Annie Eliza Webb

She modelled for the Newlyn Artists

Annie Eliza Webb née Warren found fame as a model for some of the most iconic paintings made by artists from the original Newlyn Colony of Artists.


She was born in September 1863 in Newlyn Town and lived on St Peter’s Hill. Her father was a fisherman and her mother was the daughter of a fisherman. They were not amongst the poorest people of Newlyn and there were shipwrights and master mariners on both sides of the family.
When Annie’s father died the family moved to Gwavas Terrace, South Corner. This area was the centre of artistic activity in Newlyn in the early days of the Newlyn Colony of Artists. Artist Henry Martin was living at Cliff Castle just along the road from Gwavas Terrace. Walter Langley was in Newlyn in 1880 and brought his family to live at the nearby Pembroke Lodge in 1882. Annie Eliza was modelling for Walter Langley in 1883, as she is listed in his diary for that year as one of the models he used.
The image is part of Stanhope Forbes painting Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach and shows Eliza Annie.

The image is part of Stanhope Forbes painting Fish Sale on a Cornish Beach and shows Eliza Annie.