This chapter introduces and narrates Hannah Beswick’s life and family history, using a variety of archival and genealogical records to narrate the facts. In addition, contemporaneous primary sources, including diaries, commonplace books and property deeds, are used to give this history some context. The story that emerges differs from those recounted in the first part of the book, and it is one that draws on the reality of eighteenth-century Manchester to allow Hannah Beswick’s life to be better understood. The chapter concludes by asserting that Hannah Beswick was a fairly normal, though very wealthy, member of a gentry family, whose daily life likely included socializing with friends and family, music, dancing, and the management of property and the estate. This assertion serves as a precursor to subsequent chapters, which will explore how this ‘normal’ woman came to be embalmed and displayed in a museum.