Caroline Maria Applebee

Born in London,[1] but baptized at St Margaret's Church, Canterbury, on 16 May 1787,[2] Caroline Maria Applebee was the eldest daughter[3] of the Rev.

[4] A graduate of St John's College, Oxford, her father was appointed a Prebendary of Lincoln in 1795 and the next year became Rector of East Thorpe, Essex, which brought the Applebee family to Colchester when Caroline Maria was about eleven.

[11][12] She benefited greatly from the botanical gardens which for much of her life were at the top of East Hill, Colchester, but in 1852, two years before her death, they were developed for new housing.

[4] In her will, she left houses, diamonds, carriages, and a painting said to be by Velazquez, as well as three albums of her flower drawings, the last going to her niece Louisa Clare Williams, later Mrs Turner.

[14] Applebee’s work was almost unknown until the invention of mass colour printing in the second half of the 20th century and is now used mostly to illustrate diaries and books about plants.