The sitter of this portrait is said to be Lucy Hutchinson (born Apsley) who was the wife of Civil War General John Hutchinson, MP.
Lucy was a remarkable woman. She wrote what is thought to be the first epic poem produced by an Englishwoman. She was also a translator, and as if that was not enough also wrote a biography of her husband which is still valued by students of the Civil War.
Lucy’s mother was a St. John. Going back several generations, she was descended from Margaret Beauchamp of Bletsoe, Duchess of Somerset. This means she was a half-blood relation of Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII and their descendants. Other ancestors included the Scropes of Bolton and Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland – with his first wife, Margaret Stafford.
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