Memorial to banker's girl who fought in Wild West

A wealthy banker's daughter who ended up delivering bullets on horseback in the Wild West has been honoured with a memorial stone in her hometown.

Ann Raney Coleman was born in Whitehaven, Cumbria, in 1810, and was the second of four children to John Raney - a founder of the Whitehaven Joint Stock Bank.

She led a "colourful" life, which saw her move across the Atlantic Ocean and encounter pirates and spies, but ultimately die in poverty in Texas in 1897.

The flagstone has been created as part of a regeneration project in the town, which also features a memorial to marine artist Robert Salmon.

"The name of Ann Raney Coleman was totally unknown in her native county of Cumberland," said Margaret Crosby, secretary of Whitehaven Heritage Action Group.

It has led a project to celebrate her life, with the memorial stone recently unveiled as part of a revamp of Green Market and Duke Street.

The stone references the Victorian Lady on the Texas Frontier - a book about Ann's life published in 1972, based on her journals.

"It was the discovery of her journal that brought her remarkable life to light," Mrs Crosby said.

The bank co-owned by Ann's father moved into an elegant premises on the corner of Queen Street and Lowther Street, which later became the National Westminster Bank, and is now the Westminster Cafe.

When it failed following a market collapse in the 1820s, Mr Raney emigrated to Texas to rebuild his life, having lost all of his money in legal battles against his former partners.

"Ann and her mother and sister joined him in 1832 after a harrowing sea voyage, during which they hid in a closet while pirates ransacked the ship off the coast of Cuba," Mrs Crosby said.

Once in the US, Ann helped the Texans against the Mexican army in the Battle of Velasco.

"She was making bullets and carrying them 15 miles (24km) on horseback to a hiding place in a hollow tree," Mrs Crosby said.

"She had to outrun two Mexican spies on the return journey."

After the death of her parents in 1833, Ann married John Thomas, however her fortunes soon changed. When he died, she was forced to accept a loan from a storekeeper called John Coleman, who coerced her into marrying him before abandoning her.

In her later life she was "plagued by poverty", Mrs Crosby said, and died in Cuero, Texas, at the age of 86.

Marine artist Robert Salmon is also celebrated in the new memorial, with his own flagstone, which includes the image of a ship.

The artist, born on King Street, was the son of a Whitehaven jeweller. He also emigrated to the US in the 1820s, after stints in London, Liverpool and Grenock, Scotland.

His life, however, was very different to Ann's. He had hundreds of paintings of ships and seascapes commissioned by the Boston elite and was highly regarded among those circles.

The refurbishment of Green Market and Duke Street was funded through a £450,000 investment from Sellafield, the government's Shared Prosperity Fund and Cumberland Council.

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