text:
compiled by
Kathy Lynn Emerson
to update and correct
her very out-of-date
Wives and Daughters: The Women of
Sixteenth-Century England (1984)
NOTE: this document exists only in electronic format
and is ©2008-16 Kathy Lynn Emerson (all rights reserved)
see ELIZABETH PHILLIPS
see JUDITH SHAKESPEARE
see ALICE SUTTON
ANN RADCLIFFE (1576-October 1661)
Ann Radcliffe was the daughter of Anthony Radcliffe of London (d.1603) and
Elizabeth Bright. She married Thomas Moulson
(c.1568-1638) on December 15, 1600. They owned and operated an inn in London.
They had two children but both died young. After her husband's death, Ann Moulson managed her own business for the next twenty-three
years. In addition to the inn, she loaned money and invested in import
ventures. She was also active in the puritan cause, contributing toward hiring
a puritan lecturer in her parish and giving generously to other charities, including
a gift of £100 to the fledgling Harvard College in New England. Because of
that, it was Ann Radcliffe who was honored by the name Radcliffe College in
1894. She bequeathed nearly £12,000 in her will. Biography: Oxford DNB entry
under "Moulson [née Radcliffe], Ann."
ANNE RADCLIFFE (c.1533-June 7, 1561)
Anne Radcliffe was the daughter of Robert Radcliffe, 1st earl of Sussex
(1483-1542) and his second wife, Margaret Stanley (c.1505-January 1533/4+), who
married Radcliffe before September 1, 1532. On April 10, 1547, Anne married
Thomas Wharton (1520-June 14, 1572), later 2nd baron Wharton, although he did
not succeed his father until after Anne's death. Their children were Philip
(June 23, 1555-March 26, 1625), Anne (b.1557), Thomas, and Mary (b. 1559). Anne
was part of the household of Princess (later Queen) Mary before 1552. She is
mentioned as such in the 1551 will of one of her fellow gentlewomen, Margaret
Pennington Cooke, and also features in an oft-repeated but possibly apocryphal
story about Lady Jane Grey. Lady Jane is supposed to have been visiting
Princess Mary at Beaulieu when, upon seeing Anne genuflect in the chapel, she
made several rude remarks about Catholic practices. This "Lady Anne
Wharton" is said to have been a favorite of Mary's, but she is often
misidentified as Anne Talbot, second wife of Anne Radcliffe's father-in-law.
This is impossible because Anne Talbot was Lady Bray during Queen Mary's reign
and did not marry Thomas Wharton's father until November 1561. That was not
only after the death of Queen Mary, but also after the death of Anne Radcliffe.
Anne Radcliffe, Lady Wharton was also at court in 1558/9.
ANNE RADCLIFFE (d.1603+)
Anne Radcliffe was the
daughter and heir of Thomas Radcliffe of Winmarleigh
or Wilmerley, Lancashire. She married Sir Gilbert
Gerard of Ince, Lancashire and Gerard's Bromley,
Staffordshire (d. February 4, 1593), attorney general of England. They had
three sons and four daughters, including Thomas (c.1564-1618), Frances
(d.1621), Margaret (1570-July 3, 1603), and Catherine. Anne and two of her
daughters were recusants. Gerard's will, written January 8, 1593 and proved
April 6, 1593, left his widow all her jewels, most of the household stuff, and
the use of his property in Middlesex provided their son Thomas and his wife
wished her to live with them. To his only unmarried daughter, he left a dowry
of £1000. Anne was still living in 1603 when her daughter, Margaret Legh, died. In a will made at that time, the widower, Sir
Peter Legh, named Anne as guardian for his younger
see BRIDGET MORRISON
see CATHERINE MARNEY
ELEANOR RADCLIFFE (d. July 27, 1518)
Eleanor Radcliffe
was the daughter of Geoffrey Radcliffe of Farmesdon
(d.1505) and Anne Wyndham. She had married Sir Thomas Lovell of Elsinge Manor in Enfield, Middlesex (1453-May 25, 1524) by
1512, as his second wife. They had no children. The Lady Lovell at court during
the reign of Henry VII was Lovell's first wife, Isabel Ros
(1451-1508/9), but Eleanor Radcliffe may have been one of Elizabeth of York's
attendants before her marriage. There was also a "Mrs. Ratcliff" in the
household of Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, in 1509. The Lady Lovell
in Catherine of Aragon's household would have been Eleanor. Henry VIII visited Elsinge more often than any other courtier's house during
the first part of his reign. There was a special suite of six rooms kept for
his use. Queen Margaret of Scotland stayed there in early May 1516, on her way
to visit her brother at the English court. Foreign dignitaries and, in August
1520, French hostages, were also housed there.
ELIZABETH RADCLIFFE (May 31, 1594-December 6, 1618)
Elizabeth Radcliffe was the
daughter of Robert Radcliffe, 5th earl of Sussex (June 12,
1569-September 22, 1629) and Bridget Morrison (March 1575-December 1623). Her
parents separated in 1601and Elizabeth probably went, with her mother, to live
with her maternal grandmother at Cassiobury,
Hertfordshire. Elizabeth was married in February 1608/9 to John Ramsay,
viscount Haddington (c.1580-1626), one of the king's favorites. Their nuptials
were celebrated at court by a masque in the Banqueting House at Whitehall.
"The Hue and Cry after Cupid" was written for the occasion by Ben
Jonson with sets and costumes designed by Inigo Jones. Elizabeth bore her
husband three children, James (c.1609-February 26, 1618), Bridget (b. c.
March1614/15), and Charles (1618-1621). She was buried in Boreham,
Frances Radcliffe was the daughter of Henry Radcliffe, 2nd earl of
Sussex (c.1506-February 17, 1557) and his second wife, Anne Calthorpe
(1509-between August 22, 1579 and March 28, 1582). When Frances was two years
old, her father attempted to have her declared illegitimate, having thrown her
mother out of his house some years earlier, but he was not successful. Although
Francis's father may have been Sir Edmund Knyvett
(1509-1551), with whom her mother was accused of having a bigamous marriage,
Sussex eventually accepted her as his daughter and left her an income of
£20/year and a dowry of £600. Under Queen Elizabeth, Frances came to court as a
maid of honor. She was there in January 1562 when Shane O'Neill (c.1530-June 2,
1561), son of the first Earl of Tyrone, came to England to negotiate with the
queen for his father's title. O'Neill was a violent man who had killed members
of his own family in his quest for power. He had also been married twice (one
wife he divorced and the other was dead) and kept his former father-in-law's
current wife as his mistress. Still, during his time in England, he reportedly
asked Queen Elizabeth for a "proper English wife." According to
Violet Wilson's Queen Elizabeth's Maids of Honor and Ladies of the Privy
Chamber, he specifically wanted to marry Frances but his suit was refused.
Wilson goes on to say that at a later date, when Frances visited her half
brother in Ireland, O'Neill renewed his courtship and was again turned down. It
seems unlikely matters progressed very far, if at all. In 1561, Frances's
brother, Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd earl of Sussex, had tried to
assassinate O'Neill using poison. They were not on friendly terms. In any case,
in 1563, O'Neill married his mistress. In July 1566, Frances married Thomas Mildmay of Moulsham (d.1608) and
was the mother of Thomas Mildmay, Baron Fitzwalter (d. 1625) and Henry (c.1585-1654). She is said to
have had a long association with comedian Richard Tarleton, who praised her
learned piety in his dedication to her in
Tarleton's Tragical
Treatises (1576).
see HONORA POUND
see KATHERINE MALLORY
KATHERINE RADCLIFFE (c.1551-1621)
Katherine Radcliffe was the daughter of Sir Roger Radcliffe of Tunstall
(c.1525-1588) and Dorothy Bigod (c.1529-1552). She
was raised at Mulgrave Castle, Yorkshire but in about 1565 moved to Ugthorpe Manor, where she was a practicing Catholic for
many years before being prosecuted for her religion. Her first conviction came
in 1590. In 1591, Mulgrave Castle was taken by the Crown. In 1592, Katherine was
imprisoned in Rotherham Castle and possibly sent to
Hull, but she was later released because she was sent back to prison the
following year. In 1599, she was a prisoner in York Castle.
see MARGARET WHETEHILL
MARGARET RADCLIFFE (January 1573-November 10, 1599)
Radcliffe was the daughter of Sir John Radcliffe of Ordsall
(1536-1590) and Anne Ashawe. She came to court as a
maid of honor in the 1590s and there was courted by Lord Cobham's
son, Henry Brooke. Brooke also paid court to Frances Howard, countess of
Kildare, and Elizabeth Russell, another maid of honor. When news came in August
1599 that Margaret's twin brother, Alexander, had been killed in battle in
Ireland, Margaret was inconsolable. She returned to Ordsall,
where she pined away, refusing to eat. Advised of her maid of honor's
condition, Queen Elizabeth ordered Margaret back to court, which was then at
Richmond, but her decline continued and it was there that she died. The queen
ordered an autopsy (an unusual step in those days). According to a letter
written by Philip Gaudy, Margaret's body proved "all well and sound, saving
certain strings striped all over her heart." She was buried in St. Margaret's,
Westminster. There was a magnificent monument, which no longer exists. Ben
Jonson composed the epitaph—not one of his better efforts—which includes the
line "rare as wonder was her wit and like nectar ever flowing." Portrait:
called "a lady in court dress" and still extant at Ordsall,
this may or may not be Margaret, but the clothing is correct for the 1590s.
