Lady Anne Clifford is still celebrated as a campaigner for women's rights



A lost, original portrait of Lady Anne Clifford, one of the first English aristocrats to demand equal land rights with men during a 17th-century legal struggle, is to be displayed at a major art fair in the Netherlands next month.

Born in Skipton in North Yorkshire in 1590, Lady Anne was the only surviving child of George Clifford, the third Earl of Cumberland, and she is still celebrated today as a crusading figure; conferences in Hanover this spring and this summer at Jane Austen's former home, Chawton House, are to examine her life and writings, while a new edition of her journal, The Great Book of Record, is planned for next year.

Lady Anne's battle for status began when her father died in 1605. Despite a royal agreement dating back to the 14th century, his estates went to his brother and not to his only direct descendant, Anne. Her long inheritance struggle ended in victory in 1643, following the deaths of her uncle and his son, when Anne then promptly rebuffed the claim that women could not succeed to baronies. She eventually become the Baroness Clifford of Westmorland and Vecsey in her own right.

Once she had restored her family heritage, she set about rebuilding her castles at Skipton, Appleby, Pendragon, Brough and Brougham. As a devout Christian, she also built and restored churches and almshouses and served as high sheriff of Westmorland from 1653 to 1676. She died at Brougham Castle at the age of 86, in the room where her father had been born. Her tomb is in St Lawrence's church, Appleby-in-Westmorland.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2013/mar/03/rediscovered-portrait-of-early-feminist