Anne (Radcliffe) Mowlson

Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Lady Anne Moulson (1576–1661), was an early benefactor of the fledgling colonial Harvard College. She is remembered today in the name of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Ann Radcliffe was the daughter of Anthony Radcliffe, Merchant Taylor of London and sheriff in 1586,<ref name=HoP>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> who married Elizabeth Bright in 1558.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1600 Anne married Thomas Moulson, an alderman and member of the Grocers' Company who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1634.<ref name=HoP /> They lived in the parish of St Christopher le Stocks.<ref name=HoP /> They owned and operated an inn in London.<ref>A WHO'S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN: compiled by Kathy Lynn Emerson Template:Webarchive</ref> They had two children but both died young.<ref name=HoP /> Thomas Moulson died in 1638, leaving the customary half of his estate to his widow Anne.<ref name=Reg>Template:Cite journal</ref> Ann had a head for business and managed her own business for the next twenty-three years. In addition to the inn, she loaned money and invested in import ventures. She was also active in the Puritan cause, contributing toward hiring a Puritan lecturer in her parish and giving generously to other charities.<ref>Oxford DNB entry under "Moulson [née Radcliffe], Ann".</ref> In 1643 she donated some of her money to found the first endowed scholarship at Harvard. When in 1894 the women's annex to the university was chartered as a full college, it was given the name of Harvard's first female benefactor.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

She died in October 1661.<ref name=Reg /> In her will she left bequests to the descendants of her sister Dorothy, who married William Gerard (died 1609) and of her brother Edward Radcliffe.<ref name=Reg />

External links

• Jane S. Knowles, "Moulson, Ann, Lady Moulson (1576–1661)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn, Oxford University Press, Oct 2006. Retrieved 22 December 2006
• Collection relating to Ann Radcliffe, 1894-1977. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.