MARY RADCLIFFE (1476-by April 1512)
Mary Radcliffe was the daughter of John Radcliffe, 1st baron Fitzwalter (d. November 24, 1496) and Margaret Whetehill (1446-1518+). Before February 12, 1493, she
married Sir Edward Darrell of Littlecote (d. March 9,
1528/9), as his second wife. His children all seem to have been the offspring
of his first wife. In June 1509, the king sent a messenger to "Mary, Lady Darell," probably to call her into service at court.
If her date of death is correct, Mary was not the Lady Darrell at court in
January 1518.
MARY RADCLIFFE (1550-July 1618)
Mary Radcliffe
was the daughter of Sir Humphrey Radcliffe of Elstow
(c.1509-August 13,1566) and Isabella Hervey or Harvey (d.May
8,1594). She was given to the queen as a New Year's gift in 1561 and actually
came to court as a maid of honor in 1564 at the age of fourteen. She spent the
rest of the reign at court, earning a stipend of £40 a year as a gentlewoman of
the privy chamber (1570) and later (1580) as a lady of the bedchamber and
keeper of the queen's jewels. Tracy Borman, in Elizabeth's
Women: The Hidden Story of the Virgin Queen, states that Mary was
"something of a beauty" and names one John Farnham
as one of her admirers. The description of her as "comely" by Farnham, however, does not really imply physical
attractiveness, and her portrait (below) gives a rather different impression.
Whatever her appearance, she never married, and she outlived the queen. One
account says she was 73 at the time of her death, which would give a birth date
of 1545. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Radcliffe, Mary"; a brief
account of her life is also given in Eunice H. Turner's "Queen Elizabeth and
her Friends" in History Today, September 1965. Portrait: contrary to the
report above, this is one of the plainest likenesses of a maid of honor of the
MARY RADCLIFFE (d. 1653)
Mary Radcliffe was the
daughter of Sir John Radcliffe of Ordsall, Lancashire
(1581-October 29, 1627) and Alice Byron. She married first, on June 20, 1622,
Sir John Stanhope of Elvaston, Derbyshire (1591-May
29, 1638), by whom she had a son, John (1630-March 26, 1662). In December 1647
she married Sir John Gell of Hopton
(June 22, 1593-1671) as his second wife. Gell had
previously, as described in Mary's petition to Parliament, hounded her first
husband for payment of ship money. This marriage lasted less than a year and
the couple separated in 1648. A pair of shoes, believed to have been worn by
Mary, went up for auction in London in 1994 and sold for £12,100. They were
described in the catalog as "a pair of shoes of blue velvet densely
embroidered in silver and gilt metal threads with flower stems, with blue silk
finding, with narrow square toe, with white kid rands,
and leater covered 2 ¼ in. heel, lined in white kid,
circa 1640." Portrait: by William Larkin.
see ANNE WOODHOUSE
see ELIZABETH HEYWOOD
see DOROTHY WROUGHTON
see KATHERINE CHAMPERNOWNE
RENÉE RALLAY (d.1587+)
Renée Rallay was the daughter
of one Madam Rallay, chamberwoman to Mary Queen of Scots in 1555. Madam Rallay
returned to France c.1567/8 but on December 13, 1574 Mary wrote a letter asking
for Madam Rallay and her daughter to come to her in England to help her
"invent and work novelties," in other words, designs for her
needlework. There was some suspicion that this was a plot to communicate with
her allies, since the emblems used in needlework often had hidden meanings, but
by February 1577, Mary got her wish. Renée is referred to as both Mademoiselle
de Rallay and Mademoiselle de Beauregard in records of the household, which may
indicate that she had married a man named Beauregard. Or not. Mary mentions
that she has "lost" Ralley in a letter written on September 6, 1585,
but it is unclear whether she meant Madam Rallay had died or simply that she
had returned to France. Renée, however, was still in England. She was listed as
a genlewoman of the chamber in July 1586 and bore Mary's train at her trial in
1587. After Mary was executed her ladies were held at Fotheringay until July
30, when they were taken to Peterborough Cathedral for Mary's funeral. It was
September before they were finally released and allowed to leave England. Renée
appears to have returned to France.
see MARGARET HARLESTONE
see ELIZABETH RADCLIFFE
see MARY DALE
AGNES RANDALL (1521-April 22, 1605)
Agnes was from
Coventry and was in service with Sir Thomas Lucy at Charlecote, Warwickshire
when she married his son's tutor, John Foxe (1516-April 18,1587) on February 3,
1547. It has been said that Agnes's father helped him attend Oxford. Shortly
after the marriage, Foxe became the tutor of the duchess of Richmond's wards,
the children of the executed earl of Surrey. In 1554, however, with the
accession of the Catholic queen, Mary Tudor, he was forced to flee into exile
because of his religious beliefs. Agnes was pregnant at the time but she left
the country with him and their daughter was born in Flanders. Foxe gained fame
with the publication of his Acts and Monuments, better known as the Book
of Martyrs. Other children were Samuel (1560-1630), Rafe, Mary, Thomas
(1564-1625), and Simon (1568-1642). Biography: John Foxe by Warren W.
ELIZABETH RANDOLPH (d.1596+)
Elizabeth Randolph was the
daughter of Thomas Randolph (1523-1590) and his second wife, Ursula Coppinger
(d.1596+). On May 28, 1596, she eloped with her cousin, Francis Coppinger
(c.1579-1526+). Details can be found online in "Francis Coppinger's Secret
Marriage" by Mary Partridge, University of Birmingham. Although this
clandestine marriage should have been unbreakable once it was consummated,
Coppinger's powerful grandfather, Lord Cobham, managed to have it annulled. We
know what happened to Coppinger afterward, but the article says nothing more
about Elizabeth or her fate.
see ELIZABETH MORE
ELIZABETH RASTELL (d.1593)
Elizabeth Rastell was the
daughter and coheir of John Rastell (d.1536+ ) and the great niece of Sir
Thomas More. She married Robert Lougher of Tenby, Pembrokeshire and Devonshire,
Oxfordshire, and Yorkshire (d. June 1585), who held various ecclesiastical and
academic appointments during his lifetime. They had three sons, John (d.1636),
Thomas, and Robert, and three daughters, Elizabeth, Jane, and Lettice.
Elizabeth's sister and coheir, Anne Rastell (d.1586+) married Dr. Griffith
Lloyd (d.1586) and had one daughter. Elizabeth was left a substantial fortune
by her husband, although it was not actually released to her until c. 1592. As
a widow, she received the unwelcome advances of a suitor, Rhys Morgan, who
claimed they had been betrothed before her marriage to Rastell. When he tried
to force her to marry him she appealed to the Star Chamber to put an end to his
JOAN RASTELL (c.1500-1574)
Joan Rastell was the daughter
of John Rastell of London (c.1475-1536), a printer, and Elizabeth More (September
12, 1482-1538), sister of Sir Thomas More. According to an article on Dame
Margery Astry (see MARGERY HILL), Joan married Margery's son, John Revell, in
around 1516 and they moved in with his mother in St. James Garlickhithe,
London. Other sources give Joan a birthdate of 1504, but this would make her
only twelve when she married for the first time. In September 1517, John and
Joan Revell journeyed to Otham, Kent "to take . . . recreation for a weke
or two," but during that trip Revell contracted the plague and died. When
Joan sent word to his mother in London, Margery acted quickly to seize her
son's possessions, including money, plate, and jewels—all in all worth over
£1000. Revell was not a poor man. In 1497, his share of his father's estate had
been reckoned at £573 10s. 4d. As his childless widow, Joan would have expected
to receive the bulk of her late husband's goods and property and she had been
granted the administration of his estate (another indication that she was older
than thirteen in 1517), but her mother-in-law refused to release what she had
confiscated. Furthermore, she would no longer allow Joan to live in her house.
When Joan remarried, taking as her second husband Richard Pynson (d. June
1520), they brought suit against Margery. They were backed up by Joan's father
but the case was still pending when Pynson died. They had one child, Joan
Pynson. On June 28, 1520, Joan requested the administration of her late
husband's goods, indicating that he had died by June 22, although the ODNB gives
the date of his death as September 1520. His estate was valued at £23 1s. 2½ d.
in October of that year. On December 21, 1520, Joan's father persuaded Richard
Pynson the elder, her father-in-law, to sign a document that provided for Joan
and her daughter by giving them the profits from lands in Stewardstonebury,
Essex, the lease of property in Tottenham after the deaths of Pynson and his
second wife, and the promise to make no objection to Joan obtaining new leases
for the George in Fleet Street. In 1521, Joan filed a new suit in Chancery
against Dame Margery Astry over her first husband's estate. She was represented
by her father but no outcome is known and Dame Margery died in 1523. The
Pynsons, father and son, were printers and there is some indication that Joan
continued her husband's business. In 1523, John Heywood, later of North Mimms,
Hertfordshire, and Hinxhill, Kent (1496/7-1578) was made free of the
Stationer's Company and it is likely that was because he had just married Joan.
That same year, he earned £26 13s. 4d. as a virginals player at court. He was
also a playwright. The Heywoods lived in St. Bride's parish. After the death of
her former father-in-law's wife on November 21, 1528, Joan and Heywood
negotiated a new lease for the George to go into effect one year after Richard
Pynson's death. When Pynson took exception to this, Joan's father brought suit
in the King's Bench, charging that Pynson had violated the agreement of 1520.
The judge was Sir John More, Joan's grandfather. He awarded his son-in-law the
£40 penalty specified in the agreement and 40s in court costs but for damages
awarded him only a penny. Having lost the case, Pynson felt he had no further
obligations to his former daughter-in-law and when he made his will four weeks
later, he made no mention of her. He did leave £10 to his granddaughter, Joan
Pynson, to be paid to her when she was sixteen. He probably died shortly before
December 17, 1529. In 1530, John Heywood left the Stationers for the Mercers.
