The real Ann Fairfax: Exhibition sheds light on one of richest heiresses from Yorkshire's past

An exhibition in York is telling the story of one of the richest heiresses in Yorkshire, Ann Fairfax. Lucy Oates explores who she was and why history hasn’t been kind to her.

History hasn’t been kind to Ann Fairfax. For centuries she was branded a weak and feeble ‘fairy woman’, who was prone to mood swings and incapable of managing her family’s vast wealth.

However, new research suggests that, as one of the richest heiresses in Yorkshire, Ann embraced the financial freedom that her inheritance gave her and was actively involved in the running of her estates.

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She gave generously to religious and charitable causes, and was the founding benefactor of the religious mission that we know of today as Ampleforth Abbey in North Yorkshire.

Curator Sarah Burnage with some of the words that have been used to describe Ann Fairfax.Curator Sarah Burnage with some of the words that have been used to describe Ann Fairfax.
Curator Sarah Burnage with some of the words that have been used to describe Ann Fairfax.

So who was Ann Fairfax and why have successive generations of historians painted such a distorted picture of her?

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It also reveals how the myths and misconceptions that surrounded her have been perpetuated ever since.

Entitled If walls could talk: The forgotten story of Ann Fairfax, the exhibition is the result of painstaking and on-going archival research by Fairfax House’s Curator, Sarah Burnage, and Assistant Curator, Rachel Wallis.

Curator Sarah Burnage with some of the exhibition items, telling Ann Fairfax’s life.Curator Sarah Burnage with some of the exhibition items, telling Ann Fairfax’s life.
Curator Sarah Burnage with some of the exhibition items, telling Ann Fairfax’s life.
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Rachel believes that, in order to understand the reasons why Ann has been so badly misrepresented for so long, we must consider the treatment of women in the era in which she lived.

Georgian society was deeply patriarchal; rights to property were held exclusively by men, who made all of the financial decisions for their families. Women of Ann’s social class lived under the authority of their fathers before marriage, and their husbands after marriage.

Following the death of her father in 1771, as his sole surviving heir, Ann found herself inheriting her family’s wealth and estates.

She was 47-years-old, unmarried and didn’t have an heir to pass her fortune on to, which immediately put her at odds with the societal norms of the time. She was then forced to endure a prolonged legal battle with an unscrupulous cousin who tried to seize control of her affairs.

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Rachel says: “Because of her gender and marital status, Ann faced considerable challenges to her authority, most notably from her cousin, Nathaniel Pigott.

“Records show that she quickly realised she had been misled by Pigott and took immediate steps to reverse the deed which saw him take control of her estates and will.

“It took six years of legal wrangling but eventually, in 1781, Ann managed to secure a private Act of Parliament, annulling Pigott’s deed.

“Following this decision, Nathaniel did not stop his interference, regularly writing to Ann to press her about the management of her estates or monies he felt he was owed.

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“His constant demands made him an irritant in her life and did little to win him favour.”

Even after Ann’s death, her relatives continued to undermine her authority by challenging a series of bequests she’d made to Catholic institutions. Perhaps due to her unusual status as a financially independent, unmarried woman, her relationship with Father Bolton, the Fairfax family’s long-serving chaplain, was also called into question.

Rachel explains: “During his time as Ann’s steward, Bolton faced unfounded allegations, including ‘living on too friendly’ terms with Ann, and being ‘addicted to intemperance’ (a drunk). Yet he was steadfast, and remained as chaplain to the Fairfaxes for almost 30 years.”

Ann’s treatment is perhaps also a reflection of society’s attitudes towards mental health issues at the time. Throughout her life, she was known to have suffered from what would now be considered bouts of depression.

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She was visited regularly by the family doctor and prescribed a wide range of concoctions, as well as visit to Scarborough, to ease ‘the pain in her head’.

In 1763, there’s a reference to an acute nervous disorder in a series of letters written by Ann’s friend, Lady Mary Bellasyse.

Ann endured great tragedy during her lifetime, losing all eight of her siblings before they reached adulthood, as well as her mother. As Rachel points out, she also narrowly avoided a premature death herself: “There was a terrible scare in 1776, when Ann caught smallpox. She was lucky to survive and it’s likely this experience would have triggered past traumas and left her quite scarred.”

The exhibition paints a picture of a much-maligned spinster who endured great personal loss, battled mental health issues and had to contend with her male relatives constantly interfering in her financial affairs.

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Ann appears to have coped with all of this admirably and was finally able to enjoy a taste of financial freedom during her final years, when she sold Fairfax House and divided her time between Gilling Castle and a new home in Grosvenor Square, the heart of high society in London.

Rachel explains: “Here she enjoyed the social season and would travel back to Yorkshire in the summer months. Even when away from her estates, records indicate that Ann was a proactive and involved landowner, selecting her own steward, agreeing on prices for barley, and overseeing tenancies and the mortgaging of land.”

Yet, according to Rachel, “everyone had an opinion” on Ann, who, at various points in her life, was described as ‘weak’, ‘timorous’, ‘childlike’, ‘demanding’, ‘unlikely to wed’, ‘obstinate’, ‘afflicted’ and, perhaps most damning of all, a ‘mere’ spinster. Even Mary Bellasyse, Ann’s closest friend, saw her as frail with a ‘wild and melancholic imagination’.

Rachel says: “Ann must have carried the weight of such judgments on her shoulders, being confronted with other people’s opinions of her at every turn. Writers have interpreted her struggles with depression as ‘hysterical’, her singleness because ‘marriage was alien to her nature’, and her character as ‘unpredictable’ and ‘chronically indecisive’.

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“Yet, records show that she ably managed her family’s estates after the death of her father, stayed steadfastly committed to her Catholic faith in the face of considerable intolerance, and battled her ‘melancholic imaginations’ with fortitude and grit. Ann’s tenacity in taking on Pigott and retrieving her fortune displayed a strength of character she has rarely been afforded, and points to a capable woman in charge of her own destiny.”

She adds: “She was a woman determined to succeed, and hers is a story that has been waiting to be told.”

If walls could talk: The forgotten story of Ann Fairfax runs until Sunday 13 November at Fairfax House, York.

The Fairfaxes were Catholic, landed gentry who owned estates at Gilling and Ampleforth.

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Ann was the second eldest of nine children, but the only one to live beyond the age of 17. It’s believed that most of the children succumbed to smallpox as there were various outbreaks of the disease during the 18th century. Ann’s mother also died of smallpox in 1741.

Ann was engaged to be married twice, but withdrew from the betrothal on both occasions.

She died peacefully at Gilling Castle in 1793, aged 67, and is buried at Gilling Church.