Lady Anne Twysden ( Finch; 28 February 1574 – 14 October 1638) was an English writer. She was the mother of several notable children but she is known principally for one book, the original of which is lost.

Early life

Twysden was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1574 at Heneage House. Her parents were

Sir Moyle Finch, 1st Baronet Sir Moyle Finch, 1st Baronet JP ( – 18 December 1614) was an English politician, knight, sheriff, and MP. Early life Finch was second, but eldest surviving son, of Sir Thomas Finch of Eastwell, Kent, and the former Catherine Moyle. Among ...

and his wife Elizabeth Heneage who, ''

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

'', became the 1st Countess of Winchilsea. Among her siblings were

Sir Theophilius Finch, 2nd Baronet Sir Theophilus Finch, 2nd Baronet (2 October 1573 – ) was an English nobleman and politician. Early life Finch was born on 2 October 1573. He was the eldest son of Sir Moyle Finch, 1st Baronet and Elizabeth Finch, ''suo jure'' Countess of Winch ...

Thomas Finch, 2nd Earl of Winchilsea Thomas Finch, 2nd Earl of Winchilsea (13 June 1578 – 4 November 1639) was an English peer and Member of Parliament. Early life Finch was the third, but second surviving, son of Sir Moyle Finch, 1st Baronet and Elizabeth Heneage, 1st Countes ...

Sir Heneage Finch Sir Heneage Finch (15 December 1580 – 5 December 1631) was an English nobleman, lawyer, Member of Parliament, and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1607 and 1626. He was Speaker of the English House of Commo ...

(

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

), Francis Finch (MP for Eye), and Lady Catherine Finch (who married

Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet, of Gosfield Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet ( – October 1631), of Gosfield, was an English aristocrat. Easly life He was the eldest of two sons born of John Wentworth of Gosfield Hall, and the former Cicely Unton.Cokayne, George Edward, editor, ''The Comple ...

). Anne learned four languages as a child at the court of Queen Elizabeth whilst in the care of her grandmother Elizabeth (born Heneage).

Career

She had her own ladies-in-waiting which included the diarist Isabella Saunders and Jane Thomlinson and she married these off to her son

Roger Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

in 1635 and to another son Thomas in 1639. She had two houses at East Peckham and Redcross Street in London. Details of her life are recorded in the extant diary of her daughter-in-law Isabella. Her children had to persuade her to pay Charles I's

Ship money Ship money was a tax of medieval origin levied intermittently in the Kingdom of England until the middle of the 17th century. Assessed typically on the inhabitants of coastal areas of England, it was one of several taxes that English monarchs co ...

which she objected to. She wrote a book of devotions that was edited and published by her son Roger. Her son's notes show that this was published after her death in 1638. The Twysden papers and two of her letters are held by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

. Twysden's original copy of her devotions was known to have existed until 1849 but it is now lost.Lady Anne Twsden
The Catalogue of English Literary Manuscripts 1450–1700, Retrieved 14 January 2017

Personal life

Anne married William Twysden who was made a baronet. George E. Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Vol. 1'' (1900)
/ref> Before his death in 1629, they had had five sons and two daughters, including: *

Sir Roger Twysden, 2nd Baronet Sir Roger Twysden, 2nd Baronet (21 August 1597 – 27 June 1672), of Roydon Hall near East Peckham in Kent, was an English historian and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1625 and 1640. Life Twysden was the son ...

(1597–1672), who married Isabella Saunders, the daughter of Sir Nicholas Saunders of

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a suburban area with a village centre in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, approximately south of central London and northeast of Epsom. In the 2011 Census, the settlement had a population of 34,872, a majority of wh ...

. * Elizabeth Twysden (1600–1655), who married

Sir Hugh Cholmeley, 1st Baronet Sir Hugh Cholmeley, 1st Baronet (22 July 1600 – 20 November 1657) was an English landowner and Member of Parliament who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1624 and 1643. He was initially a Parliamentarian but later a Royalist ...

, in 1622. *

Sir Thomas Twisden, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Twisden, 1st Baronet (2 January 1602 – 2 January 1683) was an English lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England in two periods between 1646 and 1660. He was a High Court judge who presided at the trial of the re ...

(1602–1683), who married Jane Thomlinson, sister of the regicide

Matthew Tomlinson Matthew Thomlinson (1617–1681) was an English soldier who fought for Parliament in the English Civil War. He was a regicide of Charles I. Tomlinson was a colonel of horse (cavalry) in the New Model Army and was one of the officers presenting the ...

. * Anne Twysden (–1670), who married

Sir Christopher Yelverton, 1st Baronet Sir Christopher Yelverton, 1st Baronet (27 March 1602 – 4 December 1654) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1648. Yelverton was the son of Henry Yelverton, a lawyer, and his wife Margaret Beale, daughter of R ...

. Twysden died in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in 1638.Marie-Louise Coolahan, ‘Twysden , Anne, Lady Twysden (1574–1638)’,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 200
accessed 14 Jan 2017
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twysden, Anne 1574 births 1638 deaths Writers from London 17th-century English women writers 17th-century English writers Wives of baronets Daughters of baronets Daughters of British earls