Hannah Ayscough

Hannah Ayscough or Askew or Askeu was Isaac Newton's mother. She was born to a yeoman family near Grantham, in Lincolnshire. Following the death of her first husband, she inherited significant land and farm assets. Her second husband bequeathed her further wealth. She managed her farmland and attendant businesses successfully until her death, leaving all her wealth to her first son Isaac. Professor Yasmin Khan of Oxford University describes her as "an extraordinary 17th-century entrepreneur".