Anne
The chronology of the Anne books can be calculated from the World War I dates in Rilla of Ingleside, making Anne’s birthdate to be in 1865 and Anne of Green Gables to take place in 1876-1881. However, L. M. Montgomery published Anne of Green Gables in 1908, six years before World War I began in 1914. Montgomery did not know that the world would be plunged into warfare when she wrote Anne, nor had she planned to an entire series that would span to the lives of Anne’s children.
The descriptions of society, fashions and artifacts in Anne of Green Gables reflect the early 20th century lifestyle, and not that of the 1870s. Anne of Green Gables was probably written to take place generally in the late-Victorian times, rather than during a specific year.
| 1865 | Anne Shirley is born to Walter and Bertha Shirley in Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia in March. Bertha and Walter Shirley die of fever in June. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas take Anne. |
Anne is born | (AoGG ch.5) |
| 1873 | Mr. Thomas is killed and Anne goes to live with Mrs. Hammond. | Anne turns 8 years old | (AoGG ch.5) |
| 1876 | Mr. Hammond dies in February and Anne goes to the orphan asylum at Hopetown. Anne comes to live with Mathew and Marilla Cuthbert at Green Gables in June. Anne and Diana Barry become bosom friends, Anne breaks her slate over Gilbert Blythe’s head |
Anne turns 11 years old | |
| 1877 | Anne finds a kindred spirit in Aunt Josephine Barry in February. Mr. and Mrs. Allan come to Avonlea in June. Anne breaks her ankle falling off the Barry ridgepole in August. Miss Muriel Stacy comes to teach Avonlea school in September. The Avonlea school holds a Christmas concert and Matthew gives Anne a puffed sleeved dress for a Christmas. |
Anne turns 12 years old | |
| 1878 | Anne and Diana form The Story Club in March. Anne and her friends play Elaine in the summer and Anne is nearly drowned. Anne joins the Queen’s class in November to prepare for the entrance exam at Queen’s Academy. |
Anne turns 13 years old. | |
| 1879 | Anne continues studying for Queens and has a “good” summer. | Anne turns 14 years old | |
| 1880 | Anne and Gilbert tie for first place on the Queens’ entrance examination in June. Anne attends Queen’s Academy in September. |
Anne turns 15 years old | |
| 1881 | Anne wins the Avery Scholarship and recites the best essay at Commencement at Queens. Matthew Cuthbert dies. Anne and Gilbert Blythe become friends. [Anne of Green Gables ends] [Anne of Avonlea begins] Mr. Harrison comes to Avonlea. Anne teaches Avonlea school and befriends Paul Irving. Marilla adopts Davy and Dora in late autumn. |
Anne turns 16 years old. | |
| 1882 | Anne whips Anthony Pye! Anne and her friends discover Hester Gray’s garden in spring. Mrs. Charlotte E. Morgan comes to dinner. Anne befriends Miss Lavendar Lewis in October. |
Anne turns 17 years old | |
| 1883 | A hailstorn hits Avonlea on May 23rd. Miss Lavendar marries Stephen Irving in August [Anne of Avonlea ends]. [Anne of the Island begins] The Allans leave Avonlea in September. Mrs. Lynde comes to live at Green Gables in September, Jane Andrews teaches Avonlea school, and Anne, Gilbert and Charlie Sloane go to Redmond College in Kingsport, Nova Scotia. Anne meets Philippa Gordon. Anne receives her first proposal on New Year’s eve. |
Anne turns 18 years old | |
| 1884 | Charlie Sloane proposes. Ruby Gillis passes away in August. Anne’s story, “Averil’s Atonement” is published in August. Anne, Priscilla Grant, Phillipa Gordon, Stella Maynard and Aunt Jamesina - plus hree cats - live at Patty’s Place in September. Miss Josephine Barry passes away, leaving Anne a thousand dollars for her Redmond tuition. |
Anne turns 19 years old | |
| 1885 | Gilbert proposes in April. Anne visits her birthplace in Bolingbroke. Anne meets Royal Gardner in November. |
Anne turns 20 years old | |
| 1886 | Christine Stuart comes to Redmond in February. Diana Barry is married to Fred Wright in June. |
Anne turns 21 years old | |
