The Marrying of Lady Anne Clifford: Marital Strategy in the Clifford Inheritance Dispute

Gender, property and succession in the early modern English aristocracy: the case of Martha Janes and her illegitimate children

“…82 Women like Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Pembroke, Dorset and Montgomery, and Henrietta Cavendish Harley, Countess of Oxford and Mortimer, for example, emulated the perseverance of their mothers when they came to take responsibility for the fight for their own inheritance. 83 Despite not receiving the informal training in matters of law and inheritance that many aristocratic women benefited from, Martha Janes took on the role of mother of aristocratic children and effectively used litigation to protect and defend her daughter's inheritance. Ultimately her use of the Court of Chancery ensured that when the estates transitioned to her children they were not encumbered by debt and that her daughters inherited estates that were intact and preserved for subsequent generations.…”

Review of periodical literature published in 2012

“…By contrast, many elite marriages were transactions first and foremost. Malay discusses the various attempts of Lady Anne Clifford to bolster her claims to certain Clifford lands through judicious marriage alliances. The Clifford inheritance dispute began with the death of Anne's father in 1605, when her widowed mother decided to act against the deceased's stated wishes.…”