Anne, Lady Waller ( Paget, formerly Lady Harcourt; died 1661 or 1662) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

diarist and patron of clergy.

Life

Anne was born into the powerful Paget family. Her parents were Lettice and

William Paget, 4th Baron Paget William Paget, 4th Baron Paget of Beaudesert (1572 – 29 August 1629) was an English peer and colonist born in Beaudesert House, Staffordshire, England to Thomas Paget, 3rd Baron Paget and Nazareth Newton. His grandfather was William Paget, 1st ...

. She had three brothers and the middle one of these would in time be

William Paget, 5th Baron Paget William Paget, 5th Baron Paget (13 September 1609 – 19 October 1678) was an English peer. He was born at Beaudesert House, Staffordshire, England to William Paget, 4th Baron Paget and Lettice Knollys. Career He was a Parliamentarian with ...

. Her diaries record that she thought her upbringing religious and strict. The judge

Sir Gilbert Gerard Sir Gilbert Gerard (died 4 February 1593) was a prominent lawyer, politician, and landowner of the Tudor period. He was returned six times as a member of the English parliament for four different constituencies. He was Attorney-General for more t ...

acted as her de facto godparent.Julia Gasper, ‘Waller , Anne, Lady Waller ther married name Anne Harcourt, Lady Harcourt(d. 1661)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 201
accessed 29 April 2017
/ref> She married Simon Harcourt whilst he was a soldier serving on the continent. He was wounded several times. Their first son Philip was born in 1638. He was knighted before his death in 1642 while serving as Governor of Dublin. She was able to obtain £500 a year from her husband's estate at

Stanton Harcourt Stanton Harcourt is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about southeast of Witney and about west of Oxford. The parish includes the hamlet of Sutton, north of the village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 960. Arch ...

which helped with the debts she was left with.Stanton Harcourt
British History. Retrieved 29 April 2017. She married

Sir William Waller Sir William Waller JP (c. 159719 September 1668) was an English soldier and politician, who commanded Parliamentarian armies during the First English Civil War, before relinquishing his commission under the 1645 Self-denying Ordinance. ...

as his third wife. In consideration of Harcourt's services in Ireland his widow received a parliamentary grant on 3 August 1648 of the lands of Corbally, County Dublin. The amount of this benefit is unclear. In 1652, she started her diary which is extant and ensures her notability. The diary includes some historical detail before 1652. According to different sources she died in 1661 or 1662. Some said that she caused conflict between her second husband's children and her own from her first marriage. Nevertheless her son Philip Harcourt married her step daughter Ann Waller.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, Anne, Lady Waller 17th-century English women writers 17th-century English writers 1660s deaths Daughters of barons Year of birth missing Women diarists Wives of knights