| 1887 | Anne graduates with a Bachelors of Arts with high honours in English. Royal Gardner proposes to Anne. Gilbert nearly dies of typhoid in July. Anne and Gilbert are engaged in September. [Anne of the Island ends] [Anne of Windy Poplars begins] Anne becomes principal of Summerside High School and goes to live at Windy Poplars on September 11th. She teaches at Summerside for three years. |
Anne turns 22 years old | |
| 1890 | Anne leaves Windy Poplars on June 28th [Anne of Windy Poplars ends]. [Anne's House of Dreams begins] Anne and Gilbert are married in September and go to live at the House of Dreams at Four Winds. Anne meets Captain James Boyd, Miss Cornelia Bryant and Leslie Moore. |
Anne turns 25 years old | |
| 1891 | Susan Baker comes to work for the Blythes. Joyce Blythe is born in June at dawn and dies at dusk. Anne and Leslie become very dear friends. Owen Ford comes to Four Winds for the summer. |
Anne turns 26 years old | |
| 1892 | Dick Moore recovers his memory in May. James Matthew Blythe is born in June. Miss Cornelia and Marshall Elliott, Leslie and Owen Ford are engaged in August. “The Life Book of Captain Jim” is published and Captain Jim passes away in September. Anne and Gilbert move to Ingleside in October [Anne's House of Dreams ends]. |
Anne turns 27 years old | |
| 1893 | Walter Cuthbert Blythe is born. | Anne turns 28 years old | |
| 1895 | Anne (Nan) Blythe and Diana (Di) Blythe , are born. | Anne turns 30 years old | |
| 1897 | Shirley Blythe is born. Anne is ill long afterwards. | Anne turns 32 years old | |
| 1899 | [Anne of Ingleside begins] Gilbert’s father, John Blythe passes away in June. Aunt Mary Maria comes to visit Ingleside. Bertha Marilla Blythe (Rilla) is born in July. |
Anne turns 34 years old | |
| 1905 | Anne and Gilbert celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary in September [Anne of Ingleside ends]. | Anne turns 40 years old | |
| 1906 | Anne and Gilbert go on a second honeymoon to Europe in February for three months. [Rainbow Valley begins] The Merediths come to Glen St. Mary and become friends with the Blythes in May. Mary Vance comes to Glen St. Mary. |
Anne turns 41 years old | |
| 1907 | Jem Blythe goes to Queen’s Academy in September. John Meredith marries Rosemary West, Norman Douglas marries Ellen West in mid-September. |
Anne turns 42 years old | |
| 1914 | Rilla of Ingleside begins on May 29th. Rilla goes to her first dance on August 4th and the war begins. Jem Blythe and Jerry Meredith enlist, Jem and Faith Meredith are engaged. James Anderson Kitchener is born in August. |
Anne turns 49 years old | |
| 1915 | The Junior Reds hold a concert in aid of Belgium in June. Walter goes to war in July. Rilla is “engaged” to Kenneth Ford in August. Carl Meredith enlists in October. |
Anne turns 50 years old | |
| 1916 | Miranda Pryor and Joe Milgrave have a war-wedding in January. The County Battalion has a route march in June. Walter is killed in action at Courcelette. |
Anne turns 51 years old | |
| 1917 | Shirley Blythe enlists in April. | Anne turns 52 years old | |
| 1918 | Jem is wounded and missing in May and found safe in September. Jims leaves Ingleside in early November. The armistice is signed on November 11th; Susan Baker takes a honeymoon. Carl Meredith and Miller Douglas return in December. |
Anne turns 53 years old | |
| 1914 | Jerry Meredith and Joe Milgrave return in January. Jem Blythe and Kenneth Ford return in spring.[Rilla of Ingleside ends] Shirley expects to return in July. Jem, Jerry, Shirley and Carl plan to return to college in the fall. Una Meredith plans to take a course in Household Science. |
Anne turns 54 years old |
NOTES
* in the manuscript for Anne of the Island, L. M. Montgomery wrote that Anne belonged to the class of 1899, then the class of 1889, and finally decided not to use a date at all.[1] Many inconsistencies also exist in the dates and ages of the characters. This shows that the author was likely not trying to a write historically accurate novel, she was writing a story that took place in the general time-setting she herself lived in.
[1] Epperly, Elizabeth R. “The Manuscripts” Harvesting Thistles: The Textual Garden of L. M. Montgomery. Rubio, Mary Henley, editor. Guelph, Canadian Children’s Press, 1994.
Last modified: April 3, 2009
