A correct Portrait of Ann Jane Thornton, as She appeared in her cabin boy's dress...

This portrait shows the Female Sailor Anne Jane Thornton (1818-1847?), who sailed as a man between 1834 and 1835.

"Female Sailor" is a term referring someone who was assigned female at birth but who went on to live and sail as a man, either short-term or long-term, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This term was used in the press but also in popular culture, such as the balladry tradition. Because of the popularity of her story, Anne became the eponymous Female Sailor of numerous ballads and prints.

This portrait is a print which has been hand-coloured. It depicts Anne in her place of work, on the deck of a ship. Contemporary press states that Anne had a cabin's boy outfit made when she decided to go seafaring, and this is shown in this print as the typical outfit of a sailor: a blue round jacket and white trousers, a red waistcoat with a shirt underneath, a black silk handkerchief and a sennit hat. Newspaper accounts described Anne wearing a "red worsted jacket" and "duck trowsers".

Articles from the time reported that Anne had "dark and brilliant eyes", a "comely face" and a dark or tanned complexion. None of these features are specifically represented in the portrait, which instead showcases Anne's outfit and sailor's status. One important detail is Anne's hair, knotted in a braid at the nape of her neck. This is probably not a detail from life, as sources describe Anne's "cropped poll [sic] of hair", but rather a choice dictated by clarity: if Anne's long, feminine hair were not explicitly shown in the portrait, Anne would just look like a typical sailor. We can contrast this depiction to images from the theatre where female actors played "breeches" roles.

This portrait was printed by J.V. Quick in London, where news of Anne's sailing career first spread. We know that during her lifetime Anne was the subject of several popular publications: the National Maritime Museum holds two broadsides reporting her story and a ballad together, PBH2390 and PAI9693, as well as another portrait (PAD3045).

At the bottom of the print appears a condensed version of Anne's career as a sailor. What we know of it can be pieced together through articles in the press, which were often sensational. These were published chiefly between February and April 1835 and included the transcript of a deposition to the Mayor of London.

The articles state that Anne was born in Gloucestershire but grew up in Ireland. Having met a navy captain and fallen in love, she followed him to America, but when she landed in New York, dressed as a ship's boy, she learned that he had died. Anne decided that a sailor's career was "a more probable mode of existence," and eventually ended on the ‘Sarah’, commanded by Captain McEntire. She was publicly outed in London in February 1835.

After the news broke, Anne was invited to see the Lord Mayor, who had read about her in the news. He interrogated Anne with the captain of the 'Sarah' to determine if Anne had been abused, and started a search for Anne's family. Eventually a sister was found, and Anne was able to return to Ireland. She received a pension and a plot of land and got married. She died in 1847.

Anne's story became a popular culture sensation. The inn where she was staying in London in February 1835 was swarmed by crowds, and in April of the same year there was even a racehorse named Anne Jane Thornton. At least a play about her life was produced, and she became the subject of a very popular ballad, which features in the broadsides PBH2390 and PAI9693.