Sockbridge and Tirril Community
Women's Guild
Meetings are held in the Village Hall.
Annual Subscription: £12, each meeting costs £2.
VISITORS WELCOME TO ALL EVENTS – men included!
A short report from the meeting on Tuesday 9th April 2019
Women’s Guild April Meeting
‘Opening up world of Lady Anne’
The speaker at Tirril Women’s Guild was guild member Pat Newsham, who opened up the world of Lady Anne Clifford to her audience.
She was daughter of the Earl of Cumberland and married first the Earl of Dorset and then the Earl of Pembroke.
However, rather than living a life of ease among the aristocracy, Anne was a feisty woman who set out to achieve challenging aims.
The first was to contest having her inheritance taken from her as a woman and she marched through many courtrooms in vain hope of gaining restitution. So at the age of 60 and widowed, she began 26 years of managing the huge domain, rebuilding each of her five castles and many of the churches, several of which still have ancient locks engraved with her initials. Her achievement became legendary.
Pat works as a guide at Dalemain which now has many of Lady Anne’s artefacts, as her trusted secretary was an early owner of the house.
Pat illustrated her talk with lovely photographs of key family portraits and of the castles and churches, many of which she has visited herself. It was a fascinating talk, well-informed and full of local knowledge.