Kelmscott Manor relationship with its setting, especially its garden. The Manor is featured in Morris' work "News from Nowhere". It also appears in the background of "Water Willow", a portrait of his wife, Jane Morris, painted by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1871. After William Morris's death in 1896, the Manor continued to be occupied by his widow, Jane Morris (who purchased it in 1913) and later, his daughters. May Morris died in 1938 and bequeathed the house to Oxford University, on the basis the contents were preserved and the public were granted access. The University were unwilling to preserve the house as
Maria Francesca Rossetti her about her plain appearance, nicknaming her 'Moony' for her rounded face. Maria never married. She was a friend of John Ruskin, having visited his home at Denmark Hill, and at 28 she developed romantic feelings for him after his marriage was annulled. Maria died of ovarian cancer in 1876, despite drawn-out treatments to try to drain the tumour. She was buried in the convent plot at Brompton Cemetery. Maria Francesca Rossetti Maria Francesca Rossetti (17 February 1827 – 24 November 1876) was an English author and nun. She was the sister of artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti as well as