Death of Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset
Lady Anne Clifford was one of the last members of one of England’s great medieval dynasties.
She became something of a legend in her own lifetime, fighting a 40-year battle for her right to inherit her father’s estates.
Anne was born on 30th January 1590, the daughter of George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, and his wife, Margaret.
The Clifford family estates in northern England were vast.
These included five great castles in Westmorland and Yorkshire.
Anne’s two brothers had died young, as the only surviving child Anne was expected to succeed to the estates when her father died in 1605.
Instead her father left them to his brother, Francis ~ and subsequently Francis’ heirs.
Technically her father had breached an entail dating back to the early 14th century, under which his lands should have passed to the eldest heir, whether male or female ~ which was Anne.
So began Anne’s long battle against her uncle and later his son Henry, in defence of her right to inherit.
Yet all her efforts to have the will set aside came to nothing. Despite the unwavering support of her mother Margaret, Anne wasn’t able to secure her family’s lands and castles.
In 1609 Anne married Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, a notorious wastrel and spendthrift.
Richard died in 1624 and in 1630 Anne married Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke.
Philip was a widower with many children, and the marriage was not a happy one.
During the Civil War, Philip sided with the Parliamentarians, while Anne remained loyal to the king.
Anne continued to fight for her inheritance, and refused to accept any offers of a settlement from either her uncle or his son, Henry.
The possibility that her cousin Henry would die with no heir, in which case the Clifford inheritance would revert to her, gave Anne a glimmer of hope.
Her hopes were finally fulfilled when Henry died in 1643.
But thanks to the Civil War it was six years later, that the now 60 year old Anne, finally felt it was safe to leave London and return to her lands in the North.
Anne found her estates badly neglected
The five Clifford castles ~ Brough, Brougham, Appleby and Pendragon in Westmorland, and Skipton Castle in Yorkshire ~ were ruined or in poor condition.
Pendragon had been abandoned since the reign of Edward III, and Brough since a devastating fire there in 1521, which had left nothing but the bare walls standing.
The other castles had been damaged during the Civil War.
The last three decades of Lady Anne’s life were highly creative, she gradually restored her estates, and repaired all five castles.
She took great pains to restore them in a style in keeping with what was already there.
Anne remained on her northern estates for the last 27 years of her life, ruling over them and travelling from one castle to the next with her household.
She made each in turn, the base from which she exercised her influence and authority ~ as befitted the last bearer of the Clifford name.
Anne died at Brougham Castle on 22nd March 1676, in the same room where her father had been born and her mother had died.
She was buried in the family vault in St Lawrence’s Church, Appleby.
? Lady Anne Clifford Countess of Dorset c.1619
Portrait by William Larkin.
National Portrait Gallery.
London.
