Ann Davison Ann Davison Ann Davison (1914 – 1992) was, at the age of 39, the first woman to single-handedly sail the Atlantic Ocean. She departed Plymouth, England in her 23-foot boat "Felicity Ann" on 18 May 1952. She landed in Brittany, Portugal, Morocco and the Canary Islands, before setting sail across the Atlantic on 20 November 1952, aiming to make land-fall in Antigua. In the event storms pushed her south and having been driven past Barbados she eventually touched land in Dominica on 23 January 1953. After an extended stopover in the Caribbean she sailed north to Florida and finally to
Ann Batten Cristall (1745–1801), the daughter of the Penzance merchant John Batten. She also had two half-brothers through her father's first marriage. The family moved to London during her childhood, and then to Rotherhithe and Blackheath. Her father is said to have had "a dread of the arts", but her mother was a "woman of education and taste". Partly educated by her mother, Ann was then sent to school in London with her brother Joshua Cristall (baptised 1768–1847), who became a noted water-colourist. Ann Cristall became a schoolteacher but seems to have remained dependent financially on her brother Joshua. There are several references