Elizabeth Wilbraham: Difference between revisions

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Dr A - can I suggest you find some reliable sources to support your re-write. Otherwise, it’s original research, which we don’t do.
ce, what sources say, removed opinion and original research
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'''Elizabeth, Lady Wilbraham''' (14 February 1632 – 27 July 1705), née Mytton, was a member of the English aristocracy, who traditionally has been identified as an important architectural patron. Historian John Millar posited her to be the first known woman [[architect]], whose work frequently may have been attributed to men. In addition to a dozen family residences and a larger number of churches, as many as 400 buildings may have been designed by her.
 
It has been suggested that she was the first woman [[architect]], and whose work may have been attributed to men. However this is disputed by architectural historians. <ref name="nytimes">https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/09/arts/design/the-case-for-a-17th-century-female-british-architect.html</ref>
 
==Early years==
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Little is known about Lady Wilbraham's private life, but private letters were discovered and passed to the [[List of archives#United Kingdom|Staffordshire Record Office]] in 2008. These showed Lady Wilbraham's search for suitable husbands for her daughters, Grace and Margaret. According to the marketing executive of the [[Weston Park|Weston Park Foundation]], "The letters explain the importance of a suitable match within the aristocracy of the day. She was certainly a very strong lady and knew what she wanted and how to get it".<ref>[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Rare+letters+of+Weston+Park+aristocrat+donated+to+public+records.-a0189730734 ''Rare letters of Weston Park aristocrat donated to public records''], ''The Birmingham Post'', 26 November 2008 (archived on thefreelibrary.com). Retrieved 2012-02-02.</ref>
 
==FirstClaims that she was first known woman architect==
A 2012 book by historianHistorian John Millar claims that Elizabeth Wilbraham is the first known woman architect.<ref name="Indy first lady" /> Millar says this follows more than 50 years of research into the subject.<ref name="AJ first woman" /> In 2007 the owners of the stately home, [[Wotton House]], organised a conference to investigate who was the original architect of the building. The conference generated at least two follow-up papers: in 2010 [[Howard Colvin|Sir Howard Colvin]] proposed that John Fitch may have been the original architect, and later the same year, Millar, noting Colvin's paper, proposed Lady Wilbraham as an alternative.<ref>Colvin's paper was published in the 2010 ''Georgian Group Journal'' {{harv|Millar|2010}}</ref>{{sfn|Millar|2010}} During the seventeenth century it was impossible for a woman to pursue a profession and LadyMillar Wilbrahamstated isthat saidLady to haveWilbraham used male executant architects to supervise construction in her place.<ref name="Indy first lady" /> SheMillar isbelieves believed to haveshe designed more than a dozen houses for her family and, because of the inclusion of distinctive and unusual design details, has been put forward by Millar as the designer of 18 London churches (officially attributed to [[Christopher Wren]]).<ref name="Indy first lady" /> Because Wren came late to architecture, Elizabeth WilbrahamMillar has been suggested byElizabeth MillarWilbraham as his most likely tutor.<ref name="Indy first lady" />
 
AsMillar manyhas gone as 400far buildingsas havesuggesting beenas suggestedmany byas Millar400 buildings as possible works of Elizabeth Wilbraham. They all generally show similarities with Italian or Dutch architecture.<ref name="AJ first woman" /> Wilbraham owned a 1663 edition of [[Andrea Palladio|Palladio]]'s book ''[[I quattro libri dell'architettura|I Quattro Libri]]'' (volume I) and she heavily annotated it.<ref name="AJ first woman" /> In the authoritative and encyclopaedic ''Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840'' (4th Edn; 2008) by Sir Howard Colvin, however, she is mentioned only once. That notation is as a patroness of architecture. In her dissertation from 2002, Canadian historian, Cynthia Hammond mentions the “awkward"awkward designations”designations" given to Lady Wilbraham by [[Nikolaus Pevsner]]. She notes his lack in saying “by"by Wilbraham”Wilbraham" to denote an eroding of Wilbraham’s authorship when discussing Weston Park.<ref>Hammond, Cynthia Imogen. ''Wings, Gender and Architecture: Remembering Bath England''. 2002. Concordia University, PhD dissertation.</ref><ref>https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/the-invisible-women-how-female-architects-were-erased-from-history?tkn=1</ref>.
 
However, Millar himself admits that not a single letter or signed drawing survives with Willbraham's name on it connecting her with any project.<ref name="nytimes"> His argument is based around the annotations in her copy of Andrea Palladio and similarities he claims to have found in buildings built at the time. His claim that she designed 400 buildings is equally based on visual similarity. <ref name="nytimes"> Architectural historian and Wren specialist at Cambridge, James Campbell, suggest the claims are "based mostly on imagination and speculation." And the curator of [[Weston Park]], Gareth Williams, said that no proof existed of a career as an architect.<ref name="nytimes">
As many as 400 buildings have been suggested by Millar as possible works of Elizabeth Wilbraham. They all generally show similarities with Italian or Dutch architecture.<ref name="AJ first woman" /> Wilbraham owned a 1663 edition of [[Andrea Palladio|Palladio]]'s book ''[[I quattro libri dell'architettura|I Quattro Libri]]'' (volume I) and she heavily annotated it.<ref name="AJ first woman" /> In the authoritative and encyclopaedic ''Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840'' (4th Edn; 2008) by Sir Howard Colvin, however, she is mentioned only once. That notation is as a patroness of architecture. In her dissertation from 2002, Canadian historian, Cynthia Hammond mentions the “awkward designations” given to Lady Wilbraham by [[Nikolaus Pevsner]]. She notes his lack in saying “by Wilbraham” to denote an eroding of Wilbraham’s authorship when discussing Weston Park.<ref>Hammond, Cynthia Imogen. ''Wings, Gender and Architecture: Remembering Bath England''. 2002. Concordia University, PhD dissertation.</ref>
 
==Notable projects==