Anne Cresacre (1512-1577) was the heiress of Edward Cresacre of Barnborough, Yorkshire, who after a turbulent childhood came under the wardship of Sir Thomas More. She was brought up within the More family, and in 1527 was betrothed (and in 1529 married) to Sir Thomas’s son John. This drawing is a study for a large group portrait of Sir Thomas More with his family, which was destroyed by fire in the eighteenth century.