I have thought it convenient to discourse to you, my most dear and only son, the most remarkable actions and accidents of your family.” So wrote Ann, Lady Fanshawe in her memoirs.
Little did she know that some 340 years later her discourse would prove not only convenient but indispensable for my work as the curator of the collection of the Fanshawe family portraits.
Ann Harrison (1628–1680) was 19 when she married Sir Richard Fanshawe, diplomat, soldier, poet and later ambassador to Spain and Portugal. Of their 14 children, only five survived to adulthood.
When Sir Richard died in 1666, their youngest child – the most dear and only son – was just a baby. Desirous to ensure that he understood the great family of which he was heir, Lady Ann wrote her memories of the adventurous life she and her family had lived during the turmoil of the civil war.
Valence House Museum in Dagenham holds 56 Fanshawe portraits, dating from 1560 to 1940. Lady Ann’s memoirs are invaluable as a means of bringing life to the paintings on display. Through the interpretation of the Fanshawe portraits I can ensure that the voice of this courageous and brilliant woman lives on.
Leanne Westwood is the curator of Valence House Museum, Dagenham
Little did she know that some 340 years later her discourse would prove not only convenient but indispensable for my work as the curator of the collection of the Fanshawe family portraits.
Ann Harrison (1628–1680) was 19 when she married Sir Richard Fanshawe, diplomat, soldier, poet and later ambassador to Spain and Portugal. Of their 14 children, only five survived to adulthood.
When Sir Richard died in 1666, their youngest child – the most dear and only son – was just a baby. Desirous to ensure that he understood the great family of which he was heir, Lady Ann wrote her memories of the adventurous life she and her family had lived during the turmoil of the civil war.
Valence House Museum in Dagenham holds 56 Fanshawe portraits, dating from 1560 to 1940. Lady Ann’s memoirs are invaluable as a means of bringing life to the paintings on display. Through the interpretation of the Fanshawe portraits I can ensure that the voice of this courageous and brilliant woman lives on.
Leanne Westwood is the curator of Valence House Museum, Dagenham
