Born in Fredericton on 15 February 1875, Annie H. Ross received her early schooling in Woodstock, NB, and earned a BA at UNB in 1896. In 1901 she graduated as a nurse from the Philadelphia Polyclinic and worked in hospitals in her native Carleton Co. In 1905 she began her teaching career in the Canadian west, becoming a principal in Nelson, BC, by 1914.

Miss Ross married her first husband, W. Garland Foster, in 1914 and worked as a nursing sister with the British Red Cross when he was posted to England. After his death in 1918, she returned to British Columbia where she became active in municipal politics. In the mid-1920s she began writing seriously. In addition to numerous newspaper, magazine and journal articles, her publications include "The Mohawk princess being some account of the life of Tekahion-Wake (E. Pauline Johnson)" (1931), "High days and holidays in Canada" (1938), and "Makers of history" (1946).

Annie Ross studied at McGill University for her BLS in 1931 and she received an MA from UNB in 1932, submitting her manuscript of The Mohawk Princess in lieu of a thesis [see RA PS 8469.0283 Z69 copy 1]. In 1945 she married Patrick Hanley and moved to White Rock, BC where she lived until her death on 18 June 1974.

See also: "Passing through: pictures from the life of Mrs. W. Garland Foster (née Annie H. Ross)" by Patricia Belier in Officers' Quarterly 12,2 (Spring 1996): 7-9.

Source:
Foster, Annie H., 1875-1974.