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Budleigh Salterton’s Fairlynch Museum was lucky enough to hear a fascinating talk from Rosemary on Wednesday 5th March.

In a rather simplistic tabloid way I billed March’s talk as “Meet Sir Water Raleigh’s mother“.

But Rosemary Griggs was so much more than that, like the multiple layers in the painstakingly recreated Tudor costume she wore.

In the world of historical fiction, there is no one more revered than Budleigh’s own, the late Hilary Mantel. Rosemary paid great tribute to her by quoting one of her great principles, that to bring the past to life, you must inhabit their world.

Rosemary soon realised that by dressing as the Tudor’s did she could forge a unique connection. As the talk went on we realised Rosemary not only had a passion for that era but for the costumes and above all else for the women, now often forgotten. She pointed out that it was His-story, a male account . They say history is written by the victors. Perhaps we should amend that to read history is written by the male victors. Hers was a mission to give people like Katharine Champernown the due credit for all their many achievements. This was not a woke reimagining of history but a basic fairness and dignity for the myriad of women whose place in history has been ignored, glossed over or simply purloined by men.

So, “Meet Sir Walter‘s mother” may have been a snappy headline , but, my word it didn’t do justice to the layers we had our eyes opened to.

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