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Anne,Countess Conway (died Feb. 1679) was a large ripple indeed: not, that is, in physical terms but a person of great intellect who was of influence in academic circles throughout the land. Her status as a woman probably precluded her from being a great figure in our national history. Her husband, the Earl of Conway, himself a national figure, was Lord of Arrow and Ragley: he it was who had his wife's body preserved in spirits of wine, with a glass in the coffin, over her face, until he could return to Ragley Hall from duties in Ireland. Lady Conway wrote numerous works on philosophy and metaphysics and towards the end of her life became an adherent of the Quakers: her patronage may have lessened the sufferings which the Alcester Quakers undoubtedly received. On the Continent, Lady Conway's opinions were well known and one of her treatises was translated into Latin. She herself was skilled in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. It is probable that Lord and Lady Conway never inhabited the Ragley Hall which we see today but rather its predecessor, a mediaeval edifice.