Elizabeth Freke

Elizabeth Freke was born in 1641 in Hannington, Wiltshire into the wealthy Royalist household of Ralph Freke and Cicely Culpeper. Her mother died when she was just seven years old, leaving her the eldest woman in the house of her four sisters (including Frances, later Lady Norton). She was brought up mainly by an aunt in Kent.[1] Her father was a lawyer in London, England who had an estate in both Kent and Wiltshire in later years. The estate also belonged to Elizabeth's maternal aunt.

In 1672, she married at the age of 30 her second cousin, Percy Freke of Rathbury Castle, County Cork, Ireland, after seven years' courtship. The wedding took place "withoutt my deer Fathers Consentt or knowledg. In A most dreadfull Raynie day."[1] At the time, this was considered to be a relatively late age for a woman to marry and start a family. They were believed to have married for love in Covent Garden.[2] On 2 June 1675 she gave birth to their only son Ralph Freke.[3] The marriage between Elizabeth and Percy was not very happy and often the topic of diary entries. In fact, they did not live in the same household for much of their marriage. Her relationship with her son was estranged due to their living apart for months at a time.[4] Elizabeth spent most of her time in a Norfolk estate given to her by her father.[4] At one point later in the marriage, Percy returned to Ireland and left Elizabeth with her son and scarcely any money. She then left to visit her sister until 1685, and her son shortly after fell ill of smallpox, but recovered. In 1704, Percy came to live with Elizabeth in Norfolk, but due to illness, he died in her arms two years later.[4]

Elizabeth Freke had an unsteady relationship with her husband as he financially drained her of her resources, although she had increasingly used what she had and began to be involved with the church of St Cecilia, as she was spending personal time and money for its repair.[5] As she grew more involved, she began to assert her dominance on the church as she felt she had gained the control from her financial contributions. On 14 February 1713 the Bishop of Norwich instructed the vicar of Gayton to bar her from the church entirely[5] and excommunicated her in 1714.[1]

Four works of poetry by Elizabeth Freke have survived. Three of these are highly dramatic dialogues, one of them between Eve and the Serpent.[1]

In reference to her death, Elizabeth Freke had initially wanted to be buried next to her husband in the vault she had supported. As a result of her banishment from the church, she was not permitted to do such a thing due to the altercation. She evidently is currently buried in Westminster Abbey when she died in 1714 at age 69.

This common prayer book was given to West Bilney church in 1710 and is the oldest book remaining from St Cecilia's Church. After the death of her husband, she presented the church of West Bilney with his bible and communion plate. Elizabeth Freke noted this gift as being to "my church of West Bilney", as if it were her own.[5]

The book was leather-bound with a piece on the front engraved with a classical temple with statues of saints. The Latin words "Domus Orationis," or "House of Prayer" are also written. There are decorated pictorial squares throughout the book which highlight its expense and quality.[6] The book was relatively small as it lacks metrical psalms. The book has been since repaired in 1964.

There was an ongoing dispute in regard to her efforts within the church and her failure to pay tithes. She believed that she had donated enough by paying the curate and upkeep of the church. A few years later, she was officially banished from the church and died the following year.[6]

The Freke Papers refers to the two manuscript books that Elizabeth created. In these books, she completes many diary entries that give us an insight to how she lived her life. Also within these manuscript books, she wrote notes from published medical books to which she had access, and other recipe books she found.[7] She collected medical remedies from these recipe books and published medical writings from her findings. With her knowledge of these precedented examples, she prepared some of her own remedies as she consulted with other physicians and medical practitioners of the time.[3] She even kept a personal inventory list of the ingredients for her medical recipes, along with the remedies themselves. It is known that she had stockpiles of many common 'cure-all' recipes of the time like Aqua Mirabolus, Ague Water, Poppy Water, and Cowslip Wine.[3] These recipe books were passed down from family members, where Elizabeth continued to add her writings.[3] The original manuscript books are currently held at the British Library under archives and manuscripts; however, there is a published version edited by Mary Carbery called Mrs. Elizabeth Freke, Her Diary 1671 to 1714.[4] Carbery transcribed from Elizabeth's original manuscripts and rewrote her entries in chronological order, leaving out some of Elizabeth's collected recipes and all of her inventory lists.[7]

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