Elizabeth Wilbraham

Elizabeth, Lady Wilbraham (née Mytton; 14 February 1632 – 27 July 1705) was a member of the English aristocracy, who traditionally has been identified as an important architectural patron.

It has been suggested that she was the first woman architect, and whose work may have been attributed to men. However, this is disputed by architectural historians.

Early years Elizabeth Mytton was born into a wealthy family and, aged 19, she married Thomas Wilbraham, heir to the Baronetcy of Wilbraham. They went on honeymoon together, travelling throughout Europe. She made this an opportunity to take an extended architectural study tour.

In the Netherlands, Elizabeth Wilbraham met architect Pieter Post,

Personal life Little is known about Lady Wilbraham's private life, but private letters were discovered and passed to the Staffordshire Record Office in 2008. These showed Lady Wilbraham's search for suitable husbands for her daughters, Grace and Margaret. According to the marketing executive of the Weston Park Foundation, "The letters explain the importance of a suitable match within the aristocracy of the day. She was certainly a very strong lady and knew what she wanted and how to get it".

Claims that she was first known woman architect Historian John Millar claims that Elizabeth Wilbraham is the first known woman architect.

During the seventeenth century it was impossible for a woman to pursue the profession of architect, and Millar stated that Lady Wilbraham used male executant architects to supervise construction in her place.

However, Millar himself admits that not a single letter or signed drawing survives with Willbraham's name on it connecting her with any project. His argument is based around the annotations in her copy of Andrea Palladio and similarities he claims to have found in buildings built at the time. His claim that she designed 400 buildings is equally based on visual similarity. - sources such as Historic England attribute the design to Elizabeth Wilbraham, but others, such as the Weston Park Foundation, press the claims of William Taylor. St Andrew's Church, Weston-under-Lizard - the estate church for Weston Park. Pevsner describes the church as "an enterprise of Lady Wilbraham...[of] 1700-1". Wotton House, Buckinghamshire (rebuilt 1704–1714) - architect unknown, but Elizabeth Wilbraham or John Fitch have been put forward.

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