Anne Fanshawe 1625-1680

Anne/Ann FANSHAWE, Lady Fanshawe 1625-80

Armorial stamp of Anne Fanshawe (British Armorial Bindings)

Biographical Note

Elder daughter of John Harrison of Balls, Hertfordshire; married Sir Richard Fanshawe (1608-66). Her 1676 Memoirs records her childhood and the couple's travels during the Civil War and interregnum. In 1662 the couple relocated to Madrid following Sir Richard's appointment as ambassador to Portugal. Anne returned to England after his death.

Books

Several books survive with her armorial stamp. In addition to her Memoirs, (BL Add MS 41161) a manuscript household book survives (Wellcome L., medical recipe book, MS 7133). It contains medical recipes, Spanish recipes and is noted for the insight it provides into the running of an elite household in the mid-seventeenth century.

Sources

British Armorial Bindings.
Davidson, Peter. "Fanshawe [née Harrison], Ann, Lady Fanshawe (1625–1680), autobiographer." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Anne Fanshawe, Catalogue of English literary manuscripts 1450-1700.