Elizabeth Isham facts for kids

Elizabeth Isham (born in 1609, died in 1654) was an amazing English woman. She was very smart, knew a lot about herbal medicine, and kept detailed diaries. She's most famous today for these two diaries, which are some of the very first autobiographies written by an English woman. Even though she came from a rich family, people said her "mind was more to her than wealth." This means she cared more about learning and thinking than about money.

Early Life and Family

Elizabeth Isham was born in 1609 at Lamport Hall in Northamptonshire, England. She was the oldest of three children. Her family was quite important. Her great-grandfather, John Isham, started out as a small merchant. He became very rich selling wool and bought Lamport Hall in 1560. This beautiful house became the family home for generations.

Elizabeth's father, Sir John Isham (1582–1651), was made a "baronet" by King Charles I in 1627. A baronet was a special title, like a knight, that could be passed down in the family. Elizabeth was 18 at the time. Her mother was Judith Lewyn Isham, who sadly passed away in 1625. Judith's father, William Lewin, was an educated judge.

Elizabeth had a younger sister, also named Judith, and a brother named Justinian. Justinian later became the second baronet. During the English Civil War, which was a big fight between the King and Parliament, Justinian went to Oxford. He was a "royalist," meaning he supported the King. This left Elizabeth to look after their father and her four nieces, and to manage the family estate. The estate was later taken over by Parliament for a while.

Elizabeth's mother, Judith, was very close to her children and played a big part in Elizabeth's religious life. When Elizabeth was only eight or nine, she learned many verses from the 'Psalm Book' by heart. Her mother also gave both Elizabeth and her sister Judith a prayer book to use several times a day. Because of this, Elizabeth grew up to be a very religious young woman. She felt strongly about her duties to God.

As a young woman, Elizabeth had a big decision to make. Her father wanted her to marry and have a family. But Elizabeth felt she wanted to dedicate her life to God. In the end, she decided not to marry, and her father supported her choice.

Personal Life and Decision to Stay Single

Elizabeth Isham spent most of her life at Lamport Hall, her family's estate. However, she sometimes visited relatives in London. When she was 18, her father sent her to stay with her uncle, James Pagitt, in London. The city offered more chances for a young woman to find a husband.

But Elizabeth didn't like city life or the suitors she met. She found it hard to choose between getting married and having children, or dedicating herself fully to God. She decided she couldn't do both perfectly, so she chose the religious life.

Elizabeth's choice to stay single came from her difficult experiences with relationships and her strong devotion to God. She could have had the benefits of marriage, like becoming a mother and inheriting estates. But none of that mattered to her. It was rare for women in the 1600s to have this kind of freedom. Her choice showed that being single wasn't a bad thing in society. Elizabeth was able to find her true calling in life.

Another reason Elizabeth might have stayed single was that she enjoyed being alone. She liked having privacy to pray and connect with God. She often preferred to be by herself, busy with her work. Even though she never had her own children, Elizabeth helped her brother raise his four young daughters. This happened after his wife, Jane, died shortly after giving birth to a son. Elizabeth became like a mother to the girls. In fact, she died with her most important work, the "Booke of Remembrance," which she left to them for their religious education. Elizabeth Isham passed away in 1654 at the age of 45, three years after her father.

Herbalism: A Natural Calling

In Elizabeth's time, women often worked as herbalists while doing their household chores. Women had a lot of practical knowledge about medicine. However, they were not usually seen as respected medical professionals, except for some wealthy women who were known for their skills.

Elizabeth's interest in medicine, especially herbalism, grew because many of her close family members became ill.

• Her grandmother died from a long illness in 1621.
• Her mother died in 1625 from ongoing poor health, possibly pneumonia.
• Her sister was often sick and had several broken bones before she died in 1636.
• Her sister-in-law, Jane, died in 1639 after giving birth to her fifth child.

Elizabeth's mother died when Elizabeth was 16. Elizabeth decided to learn about herbal medicine in her mid-twenties.