He and his wife acquired tenements in the parish of St. Peter Westcheap. In
1536-39, he was working as a musician and player. In 1543, he was imprisoned,
accused of plotting against Thomas Cranmer, but was pardoned. Their children
were Ellis (1530-October 1578) and Jasper (1535-1598), both of whom joined the
Jesuit order, Elizabeth (d. 1577+), Joan (d. 1574) and a second Elizabeth
(d.1632), who was the mother of poet John Donne. In July 1564, Joan and her
husband went abroad to Antwerp and elsewhere. The last known of her husband was
at Louvain in May 1578. She died in Malines.
see WINIFRED CLEMENT
ANNE RAWLEY (d.1560+)
Anne Rawley was the daughter of John Rawley of Billesby, Northamptionshire. She
married William Owen (c.1535-1560+) and may have been the Mrs. Owen living in a
part of the house called Cumnor Place in 1560, although some sources say he
married Ursula Fettiplace, daughter of Alexander Fettiplace of Swinbrook
(1503-September 12, 1564) and Anne Dale, in 1558. Cumnor Place belonged to
William Owen and was leased to Anthony Forster (c.1510-1572), one of Robert
Dudley's servants. It appears to have been a large establishment with room for
separate quarters for three ladies in addition to Forster and his wife and
children. One "apartment" was occupied by Mrs. Owen, identified in
some accounts as William Owen's stepmother, Mary, the second wife and widow of
George Owen (c.1499-October 18, 1558), the royal physician. The Oxford DNB
entry for "Owen, George," however, identifies the occupants of Cumnor
Place in 1560 as William Owen and his wife, Anne Rawley. Another tenant was
Amye Robsart, Lady Dudley. She fell to her death down a flight of stairs,
sparking centuries of controversy over whether or not she was murdered. See the
entry under AMYE ROBSART for more details.
see ELEANOR HERBERT
ANNE RAWSON (1513-February 20, 1587/8)
Anne Rawson was the daughter of Nicholas Rawson of Aveley, Essex and
Gressenhall, Norfolk (1475-1529) and Beatrice Cooke (1478-January 14, 1554). In
1532, she married Sir Michael Stanhope of Shelford and Elvaston,
Nottinghamshire (1502-x. February 26, 1552) and was the mother of Sir Thomas
(1532-August 3, 1596), Jane (1536-January 3, 1618), Sir Edward (1538-1603), Sir
John (1545-March 9, 1621), another Edward (February 26, 1547-March 16, 1608),
Sir Michael (1548-1625), Eleanor, Juliana, and three others (Margaret, Edward,
and William), who died young. She was allowed to remain in her home, Shelford
Priory, Nottinghamshire, after her husband's attainder and her household there
had a reputation for piety and hospitality. Her mother lived with her there
until her death. There is a monument to Lady Stanhope in St. Peter and St.
Paul, Shelford.
see ELIZABETH LAW
see ANNE PERCY
Bridget Read, sometimes called Katherine Read, was the daughter of Sir Robert
Read of Horstal, Kent (d. January 8, 1518/19) and Margaret Alphew/Alphege.
Around 1510, she married Sir Thomas Willoughby of Bore Place, Chiddingstone,
Kent (d. September 28, 1545). Their children were Henry, Robert, Christopher
(1513-January 11, 1586), Mary, and Elizabeth (c.1516-April 10, 1580). She
constructed a monument to herself and her late husband.
see GERTRUDE PASTON
see ALICE BENTLEY
see ANNE CURSONNE; ANNE DONNE
ANNE REDE (c.1510-January 5, 1585)
Anne Rede was the
daughter of Sir William Rede, Read, or Reade of Boarstall, Buckinghamshire
(1470-1527) and Anne Warham. The list of ladies attending on Princess Mary in
December 1526 includes the name Anne Rede. It was there she met her first
husband, Sir Giles Greville or Grevill of Wick, Worcestershire (d. April 1,
1528), controller of the household. Two letters are extant that refer to the
courtship, the first from Margaret, countess of Salisbury, governess of the
Princess Mary, to Lady Rede. Written from Worcester on August 20, 1526, it
refers to the interest the comptroller has in her daughter and does not sound
entirely approving of the romance. The second letter is from Lady Rede to Mr.
Henry Golde, chaplain to the archbishop of Canterbury. Written from Knole on April
8, 1527, it announces that "the matter betwixt Sir Giles Bryvel (sic) and
my daughter is driven almost into conclusion." Barbara J. Harris, in
"Women and Politics in Early Tudor England," reveals that Sir Giles
grew so frustrated with Lady Rede's demands concerning her daughter's jointure
that he threatened to break off negotiations. In about 1530, Anne married Sir
Adrian Fortescue (c.1481-x. July 9,1539). He was engaged in a long-running
dispute over land with the family of his first wife, Anne Stonor (c.1484-June
14, 1518). On one occasion, according to later testimony before the Star
Chamber, a party led by Sir Walter Stonor attacked Stonor Manor and dragged
Anne Rede, who was pregnant, out of her chamber. Anne and Fortescue also
contested the inheritance of one of Sir Giles Greville's manors by his daughter
by an earlier marriage and her second husband. Fortescue, in 1532, joined the
knights of St. John of Jerusalem, an order that was abolished by Parliament in
1534/5. In August 1534, for refusing to take the Oath of Succession, he was
imprisoned in the Marshalsea. The family was based at Brightwell Baldwin in
Oxfordshire when, in February 1539, for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy,
Sir Adrian was arrested again and this time charged with "sedition and
refusing allegiance" and beheaded. He was beatified in 1895. By Fortescue,
Anne was the mother of Sir John (1533-December 23, 1607), Thomas (May 13,
1534-1611), Sir Anthony (c.1535-c.1611), Elizabeth (d.1602), and Mary. Her
third husband, married in about 1540, was Sir Thomas Parry of Hampstead
Marshall and Welford, Berkshire (c.1505-December 15, 1560). According to The
History of Parliament, the marriage was troubled early on. In August 1540,
the Bishop of London set up a commission to investigate Parry's complaint that
his wife had left him. They were reconciled and eventually had two sons and
three daughters: Thomas (1544-1616), Edward, Anne, Frances, and Muriel
(d.1616). In October 1542, Anne was granted 1,500 sheep in Gloucestershire and
other goods confiscated from her second husband. Thomas Parry had entered the
service of Princess Elizabeth by 1548, when he was her cofferer. He was
arrested in 1549 because of his knowledge of the activities of Lord Admiral
Thomas Seymour but later released. The Parrys lived at Wallingford, Berkshire
and at Welford Park, Berkshire. Anne was in the household of Elizabeth Tudor
before she became queen, but on September 30, 1553, she was in attendance on
Queen Mary. Mary granted her Pannington, Gotherington, Tredington, Washbourne,
and Hamstead in Gloucestershire. Under Queen Elizabeth, Anne Parry was a lady
of the privy chamber. When she retired from the court in 1566, she received an
annuity and more land in Gloucestershire. Portrait: alabaster effigy on her
tomb in Welford, Berkshire, erected by her son Thomas.
AGNES REDMAN (d.1604+)
Agnes Redman was the daughter of William Redman of St. Swithin's, London. By a
marriage license dated January 28, 1579/80, Agnes married attorney Richard
Kitchen of Clifford's Inn (c.1559-1604). Agnes inherited goods from her father
in a will, dated January 16, 1586/7 and when her husband died she was left a
house in Skipton in Craven in the West Riding of Yorkshire, with the reversion
to Abel Kitchen of Bristol, and all his goods and chattels. She was also named
executrix. They had no children. It was a different Agnes Kitchen, widow of
Gabriel Kitchen of Skipton (d.1591) who died in 1613/14 at the age of about
102. That Agnes Kitchen was the mother of Gabriel (d.1603), Elizabeth,
Christopher, Abel, and Thomas (d. before 1591).
see MARY BRANDON
see CATHERINE GREVILLE
JOAN REGENT (d.1509/10) (maiden name unknown)
Joan married William Regent, a merchant who was mayor of Bristol in 1495. They
had one daughter, Agnes (d.1524), who became a nun at Syon, where she was a
boarder as early as 1504/5. After her husband died, Joan appears to have become
a vowess. She was probably living at St. Mark's hospital, Bristol at the time
of her death. Notes in her hand appear in the margin of a copy of Vitas
Patrum, at the opening of Jerome's life of Paula, a noble Roman widow. The
signature of her daughter is also found in that book. In her will, Joan left
plate and linen to Agnes.
JANE REHORA or
see JANE van KETHULLE
REIGNOLDES (d.1599+) (maiden name
Elizabeth was the young wife of
Edmond Reignoldes, an elderly saddler in the Old Bailey. She turned to
prostitution in about 1599, working first for Mrs. Agnes Wilkinson, then for
Mrs. Cesar, both of whom she had met while incarcerated in Bridewell, and
finally went to Mrs. Anne Miller's establishment in Chick Lane, where she began
work around Easter, April 11, 1599. During her time there her best customer was
John Cotton, a gentleman in the service of the Lord Chamberlain, who had been
made a groom of the wardrobe in 1597. Most clients were charged between 5s. and
10s., but each visit cost Cotton £1, half of which (10s.) went to Elizabeth and
half to Mrs. Miller. Elizabeth went to plays with Cotton and, in the hope of
attracting more custom, dressed well above her station. After her arrest, an
inventory of her apparel was drawn up for the governors of Bridewell. Most of
the clothing had come from Mrs. Miller, but Elizabeth had bought one gown of
her own for £2 2s. The examination of Elizabeth Reignoldes on August 15, 1599,
covers the details of her profession, from methods of contraception to
differences in fees charged at the three houses she worked in (Mrs. Cesar only
took 25% of Elizabeth's earnings). She was released on October 1, 1599 and
allowed to go home, where her elderly husband appears to have taken her back.
