Anna (Annie) Louisa Walker (23 June 1836 in Staffordshire – 7 July 1907 in Bath, Somerset) was an English and Canadian teacher and author.
As the poem was published anonymously, Walker received no credit in the volume for the lyrics, which were commonly misattributed to the hymnist Sidney Dyer.
[5] Most of the poems in the collection have religious or natural themes[4] In 1863 or 1864, Annie Louisa accompanied her parents back to England, where her father died in September 1864,[1] followed soon after by her mother.
[6] Oliphant was a successful writer, and encouraged Walker to write fiction rather than poetry, and recommended her works to publishers with which she already had contact.
It tells of a 16-year-old living in a small town along the St Lawrence who is courted by a Canadian man, but almost drives him off when she becomes enamoured of a visiting English aristocrat.
[4][7] W. W. Tulloch's review in The Academy praised the story for its character development, descriptive language and wholesomeness, while criticising it for a somewhat stale and outdated style.
[4] On 29 January 1884, Walker married Harry Coghill a wealthy widower whose fortune was made manufacturing chemicals.
[4] In 1890, her volume Oak and Maple: English and Canadian Verses was published under her married name, Anna Louisa Coghill.