Mary Shakespeare Palmer, and the house was accordingly renamed Palmer's Farm. The house that had belonged to the Arden family – which was near to Palmer's Farm – had been acquired by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1968 for preservation as part of a farmyard, without knowing its true provenance. The house and farm are open as an historic museum displaying 16th century life. Mary Shakespeare Mary Shakespeare, née Arden, (c. 1537–1608) was the mother of William Shakespeare. She was the daughter of Wilmcote gentleman farmer Robert Arden, a cadet of the Arden family prominent in Warwickshire since before the Norman Conquest.
Mary Pownall Mary Pownall Mary Pownall (1862-1937) was a British sculptor. She was active from 1890 until 1937. She is particularly associated with Watford. Pownall was born in Leigh in Lancashire in 1862. In the 1890s she was living in Birkenhead. She studied in Frankfurt in 1896 and in Paris from 1897 to 1898 where she tutored by Auguste Rodin. She then studied in Rome from 1898 to 1901. In Rome she lived at 53b Via Margutta. In 1902 she married Alfred Bromet, a barrister, but she continued to use her maiden name for her work. From 1903 to 1931 they lived