Biography: Gustav Ungerer, "Prostitution in Late Elizabethan England: The
Case of Mary Newborough," in Medieval
and Renaissance Drama in England, Vol. 15, edited by John Pitcher, Robert
Lindsey, and Susan Cerasano.
KATHERINE REINOLDS (d.1565+)
Katherine Reinolds'
first husband was Thomas Warneford of Highworth, Wiltshire (d. 1539). He is said to have gained
no property through his marriage to her. At that time, he tried to break the
entail on his property, preventing their children from inheriting until their
mother's death. With Katherine, Thomas Warneford had
a son, John, born in 1522. According to "Star Chamber Suits of John and
Thomas Warneford," edited by F. E. Warneford, in Wiltshire
Record Society, Vol XLVIII (1992) Thomas had second thoughts about this
arrangement when a marriage between John and Susan Yate of Lyford (1525-1583)
was proposed and he was unable to provide a marriage settlement. Thomas left a
will dated June 30, 1539. Katherine remarried shortly thereafter. Her second
husband was Christopher Ashton of Fyfield, Berkshire
(d.1561+), who had previously been married to Lady Catherine Gordon. Almost
immediately, her son John brought suit against his mother and stepfather over
his inheritance. He appears to have won the case, since he subsequently settled
an estate on his mother and Ashton for the term of her life. This consisted of
over 1800 acres at an annual rent of £22. In 1556, when Ashton became involved
in a plot to overthrow Queen Mary, his goods were confiscated. They were given
to one Walter Loveden, who had initially been in on
the plot with Ashton but who was pardoned on February 10, 1557, probably for
turning state's evidence. In 1565, by which time Katherine was married to her
third husband, Robert Temple, she brought a bill of complaint against Loveden in an attempt to recover some of the Ashton
property. The date of her death is not known.
see JEANNE LULLIER
see ANNE WOTTON
see ELIZABETH HOLLAND
Elizabeth Reresby was the daughter of Lionel Reresby of Thribergh, Yorkshire
and Anne Swift. She was the second wife of Francis Copledike of Harrington,
Lincolnshire (d. December 29, 1599). Her two children, John and Anne, died young.
She was a patroness of the rectories of Harrington and Aswarby. Portrait:
effigy in Harrington, Lincolnshire.
see ALICE DENSELL
see ALICE WILKES
JANE RESTWOLD (d.1585+)
Jane Restwold was the
daughter of Edward Restwold of The Vache, Buckinghamshire (d. July 24, 1547)
and Agnes Cheyne (d.1552+), who were married in 1512. Agnes married her second
husband, Thomas Waterton (d.1558) in 1549. Jane was one of six sisters and a
coheir of her childless brother. Her first husband was Sir Francis Hastings of
Fernwick, Buckinghamshire, to whom she was married on December 20, 1545 in
Lincoln. Some accounts give his seat as Fenwick Manor, Campsall, Yorkshire and
his date of death as September 1589, but the latter is clearly impossible since
Jane was married to her second husband, Robert Lee of Hatfield, Yorkshire
(c.1533-1598), by the time of her brother's death in 1560. The History of Parliament entry for Lee
gives the Fernwick location and states that Lee was a country gentleman who
succeeded Hastings as keeper of the game in Hatfield Chase by 1570. Online
genealogies give Jane two daughters by Hastings, Jane (who married Edmund
Eltofles) and Bridget (who married Robert Swift), and one daughter, Barbara (d.
before 1598), by Lee. By 1585, Jane had separated from Lee and complained to
the queen "both of his hard usage of her whilst she lived with him and of
her miserable estate since she left him, being destitute in all things."
Lee offered her an allowance equal to half the rent from lands in her
possession at the time of their marriage.
see AGNES WALTER
see JOAN RASTELL
see MARGERY HILL
ISABEL REYNARD (d.1539+)
Isabel Reynard was the daughter and coheir of John Reynard. She married Thomas
Gilbert (d.1529) and was the mother of Otho or Otes Gilbert (d.1547), another
son, and a daughter named Joan (d.1539+). Through her marriage to Thomas
Gilbert, she was the aunt of Honor Grenville, Lady Bassett and in 1526 loaned
that lady some money. Apparently, it was slowly being repaid over the course of
the next eleven years, during which time Honor remarried and became Lady Lisle,
but in 1537, payments stopped. Two letters from Isabel to Honor are included in
The Lisle Letters, both of them appeals for Lady Lisle to instruct her
bailiff to pay Isabel the money she was owed. The situation was somewhat
desperate. In the first, written from Tresorrow, Cornwall on August 1, 1539,
Isabel writes: "pleaseth it you to remember me your poor woman in this my
great need with the residue of the money which remaineth in your ladyship's
hands to me due. It is now ij years since I had any of your good ladyship, and
since that time it hath cost me above iij hundred marks for the marriage of my
daughter, what for her marriage money, the dinner, her apparel and her going up
and down to London, and yet remaineth a hundred marks to pay, and the day of
payment is expired, and he sayeth if I pay him not of half before Michaelmas
and the whole residue before Christmas he will sue me to the extremity, which
undoubtedly I cannot do unless my creditors help me." Apparently, in
trying to raise the money, she had incurred other debts, for later in the same
letter she writes "I am for a small debt sued to the outlawry." In
the second letter, written on October 10, 1539 from Greenway, Churston Ferrers,
Devonshire, she writes: "I am troubled and vexed in the law for my late
debts, and . . . shall be outlawed before Christmas, if I end not with him, and
also pay his costs." She does not give a name to this "he" but
he is clearly a different creditor than her son-in-law's father, Humphrey
Prideaux. Of him, she writes: "Master Prideaux will or hath begun an
action against me for the hundred marks unpaid." She continues: "I
have foreborne your good ladyship as long as my power would stretch. It is ij
years sithen I had any penny of your ladyship . . . if that your good ladyship
help me not I am liken to fall in the danger of the law, and also in slander
that I cannot pay my debts, which will grieve me and those that be my loving
friends." As, unfortunately, is so often the case, we do not know how
Isabel's troubles were resolved.
see FRANCES AYLWORTH
see LUCY BRANDON
ELIZABETH REYNER (d.1612)
Elizabeth Reyner was the
daughter of Sir William Reyner (Rayner/Raynor) of Orton Longueville,
Huntingdonshire (1525-1606). Her mother's name is unknown. After October 1586,
Elizabeth married Henry Talbot of Burton Abbey, Yorkshire (1563-January 1596),
youngest son of George Talbot, 6th earl of Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury
stayed at Orton Longueville, sixteen miles from Fotheringay, during the trial
of Mary Queen of Scots. Elizabeth had two daughters, Gertrude (c.1588-1649) and
Mary (c.1595-March 6, 1674/5). In his will, Talbot left Elizabeth two parts of
his land until their younger daughter should be eighteen years old and,
thereafter, one part. She was also his executrix. Her second husband, as his second
wife, was Thomas Holcroft of Vale Royal, Cheshire (1557-1620). In 1598,
Holcroft entered into a dispute with Gilbert Talbot, 7th earl of
Shrewsbury, over the terms of Henry Talbot's will and the wardship of his
daughters. At the age of eighty, Elizabeth's father remarried, taking as his
bride, on June 19, 1606, the widowed Mary (née Beaumont), Lady Villiers. He
died less than five months later. His will, dated October 27, 1606, was proved
November 13, 1606.
MARGARET REYNOLD (d.1528) (maiden name unknown)
Margaret was the wife of John Reynold (d.1492), a wealthy mercer. When he died,
she received a third of his estate, £1000, and their six children each received
250 marks. She also had the responsibility of carrying out her husband's
charitable bequests. Their children were Richard (d.1543), Ralph, Ellen, Jane,
Margaret, and Mary. Anne F. Sutton in The Mercery of London speculates
that Margaret was a silkwoman, since she appears to have had apprentices of her
own and left her "frames" to her servant, Ellen, in her will (proved
November 27, 1528). Sutton believes her daughter-in-law, Blanche, married to
Richard Reynold, may also have been a silkwoman.
