Philobiblon

The usual description of Mary Beale is “the first professional female painter in Britain”, is correct – but there’s a lot more to her than that – a lot of material – including her husband’s notebooks, a long letter she wrote on friendship (in the British Library, which I’ve actually held), and of course lots of her very fine paintings.

She certainly deserves to be remember by more than those paintings, however, and some of her champions have been trying to preserve her country home, Allbrook Farmhouse near Eastleigh, Hampshire. But developers want to “eight ‘executive-style homes with double garages’ in the grounds surrounding the farmhouse, ending plans to preserve the building and open it to the public”.

The Mary Beale Trust is seeking help to fight the plans – the deadline is June 28 for letters. Please write!!