Doctors often visited the Isham home because of all the illnesses. Elizabeth began to distrust their methods and diagnoses. She felt their surgeries were too risky and often led to death. So, Elizabeth turned to herbal remedies as a different way to help people. She learned from a skilled herbalist named Mr. Naper, also called "Sandy." She started using special herbal drinks called "cordials" and other remedies known as "physicks." These cordials helped her mother, Judith, and were said to have helped her live another year. This made Elizabeth believe there were gentler ways to cure illnesses.

Another reason for Elizabeth's interest in herbs was that her great-grandmother and aunt were also skilled in medicine. Elizabeth's great-grandmother was a talented surgeon. Her aunt encouraged her to learn more about herbs by lending her books. Elizabeth also loved gardening. From her gardening, she wanted to learn more about herbs from gardening books.

It was unusual for women in those days to go to schools. However, wealthy women could learn Latin at home with tutors. But Elizabeth chose to learn more about herbs instead of Latin. She also tried to learn French to fit in with women in London society, but she never finished those lessons. Having women in her family who already knew about medicine gave Elizabeth a strong background to follow her interest in herbalism.

Herbalism might also have been part of Elizabeth's religious life. She saw it as another way to fulfill her "religious calling" to help others. Elizabeth believed that "Christ’s example" showed her "the way." She felt God was telling her this was her purpose in life. She even took medical notes in the 1640s, especially from a translation of a surgeon named Giovanni da Vigo. Elizabeth also wrote down what was in her mother's cordials and in foods like meat. These included rosemary, sage, marjoram, betony, and sassafras. She wrote many of these notes from her own practice and observations, not just from memory. Elizabeth found her own voice and purpose by choosing to practice herbalism, which was much more important to her than learning Latin.

Diarist and "My Booke of Rememberance"

Elizabeth Isham started writing at a very young age, around seven or eight. She continued to write a lot throughout her life. When she was young, she naturally loved to write. She would copy texts and use new words she learned in her own writings. She constantly read, copied, studied, memorized, and repeated prayers, psalms, parts of the Bible, and sermons.

Writing became a way for her to deal with sadness. She wrote when she felt down because her mother and sister died, and when she argued with her father about marriage. Writing comforted Elizabeth. She used writing to connect with God's word when she felt she might be losing her faith.

Around 1638–1639, when Elizabeth was 30, she wrote her first long work called My Booke of Rememberance. In this book, she wrote down her thoughts, beliefs, and explanations for her decisions. She also shared her struggles and the freedom she felt from living a single life. She specifically wrote about how hard it was to deal with losing her mother and sister, who were very close to her. She also wrote about her unsuccessful relationship with the suitor her father suggested, and her journey to live a single life. She wrote that this was her moment "at the pitts brinke of despair" because she wrote it during her most difficult times.

Hobbies and Interests

Elizabeth Isham had many interests and hobbies. She enjoyed gardening, needlework, painting, and reading, especially religious books. Her love for needlework and gardening also helped her with herbalism. Through gardening, she found connections between plants and medicine. She discovered that some plants, especially herbs, could be used for healing.

Elizabeth found that hobbies, especially needlework, were like a "preventative cure" for sadness. She took herbalism seriously as her career, while needlework was a way for her to relax and was "a kind of calming medicine." She was a very smart and knowledgeable woman in many areas, not just religion. She was very independent in everything she did, from poetry and songs to playing cards and reading romance stories. Elizabeth was an extraordinary woman for her time. She was not just a single Christian woman, but a very intelligent Christian single woman.

Elizabeth Isham's Diaries

Elizabeth Isham's first diary covers the period from her childhood until she was 40 years old. It is kept at the Northamptonshire Record Office (IL 3365).

Her second diary is called The Booke of Rememberance. It tells her life story, including her experiences with courtship, her thoughts about choosing between married life and being single, and the health problems her family faced. She finished this diary when she was 30 years old. This second diary has recently become known to the public and is kept at Princeton University Library, Robert H. Taylor Collection (RTC 01 no.62).

Images for kids

• Lamport Hall.jpg

  Lamport Hall, Elizabeth Isham's family home.