see BLANCHE STANNEY
see MARY VERNEY
AGNES RHYS or RICE (d. August 19, 1574)
Agnes Rhys was the daughter of Sir Rhys ap Griffith of Carew Castle,
Pembrokeshire (c.1505-x.January 4,1531) and Katherine Howard (1508-1554). She
was raised in the household of her grandmother, Agnes, dowager duchess of
Norfolk, along with her two sisters. She became the mistress of William
Stourton, 7th baron Stourton (1484-September 16, 1548) and lived with him after
his separation from his wife, Elizabeth Dudley. In a chancery case in 1553,
Agnes claimed they had been married in January 1547 in the chapel at Stourton
House, but if so, it was a bigamous marriage since Lady Stourton was still
living at the time of her husband's death. Agnes traveled with Stourton and
persuaded him to give her mother a house at Stourton Caundle. They had a
daughter, Mary. Stourton left Agnes most of his goods and chattels, as well as
a sum of money owed to him at the time of his death. Agnes then removed jewels,
plate, and cash from his house in Lambeth, Surrey and took up residence in
Stourton House, refusing to be evicted by Stourton's heir, Charles. According
to John Bellamy's Strange, Inhuman Deaths: Murder in Tudor England,
Agnes "locked the gates and placed servants to guard them with bows, guns,
and other weapons. She kept charge of the gates herself and allowed into the
manor house only the sheriff, his servants, and her ally, [William]
Hartgill." Further, she took possession of some of the livestock at
Stourton, in spite of the objections of Charles's wife. It was 1550 before
Charles could remove her from Stourton House. He was unsuccessful in his
attempt to get her to return the jewels and plate. The estate was finally
settled in 1557, after Charles was executed for murder. Meanwhile, around 1553,
Agnes married Sir Edward Baynton (c.1520-1593), by whom she had thirteen
children, including William (d.1564), Henry (1571-1616), Anne (d.1587),
Margaret (d. yng), and Elizabeth (d.1593+). In 1564, Agnes's only son to that
point, William Baynton, while still an infant, was allegedly murdered by
witchcraft. There were charges and counter charges made but the gist of the
story is that Dorothy Mantill or Mantell, wife of Sir Edward's brother Henry
(b.c.1520), enticed one Agnes Mills or Mylles to bewitch the child, thinking
that by his death her husband would inherit. Agnes Mills was hanged for the
crime, but in spite of proceedings in Chancery the following year, Dorothy does
not seem to have been prosecuted. Dorothy and Henry Baynton already had three
sons—Henry (b.1553), Edward (b.1555), and Roger (b.1557)—and two daughters. Confusing
the issue was the testimony of one Jane Marshe, who first supported the
accusation against Dorothy and then, fearing she would never be let out of
prison if she did not change her story, accused Edward and Agnes of bribing her
to accuse Dorothy. Jane's fate, too, is unknown. One further bit of confusion
is caused by the fact that Sir Edward Baynton had two brothers named Henry. The
younger, actually his half brother, was born c. 1536 and married Anne
Cavendish. He was not implicated in the murder of young William. Portrait:
memorial brass at Bromham, Wiltshire, which she shares with her husband and his
second wife, Anne Packington (d.1578).
see BARBARA FULLER
BEATRICE ap RICE or
RHYS (d.1558+) (maiden name
Beatrice was the wife of David ap Rice/Rhys (d.1540+), a groom or yeoman of the
chamber in Princess Mary's household prior to 1525. Beatrice became Mary's
laundress in 1519 and was still with her when her household was dissolved in
October 1533. She also held this post when Mary was queen.
see ANNE WENTWORTH
see FRANCES WRAY
WINIFRED RICH (d. November 1578+)
Winifred Rich was one of the
ten daughters of Richard Rich of West Smithfield, Middlesex, and Rochford and
Leez, Essex (1496/7-June 12, 1567) and Elizabeth Jenks (1510-December 16,
1558). Her father was created baron Rich in 1547, by which time Winifred is
said to have been the widow of Sir Henry Dudley. This Sir Henry is the subject
of some confusion. Some genealogies and the Oxford DNB entry for her second
husband make him the eldest son of John Dudley (later duke of Northumberland;
created Viscount Lisle in 1542). It seems unlikely to me that the heir to a
viscount would have been married to a girl who was only one of so many
siblings, especially given their ages. This same Oxford DNB entry specifies
that she was Rich's sixth daughter. Henry Dudley (1525-1544) was only nineteen
when he died. Winifred was at least ten years younger, since her parents,
according to the Oxford DNB entry for Rich, did not marry until c.1535. If she
was indeed the sixth daughter, she could not have been more than a baby in1544.
Moreover, Northumberland biographers fail to make any family connection between
the two fathers. Some online genealogies mistakenly have Winifred married to
the second Northumberland son named Henry (d.1557), but he still living after
the date of her second marriage and his own marriage to Margaret Audley is well
documented. Whatever Sir Henry Dudley Winifred married, it indeed there was a
marriage and not just talk of a betrothal, he had died by c.1547 when she wed
Sir Roger North of Kirtling, Cambridgeshire and Mildenhall Suffolk (February
17, 1531-December 3, 1600). They had four children, Thomas (d. yng), John
(c.1551-June 5, 1597), Henry (December 28, 1556-November 20, 1620), and Mary.
In 1564, North succeeded his father to become the 2nd baron North of
Kirtling. In the late summer of 1578, the queen spent two days with Lord and
Lady North at a cost to them of £762. Lady North was still living that November
but appears to have died soon after.
ISABEL RICHARD (d.1588) (maiden name unknown)
Isabel "Richard" is the name usually given to the first wife of
explorer/pirate Martin Frobisher (c.1535-November 22, 1594), but there is a
great deal of misinformation about her on the web, not only in her name but in
her life dates. Her maiden name is unknown. She was married first to Thomas
Rigatt (Riggat/Rickard) of Snaith, Yorkshire and London, by whom she had at
least three children. She was left comfortably well off by her first husband
and continued to live in Blackfriars, where she had been, by her own account,
since 1554, as "maid, widow and wife." Although most sources,
including the Oxford DNB, give the date and place of her marriage to Martin
Frobisher as September 30, 1559 in Snaith, her own account makes the date 1569
in Walbrook, London. This makes more sense, as Frobisher was on a voyage to
Barbery in 1559. In 1565-6, he was in prison for piracy and he was again
arrested in July or August 1569 and held in the Fleet and then the Marshalsea
until March 1570. Hardly a propitious start to a marriage! The sites that have
Isabel dead and Frobisher married to his second wife by 1564 are in error. He
did not remarry until 1590 or 91. By the mid-1570s, he had gone through
Isabel's inheritance and abandoned her and her children. She was reduced to
living "in a poor room within another at Hampstead near unto London."
and was "ready to starve." This information comes from two petitions
for redress, one undated and sent to Sir Francis Walsingham and the other dated
1574 but unsigned. Both warn of conspiracies and other illegal dealings
Frobisher was involved in and may be found in their entirety at oxford-shakespeare.com.
Isabel does not appear to have received any help. She died in a poorhouse.
Although one source says she and Frobisher had three children, it is more
likely that these were her children from her first marriage.
JANE RICHARDS (d.1586+)
Jane Richards was an
Englishwoman living in St. Stephen Walbrook, London when, on July 18, 1564 she
married one Eliseus or Eligius Bomelius (c.1530-1579), also known as Elijah
Bomel and Dr. Elisei. He was a native of Westphalia who had come to England in
1558 to study medicine at Cambridge. His sponsor was Katherine Willoughby,
Duchess of Suffolk, who had been in exile with her second husband, Richard
Bertie during the reign of Mary Tudor, and had given birth to their son,
Peregrine Bertie, in October 1555 in Wesel. It was Eliseus's father, Henry
Bomelius who baptized Peregrine. Eliseus started a practice in London as a
physician and astronomer, living for a time in 1567 in Lord Lumley's London
residence near Tower Hill and later in the parish of St. Michael-le-Querne, but
he neglected to follow the regulations of the College of Physicians and was
arrested in 1567 for practicing without a license and imprisoned in the Wood
Street Compter. He was still confined at Easter 1570, but as an "open
prisoner" of the king's bench. Jane appealed to Sir William Cecil, who was
already acquainted with her husband, for help and appeared before the censor's
committee of the College of Physicians, petitioning for his freedom. Having
decided that London was no longer welcoming, Eliseus made arrangements to
accompany the departing Russian ambassador back to Moscow, taking Jane with
him. They arrived late in 1570. There he served Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) as
a magician and physician and held a post in the household of the tzar's son. He
cast horoscopes, concocted poisons, and accumulated a fortune. In 1575,
however, he was caught trying to sneak into Riga (controlled by the Tzar's
enemies, the Polish) in disguise. Under torture he admitted to all sorts of
crimes against Russia. He died in prison. Jane, who had been left behind in
Moscow in 1575, was not permitted to return to England until Queen Elizabeth
interceded on her behalf in 1583. It is uncertain when she left, but it was
certainly no later than May 1584, when Sir Jerome Bowes, the departing English
ambassador, sailed home. On October 28, 1586, a marriage license was issued for
Jane, widow of Eliseus Bomelius, and Thomas Wennington, gentleman, of St.
Margaret Pattens, London.
ISABELLA RICHARDSON (1552-November 25,1652)
Isabella Richardson's parentage is unknown. She married Gerard Corby or Corbie
of Durham (1558-September 18,1637) in about 1585. In 1598, they left England
for Ireland, where they were in the service of the countess of Kildare. Their
son Ralph (March 25,1598-1644) was born in Maynooth, Kildare. Their other
children were Ambrose (December 25,1604-1649), Robert, Richard, Mary and
Catherine. The family returned to England in 1603, but the situation of
Catholics there was no better and they soon left again, this time for Belgium.
This family's devotion to their faith cannot be questioned. All four sons studied
for the priesthood and three became Jesuit priests (the other died), as did
Gerard, in 1628, and both daughters became Benedictine nuns, as did Isabella,
as Sister Benedicta Corby, in 1633. She died in Ghent.
see CECILY MACWILLIAMS
see ANNE or AGNES BLOUNT
ELEANOR RIGGES (d.1608+)
Eleanor Rigges was the
daughter of William Rigges of Stragglethorpe, Lincolnshire (c.1502-September 1,
1558) and Anne Babington. She married Rowland Lacon of Willey and Kinlet,
Shropshire (c.1537-December 3, 1608), by whom she had two sons, Francis and
Thomas, and three or four daughters including Jane and Beatrice. Eleanor was an
open recusant and the entry for her husband in the History of Parliament suggests that he made some arrangement to
safeguard her from loss of property after his death, thus explaining why the
only thing he left her in his will, dated November 2, 1608, was the jewel he
was accustomed to wear about his neck. This source has no explanation for his
bequest to Mary, wife of Hector Danby of Kinlet. He left her £200 and a gold
see ELIZABETH GEDNEY
see THOMASIN DERHAM
see ANNE STANLEY
see ELIZABETH PARKER
see HELEN TOWNELEY
see ELIZABETH BARNE
GRISEL RIVETT or
see GRISEL PAGET
see FRANCES HENDER
see MARGERY PIGOTT
see URSULA HUSSEY
ELIZABETH ROBINS (d. 1580+)
Robins was the daughter of William Robins, alderman of London. She married John
Southcote (1510/11-April 18, 1585), who at that time
was a lawyer in London. They had thirteen children, including John (1542-1637),
Martha (d.1612+), Elizabeth (d. before 1585), and Anne (c.1557-1585+), only
three of whom were still living when Southcote died.
