Alice L'Estrange or Alice Le Strange born Alice Stubbe (1585 – 1656) 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 id ...

keeper of household and estate accounts at

Hunstanton Hall Hunstanton Hall, Old Hunstanton, Norfolk, England is a country house dating originally from the 15th century. The gatehouse, now detached from the main building, is dated 1487. The wings were built in the seventeenth century and there are Victori ...

Old Hunstanton Old Hunstanton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 47 in 25 households at the 2001 census. The population had risen to 628 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local go ...

Life

L'Estrange was born to Richard and Anne Stubbe. Richard was a lawyer and Anne was his second wife. Richard already had a daughter and Alice was his second. Both daughters inherited fortunes but Alice's fortune was notably less. We know this because Alice was a devoted keeper of financial accounts. Alice's marriage to

Hamon L'Estrange Hamon L'Estrange (1605–1660) was an English writer on history, theology and liturgy, of Calvinist views, loyal both to Charles I of England, Charles I and the Church of England. Along with Edward Stephens (d. 1706), he contributed to the seve ...

seems to have been arranged by her father who was the lawyer to the L'Estrange family and Sir John Peyton who was her husband's guardian. Peyton received £1000 from Richard Stubbes and Alice was given some landholdings and £100 per annum from her guardian. In 1621 her husband was again the member of parliament and this time he took Alice on her only journey to London. She meticulously recorded that their expenses and her shopping trips cost the enormous sum of £163. In 1643 her husband as a committed Royalist was made governor of King's Lynn during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...

. The honour was short-lived as the town was besieged and when it surrendered their family had to pay over £1000 in compensation. Other bills accrued and his enemies arranged that their lands were forfeit between 1649 and 1651. L'Estrange died in

. Her accounts and records edited by Elizabeth Griffiths were published by the Norfolk Record Society.

Personal

She and her husband had eight children of whom four lived to be adults. Their son Hamon was a writer on history, theology and liturgy. Another 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 ', ' ...

was a religious pamphleteer, while a third, Nicholas, became a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

. His daughter, Elizabeth, married the Parliamentarian politician Sir William Spring.

References

{{Authority control 1585 births 1656 deaths English accountants Women accountants