very likely that Ann also met with other deaf people in Sydney.

Ann died in Waverley at her brother’s home, at the age of 71 years. Some of her letters from her school days can be seen in the Fowler Family Papers Collection (1827-1973) at the Mitchell Library.

Sources

MLMSS 2991, Fowler family – Papers, 1827-1973. Mitchell Library

Fowler, Lionel A. 1985. Malua, Four Centuries of Fowler Family History 1535-1985, William Thomas Fowler His Ancestry and His Descendants.”