In 1554, he was J.P. for Middlesex and in about 1563 he began to acquire land
at Witham in Essex. This became the family estate although there was also a
house in Carter Lane in the Parish of St. Gregory by Paul in London. Southcote was remembered after his death as "a good
natured man . . . governed by his wife." When he made his will on August
4, 1580, Elizabeth was named one of his executors, but she must have died
before him because on April 7, 1585, he named his son as sole executor.
Portrait: effigy in Witham, Essex. Using this effigy as a model, Herbert Norris
made a sketch of Elizabeth to include in his Tudor Costume and Fashion.
BRIDGET ROBINSON (d. June 12, 1594) (maiden name unknown)
The murder of Bridget Robinson is one of the most disturbing on record. She was
poisoned during a conjugal visit to her imprisoned husband by the insertion of
broken glass and poison into her private parts. Thomas Robinson of Rye, a
sailor, first obtained a paper filled with poison mixed with glass from a
certain Humphrey, who lodged in the court house and who "told him to
poison his wife." Robinson "conveyed it into his wife's body on
Sunday, May 26 but because the poison had no immediate effect he then persuaded
Richard Sadler, his sister Jane's husband, to buy a pennyworth of ratsbane
(arsenic) for him, giving him 4d. to pay for it. He claimed he would use the
poison to open a lock, so at the least Sadler must have thought he was planning
a jail break. Sadler bought the poison from Goodwife Fysher and brought it to
Robinson on June 7. The next day, he went back and took away the poison and
said later that he could not tell if any had been removed. On June 11, Robinson
again had intercourse with his wife during a conjugal visit to his prison cell.
He later claimed he did not administer any of the poison Sadler had procured
for him. The coroner held an inquest on June 13 and on that same day an
inventory was taken of Robinson's goods. In the hall were a cupboard, a table,
and a form with two trestles. There were two bedsteads in the chamber, together
with a mat, a featherbed, a bolster, a coverlet, a quilt, and three chests. The
total value of the property was 35s. 4d. The coroner, Robert Brett, was also
mayor or Rye that year. As was his right, he no doubt laid claim to all
Robinson's property. The grand jury indicted Robinson on June 17. The record
there differs slightly from the report of the coroner's inquest, stating that
after her May 26 visit, Bridget "immediately fell ill and languished at
Rye until 12 June when she died." Robinson pleaded not guilty but was
convicted and sentenced to be hanged. He was buried on June 19 under the
gallows where this sentence was carried out. A later pamphlet about the case
confuses several of the details, calling the murderer Henry Robson and dating
the crime in 1597 or 1598. According to this version, Robson was imprisoned for
debt. A fellow prisoner named Glasier (possibly Humphrey Glasier?), after his
release, purchased ratsbane from a mercer in Rye and passed it to Robson along
with instructions on how to use it. These were very specific. He should mix the
ratsbane with "glass small beaten and wrapt in the skinne of a shoulder of
mutton to the quantity of a haslenut or lesse" and then, when his wife
came "to lie with him he should convey it into her privy parts." More
details from the pamphlet can be found in Strange Inhuman Deaths by John
Bellamy. The actual account from the inquest and indictment are in R. F.
Hunnisett, ed., Sussex Coroner's Inquests 1558-1603.
see CHRISTIAN ANDERSON
AMYE ROBSART (June 7,1532-September 8,1560)
Amy Robsart was
the daughter of Sir John Robsart of Syderstone, Norfolk (d. June 8, 1554) and
Elizabeth Scott (1504-June 1557). On June 4, 1550, at Sheen, Amye was married
to Lord Robert Dudley (June 24,1532-September 4,1588), a younger son of the
duke of Northumberland, at a ceremony attended by both Elizabeth Tudor and King
Edward VI. When Lord Robert was arrested in 1553, following his father's
attempt to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne instead of Mary Tudor, Amye visited
him in the Tower of London. He is said by some to have been released in October
1554 and by others not until January 1555, the same month he was pardoned. The
whereabouts of the young couple is uncertain for most of the reign of Queen
Mary. In 1557, Robert was restored in blood, granted his goods and the manor of
Hemsby, and allowed to inherit the Robsart estate. Unfortunately, Syderstone
Manor was uninhabitable. From at least mid-1557 until mid-1559, Amye resided
primarily in Throcking, Hertfordshire, about ten miles northwest of Bishop's
Stortford, the guest of one of two men named William Hyde. This William Hyde
(d.1580), who named a daughter Dudley, is not the same man as William Hyde of
Denchworth in Berkshire, a house quite near to Cumnor Place. During this period
Robert Dudley was most often in London, where he stayed in Christchurch, a
house near Aldgate. They visited each other but did not live together for more
than brief periods. In August 1557, Robert Dudley was with King Philip's army
in France. He did visit her for a few days at Throcking in the spring of 1559,
followed by her visit to him in London for about a month. By September 1559,
Amye had moved to Sir Richard Verney's house, Compton Verney, in Warwickshire,
and in December she was at Cumnor Place, Berkshire, which was to be her last
home. Cumnor Place belonged to William Owen and was leased to Anthony Forster
(c.1510-1572), one of Robert Dudley's servants. It appears to have been a large
establishment with room for separate quarters for three ladies in addition to
Forster and his wife and children. One "apartment" was occupied by
Mrs. Owen, identified in some accounts as William Owen's mother, the widow of George
Owen (c.1499-October 18,1558), a royal physician. This would be Mary Long (see
her entry). The DNB entry for "Owen, George," however, identifies the
occupant of Cumnor Place in 1560 as William Owen's wife. This was Anne Rawley,
daughter of John Rawley of Billesby, Northamptonshire (or possibly Ursula
Fettiplace, said by other sources to have married William Owen in 1558). The
other gentlewoman resident, besides Lady Dudley, was a widow, Mrs.Odingsells.
She was probably Edith Williams (c.1535-July 1599), daughter of Reginald
Williams of Burghfield, Berkshire and Elizabeth Fox, niece of John, 1st baron
Williams, and wife of Edmund Odingsells. Edith was the sister of Anne, wife of
Anthony Forster, so this makes sense. She had a young son, also named Edmund
(the Forsters had five children, John, Cynthia, Penelope, Robert, and Henry, at
least some of whom must have been born before 1560). It isn't clear when
Edith's husband died (see EDITH WILLIAMS for more details of her life).To
return to Amye Robsart, in 1559, her husband was made Lieutenant of Windsor
Castle, which is about thirty miles from Cumnor Place, but there does not seem
to be any documentation of visits to Amye while she lived there. Dr. Simon
Adams's research in Dudley records, which has disproved many of the earlier
"facts" about Robert and Amye, is ongoing, with a biography of Robert
Dudley forthcoming. What is probable, is that Amye had heard rumors by 1560
that her husband and Queen Elizabeth were lovers. She is said to have discovered
a lump in her breast at about that same time. Some argue that Amye's death from
a fall down a flight of stairs on September 8, 1560 was a suicide. Others argue
for murder. A third school favors the actual verdict of accidental death.
Robert Dudley's enemies were unwilling to believe that he had nothing to do
with his wife's death. Ironically, had she died of her cancer, Dudley might
have married the queen, but even the slightest suspicion that he'd murdered her
meant he would never become the royal consort. The few details that are certain
are that Amye sent all of her servants and the other residents of the house to
the fair at Abingdon that day. Mrs. Odingsells refused to go, apparently
because it was a Sunday, and Mrs. Owen also remained behind. Only Mrs. Owen dined
with Amye and, one assumes, returned to her own quarters afterward. Amye's body
was discovered by returning servants. She was given a grand funeral which, as
was the custom, her husband did not attend. The chief mourner was Mrs.
Forster's first cousin, Lady Norris (Marjorie Williams). Biography: Oxford DNB
entry under "Dudley [née Robsart], Amy." For a view of the case as
murder, read Chris Skidmore, Death and
the Virgin: Elizabeth, Dudley and the Mysterious Fate of Amy Robsart
(2010). For the argument that it was an accident, see Dr. Ian Aird, "The Death
of Amy Robsart: accident, suicide, or murder . . . or disease?" English Historical Review 7 (1956),
pp.69-79.Portraits: the first one below is said to be Amye Robsart but the
hairstyle and clothing are much later than 1560. The second, also identified as
Lady Jane Grey and as Queen Elizabeth, and probably painted by Lavina
Teerlinck, has been very tentatively suggested as Amye Robsart by Eric Ives in Lady
Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery).
see ELIZABETH SCOTT
see MARGARET HOPTON
see ELIZABETH COMPTON
see ____ BIGGS
see ANNE WEST
see CATHERINE WESTON
FRANCES ROGERS (d.1611)
Frances Rogers was one of the
twenty children of Sir John Rogers of Bryanston, Dorset (1498- July 22, 1565)
and Katherine Weston (1501-1580). Her claim to fame lies in having five
husbands. The first was John Willoughby of Silton, Dorset. On online genealogy
says they married c. 1548 and had two children, William and Francis, but others
say she wasn't born until 1546. This later date seems more likely, as it was
after May 1571 before she married her second husband, John Hyett of Wimborne
Minster, Dorset (d. by 1574). Her third husband was Matthew Ewens of Middle
Temple, London (c.1548-May 23, 1598). They may have had a daughter. She was
sole executor of his will. Her fourth husband was F. Kellaway of Rockborue
(Rockborne?) and her fifth was Sir Thomas Smyth of Gloucester.
