Elizabeth Freke

Raymond Anselment (University of Connecticut)

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Ed. by Jacqueline Eales, Canterbury Christ Church University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

Born 1 Jan 1642
Died 7 Apr 1714
Activity 1680-1714

Places

Born in England
Active in England; Ireland, Republic of (Eire)

Activities

Primary

Memoirist

Resources

Freke's Works

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In the south choir aisle of Westminster Abbey, a monument on the wall commemorates Elizabeth Freke. Her body was interred somewhere in the nave, and her records and memoirs survive in two British Library manuscripts. The longer vellum-bound folio (Add. MS. 45718) contains numerous ”Receipts for my own use” along with many medicinal remedies and properties gathered from the works of John Gerard and Nicholas Culpeper as well as inventories of her cordial waters and “sirrups” of interest to the pharmacology of medicine. Each manuscript also contains a lengthy ledger of expenditures incurred during her husband's final illness; lists of properties, rents, and deeds; and letters involving her dispute with the Norwich diocesan authorities. More significant are two remembrances of her…

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1078 words

Citation: Anselment, Raymond. "Elizabeth Freke". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 March 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12057, accessed 03 April 2025.]