Ravenscourt Park the 13th century the manor house was a mansion surrounded by a moat fed by the Stamford Brook, and the lake in the centre of the park today is a remnant of the original moat. King Edward III’s mistress Alice Perrers lived in the manor during the 14th century. The manor house was rebuilt in 1650 and in 1747 it was sold to Thomas Corbett who named it Ravenscourt, probably derived from the raven in his coat of arms, which was itself a pun on his name as "corbeau" is French for "raven". In 1812 the Ravenscourt House and estate
Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress from cant. Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (full title: "The Fortunate Mistress: Or, A History of the Life and Vast Variety of Fortunes of Mademoiselle de Beleau, Afterwards Called the Countess de Wintselsheim, in Germany, Being the Person known by the Name of the Lady Roxana, in the Time of King Charles II") is a 1724 novel by Daniel Defoe. Born in France, from which her parents fled because of religious persecution, Roxana grew to adolescence in England. At the age of fifteen, she married a handsome but conceited man. After eight years of marriage, during which