Honora Rogers was the daughter of Sir Richard Rogers of Bryanston, Dorset
(c.1527-1605) and Cecilia Luttrell (d.1566). She and her brother, Andrew (who
had married Lady Mary Seymour, sister to the earl of Hertford c.1575), spent
the summer of 1581 at Hanworth with Edward and Thomas Seymour, Hertford's sons.
Edward (September 21, 1561-July 21, 1612), who was Lord Beauchamp and heir to
the earl, courted Honora and by the end of the summer had given her a ring.
According to the account in Charlotte Merton's The Women who served Queen
Mary and Queen Elizabeth, Beauchamp called Honora his wife and "knew
her in the orchard." When the elderly Anne Stanhope, duchess of Somerset,
in whose care they were, was ill, Honora "stole the keys from under the chambermaid's
bedhead and stole sweetmeats." The young people were nominally supervised
by "two old hags," Elizabeth Moninges and her sister, Thomasine
Audley. Hertford took a dislike to Honora (he called her "Onus Blous"
in his letters). According to the entry for her father in the History of Parliament, Hertford sent
George Ludlow to discuss the situation with the Rogers family. Ludlow called
Honora "a baggage" and Sir Richard Rogers "a fool" and insisted that
Beauchamp had intended to have "but a night's lodging with her."
Since Hertford refused to acknowledge the marriage, the young people were kept
apart for the next four years, although Lady Mary Seymour argued in their
favor. Eventually, they were allowed to be together. Their children were Edward
(1587-1618), William (d.1660), Francis (d.1664), Honora (d.1620), Anne, and
see JANE WINTER
see MARY SEYMOUR
MARY ROGERS (c.1565-1634)
Mary Rogers was
the daughter of Sir George Rogers of Carrington, Somersetshire (1540-1587) and
Jane or Joan Winter (c.1545-1598). She married Sir John Harington of Kelston
(1561-November 20, 1612) and had at least nine children by him: Frances
(b.c.1584), Henry (b.1589), George (b.1591), Helena (b.1591), James (b.1592),
Edward (b.1593), Mary (b.1600), Hannah (b.c.1601), and Robert (b.1602). When
Mary's mother died, Mary and her husband attempted to disinherit her brother,
Edward. Harrington was called before the Star Chamber in January 1603 over the
matter but by December he was back in favor at court. See JANE WINTER for more
details. Portraits: portrait by an unknown artist, c.1585-90; double portrait
with her husband, c.1590-95 by Hieronimo Custodis; portrait by Marcus
Gheeraerts the Younger, 1592.
MARIA de ROJAS (c.1488-1531+)
The daughter of Francisco de
Rojas, count de Salinas, an influential Spanish diplomat, Maria was a maid of
honor to Catherine of Aragon, accompanying her to England from Spain. After the
death of Prince Arthur, she slept in her mistress's bed. She was courted prior
to 1504 by Thomas Stanley, the earl of Derby's grandson, but their marriage
plans were thwarted first by the old earl and then by Catherine's duenna, Doña
Elvira Manuel. The latter wanted Maria to marry her son, Inigo (sometiems
called Antonio) Manrique. According to the story told by William Hepworth Dixon
in his History of Two Queens, Volume
III (1874), Catherine of Aragon wrote to her father for permission for Maria de
Rojas to marry Stanley when he succeeded his grandfather and became the 2nd
earl of Derby. Elvira Manuel, however, had managed to get from Maria de Rojas a
paper that implied a promise to marry Manrique and thus could have made
marriage to anyone else impossible without a papal dispensation. When Elvira
and her son were banished from England in December 1505, Maria, still unwed,
remained with Catherine. At an unknown date after that, Maria returned to Spain
and there married Don Alvaro de Mendoza-y-Guzman. She had at least one child, a
son named Luis. In 1531, when she was being sought to give a deposition
concerning the consummation of the marriage between Catherine and Prince
Arthur, she was believed to be living close to Najera, or near Vitoria.
see ANNE ELLERKER
see ELIZABETH OGLETHORPE
see ALICE LONDON
JANE ROKEWOOD (c.1536-c.1605)
Jane Rokewood was the
daughter of Roger Rokewood or Rookwood of Euston, Suffolk (c.1520-c.1558) and
Olivia Wyckingham (d. August 20,1563+). The Suffolk manor of Salthouse came to
Jane from her father and in 1604 a moity of the manor of Slanton was vested in
her as his daughter and coheir. Her sister Anne, the wife of Henry Cornwallis
of Norwich, had died in 1565. Both properties passed to the eldest son of Jane
and her first husband, Christopher Calthorpe or Calthrop of Cockthorpe, Norfolk
(d. April 4, 1562) by whom she had John, Elizabeth, James (August 31, 1558-June
15, 1615), Anne, and Jane. Her second husband, married on August 12, 1562, was
Sir Jerome Bowes of Elford, Staffordshire and Hackney, Middlesex (d.1616), a
courtier who was sent as ambassador to Muscovy in 1583. They had no children,
but he was granted the wardship of James Calthorpe in February 1569 with an
annuity of £2 2s. 8d., calculated from April 11, 1562.
see POCAHONTAS
see MARGERY BRINKLOW
MARY ROLLESLEY (d.1538+)
Mary Rollesley was one of the twelve children of John Rollesley (Rowsley) of
Rollesley, Derbyshire (d. June 3, 1513) and Elizabeth Cheyney, whose will is
dated August 23, 1513. By the time her parents died, she was a nun at St. Helen's
Bishopsgate, a priory in London. Her mother left Mary £5 and left another £5 to
the prioress and convent. Elizabeth Rollesley also left 40s to St. Botolph's
Without Aldgate "for tithes of her beerhouse named the Swan, negligently
forgotten." Mary advanced to become sub-prioress and then was elected
prioress on August 22, 1529. She was acting prioress prior to that, since on
the previous December 21st a lease was granted by Dame Mary Rowlisley (sic),
prioress of St. Helen's. During the dissolution of the monasteries, Dame Mary
surrendered the priory on November 25, 1538. She received a pension of £30.
ELIZABETH ROLLESTON (d. August 2, 1556)
Elizabeth Rolleston was the daughter of Thomas Rolleston or Rowlston of
Swarkestone, Derbyshire and Katherine Fitzwilliam. Her first husband was
William Whitlok or Whitelocke, merchant tailor of London (d. August 1520). They
had two daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth, both of whom died before 1554.
Whitlok wrote his will on August 2, 1520 at Barowe and named his wife
executrix, although one source says he died in Flanders. It was proved August
30, 1520. Elizabeth's second husband was another merchant tailor, Thomas Lee of
London (d. August 1527). They had a son, Thomas (d.1572) and a daughter, Anne
(d.1561). He wrote his will on August 24, 1527 and it was proved August 27,
1527. Once again Elizabeth was named executrix. After a number of charitable
bequests, Lee left the bulk of his estate to her and specified that the lease
of his dwelling house in Watling Street go first to her, then to his son, his
daughter, and Elizabeth's children by her first husband, in that order. Her
third husband was Robert Wade of London (d. June 1529). They did not have
children, but she acquired a stepson, Guy Wade (d.1557), and a stepdaughter,
Maryan. She was named executrix of Wade's will. Her fourth husband was John
Onley of London and Catesby, Northamptonshire (d. November 22, 1537). She was
his second wife and he had two surviving teenaged sons, Edward (1522-1582) and
Thomas (1523-1589), and a daughter, Mary, by his first marriage. Onley was
assessed at £1000 in 1536, and was therefore a wealthy man. He made Elizabeth
his executrix in his will of November 12, 1537, but before it was proved, she
fraudulently obtained £5 in expenses from the court of augmentations, where her
husband had been a solicitor. Apparently, he had already collected this sum
and, as the History of Parliament puts it, "the truth came
out." The stepchildren were raised in the household of their uncle, George
Cotton. Elizabeth wrote her own will in 1554. It was proved August 11, 1556.
Although she expressed a preference to be buried in the parish church of St.
John Zachary's, within the city of London, she was interred in St. Mary the
Virgin, Cropredy. She left bequests to her surviving children, her
grandchildren, and her stepchildren. To her son, Thomas Lee, she left the lease
of the house in which she'd been living, in Wood Street in London. Considerable
space is also given to the disposition of her manor of Severn Stoke in
Worcestershire, which she had purchased from Henry, earl of Cumberland.
see REBECCA TAYLOR
JANE or JOAN
ROMONDBYE (d.1505)
Jane or Joan Romondbye was the daughter of William Romondbye of Romondbye,
Yorkshire. She married first Richard Pigot (d. 1484). After his death she
married, as his second wife, Richard Hastings, (1433-September 1503), younger
brother of William, Lord Hastings. In both his own will and Jane's, he is
styled Lord Willoughby, although there is some question about whether or not he
was granted this title. In Jane's will, dated March 19, 1504/5, she arranged
for masses to be said for the souls of her children, indicating that she had
more than one child. None survived her. North Country Wills creates some
confusion over her identity by identifying her as Joan Welles, first wife of
Sir Richard Hastings. Joan Welles died in 1475.
see AUDREY FERNLEY
ANNE ROOS (d.1618+)
Anne Roos was the daughter of Peter Roos of Laxton, Nottinghamshire (d.
