Pictures of Annie Miller

Annie Miller lived in the crowded basement of a London pub. She was working as a barmaid when William Holman Hunt noticed her prettiness and began fantasising about turning her into the kind of lady that would justify his fascination with her. He cleaned her up, had her educated, taught her how to dress, talk and behave in society, all the time struggling against the passion she had fired in him. He agonised over their future, contemplating and proposing marriage on several occasions but never quite making it to the altar. She was a bad girl. She liked to enjoy herself with all of his artist friends and soon grew tired of his preaching and vacillating. She was famous now, a lady who would not be taken for granted. He gave her money as recompense for her trouble and to apprentice her to a milliner. Annie took the hush money and married a baronet.