November 15, 1605) and Agnes Harvey. Her stepmother was Bridget Roos (d.1621?),
daughter of Robert Roos of Ingmanthorpe (d.1583), who remarried after Anne's
father's death, taking as her second husband Stephen Clarke. Her father also
had a mistress. Anne had two half brothers, Gilbert (1592-1610) and Peter. On
May 29, 1592, Anne married Griffin Markham (c.1564-c.1644). Anne's husband was
apparently banished from court around 1593 but in 1594 he was knighted by the
earl of Essex after the siege of Rouen. He was involved in both the Bye Plot
and the Main Plot and was sentenced to death in 1603. In 1605 he was given a
stay of execution and exiled instead. The Markhams were recusants and friends
with Father Gerard, but Anne was so desperate to obtain a pardon for her
husband that she entered into communication with Robert Cecil, earl of
Salisbury, intending to betray Father Gerard's whereabouts to him, as well as
the location of other recusants, such as Anne Vaux. Several of the letters they
exchanged are reprinted in Godfrey Anstruther's Vaux of Harrowden. Anne
failed in her efforts and her husband remained in exile until his death.
According to some accounts, he was acting all that while as a spy for
Salisbury. According to others, he was only suspected of being a spy because of
his wife's activities. Anne, meanwhile, remained in England. All of her
husband's properties had been forfeited at the time of his attainder. She lived
for a time at Laxton in the Rectory House. In 1618, she resurfaces in the records,
charged with committing bigamy with one of her servants. She was obliged to do
penance in a white sheet at Paul's Cross in London. She was also fined £1000.
It is unclear how she was expected to lay hands on that kind of money and there
is no further record of her that I have been able to find.
ELEANOR ROOS (d.1486+)
Eleanor Roos was the daughter
of Robert Roos of Moor End (in Pottlepury), Northamptonshire (c.1409-December
30, 1448) and Anne Halsham. According to Medieval
Madiens: Young Women and Gender in England c.1270-c.1540 by Kim M. Philips,
Eleanor was first at court shortly after her father died as a damsel to
Margaret of Anjou. Around 1455, she married Robert Lovell but by 1466/7 was wed
to Thomas Prout or Proud, squire to Edward IV, and was herself in the service
of Queen Elizabeth Woodville. By 1474, she had married for a third time, taking
as her husband Richard Haute of Ightham Mote, Kent (x.1483), cousin to the
queen and controller of the king's household. In 1482, her uncle, Sir Robert Roos,
left her his copy of the illuminated manuscript titled The Romance of the San Graal (c. 1315-25) and she appears to have
subsequently presented it to the young princesses Elizabeth and Cecily of York.
Because it contains their signatures with the identifying words "the
kyngys dowther" this must have been before the death of Edward IV in April
1483. Haute, one of the guardians of the two princes, was executed later that
year. He is not to be confused with the Richard Haute who wrote his will on
December 14, 1492 (proved January 24, 1492/3). That Richard was survived by a
widow named Katherine. Eleanor survived her husband and was the "my Lady
Dame Elyonor Haut" attending the christening of Prince Arthur in 1486. It
is also possible she is the Eleanor Roos of an Inquisition Post Mortem in 1499,
at which time she was said to have been fifty-five years old "on the last
day of September last." That would give her a birth date of September
MARY ROOS (d.1540+)
Mary Roos, Ros, or de Roos was the daughter of Richard Roos (1429-1492),
brother of Thomas, 10th baron Ros of Hamlake. She married first Hugh
Denys/Denis/Dennis/Dennys (d. October 9, 1511), groom of the stole to Henry
VII. Mary was in the household of Elizabeth of York and, later, Catherine of Aragon.
In 1494, Elizabeth of York and her mother-in-law, Margaret Beaufort, countess
of Richmond, presented Mary with a copy of Walter Hilton's Scale of
Perfection and Mixed Life, inscribing it to "Mastres Rosse." Mary
had an annuity of forty marks in 1496 that was later increased to £53 6s. 8d.
by Henry VIII. This was still being paid in 1540. Mary's second husband was Sir
Giles Capel/Capell (1455-1556).
MATILDA or MAUD
ROOS (d.1511/12) (maiden name
Matilda or Maud, Lady Roos is of unknown parentage. She married three times,
first to Richard Harbord or Horbard, by whom she had Anne, Matilda, and Thomas,
then to Richard Gorges (d. 20th Edward IV—1480), by whom she had Marmaduke (d.
June 20, 1509), and third to Sir Henry Roos (c.1435-c.1504). There were no
children from either of Sir Henry's marriages. In his 1504 will, Sir Henry left
his wife a considerable inheritance, including West Grinstead, Sussex, with the
reversion to her granddaughters, Elizabeth and Matilda Gorges. Several online
sources erroneously call Matilda/Maud the daughter of John Harbon and give the
date of Gorges's death as 1491. At sometime between the date her husband died
(or, more probably her son Marmaduke's death) and her own death, Lady Roos was
sued by her granddaughters for "detention of deeds relating to the manor
of Horsington and lands in South Cheriton whereof the complainants are seized
of one-third, and to a messuage and land in West Grinstead whereof they have
the reversion after the defendant's death; and dilapidation of the premises in
West Grinstead."
see CATHERINE SEBORNE
ELEANOR, ELLEN, or
HELEN ROPER (1500-May 1563)
Eleanor Roper was the daughter of John Roper (c.1453-March 29, 1524), attorney
general to Henry VIII, and Jane Fineux (1475-April 7, 1544). She married three
times, first in c.1520 to John Morton of Bencham, Surrey (1498-August 21,
1521), second, as his second wife, to William Digby (d. by 1529), and third, as
his third wife, to Sir Edward Montagu (d. February 10, 1556/7). Her only child
by Morton, Mary (February 15, 1522-1568) was born posthumously. She had five
sons and six daughters by Montagu, including Edward (1532-1602) and Eleanor.
Some sources say she also had five children by Digby, including William,
Lebbaeus, Margery, and Isabella.
ELIZABETH ROPER (c.1564-c.1625)
Elizabeth Roper, called Eliza
Roper in Jessie Childs in God's Traitors:
Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England because that is the way she signed
herself, was the daughter of John Roper of Lynsted, Kent (c.1534-August
30,1618) and Elizabeth Parke (1544-September 15, 1567). She married George Vaux
of Harrowden (c.1564-July 13, 1594) at Harrowden on July 25, 1585, the same day
his older brother died. It was a love match, but since he married without
permission, he was disinherited. The new heir was his younger brother, Ambrose.
Thomas Tresham, brother-in-law of Lord Vaux, did not think much of Elizabeth,
describing "her creditless carriage when she went for a maiden." She
brought a dowry of £1,500 plus £400 worth of jewels and apparel. According to
Godfrey Anstruther's Vaux of Harrowden,
Elizabeth "completely bewitched Ambrose, who would do anything she
demanded." Early in 1590, a reconciliation was achieved between George and
his father and Ambrose surrendered his right to the forfeiture. Around Shrovetide 1592, Elizabeth is alleged
to have read Lord Vaux a letter she said was from her father that promised to
pay all his debts if he would "renounce amity" with Tresham and be
ruled by Roper. Roper himself, however, denied writing such a letter and
claimed it was a plot by Elizabeth and George. They had six children: Mary
(c.1587-before 1624), Edward (1591-1661), Henry (d. September 29, 1662),
William, Joyce (d.1667), and Catherine (d. July 10, 1649). The Vauxs were noted
recusants, as was Elizabeth's sister, Lady Lovell. Elizabeth was strong-willed
and by 1594 completely dominated her in-laws, even moving them from Harrowden
to a smaller house at Irthlingborough. Most of what we know of her comes from
Thomas Tresham, brother of her mother-in-law, and is extremely biased, but she
was certainly possessed of a forceful character. She was also, apparently,
completely devoted to her husband. Father Gerard reported that she was
"completely overwrought" when he died of a sudden illness at
Harrowden on July 13, 1594, barely leaving her room for the next year. She was
said to have been unable to force herself to enter the wing of the house where
he died for more than four years after his death. That did not stop her,
however, when her mother-in-law died, from sending three servants to her house
to evict her caretaker and take over the premises. In 1596, she brought suit
against Tresham in the Court of Wards, accusing him of tricking Lord Vaux out
of large sums of money. In 1598, at which time she was living at
Irthlingborough with her six small children, she was able to purchase the
wardship of her son, the new Lord Vaux. This was also the year Father Gerard
moved into her household. Shortly afterward, Elizabeth founded what was essentially
a Jesuit college at Harrowden—a place to educate Catholic boys before they were
old enough to be smuggled out of England to attend Douai. In 1605, Elizabeth
was questioned over a letter she had written that made it seem as if she had
ties to the Gunpowder Plot. She had written to cousin,
Agnes Wenman (née Fermor), who was also questioned. Sir Richard Wenman,
questioned separately, claimed he had always objected to his wife's friendships, especially that with Lady Vaux, who had "corrupted
his wife in religion." The letter in question
was written around Easter 1605. As Agnes later recalled, Lady Vaux complained
that Wenman had snubbed her in London because "those of her
profession were now in disgrace." Then, again according to Agnes, she
added, "Notwithstanding pray, for Tottenham may turn French, or words to
the like effect." The expression was a common one at the time—in one case
I know of, a variation of it was used by Elizabeth Cooke, Lady Russell, who was
certainly no Papist! It was used to refer to an event that was absurd, or at
least highly unlikely to happen. I rely on the account by Jessie Childs for the
rest of the story. She gives many more details that are not included here, but
the key point is that when the letter from Lady Vaux arrived, Lady Wenman's
mother-in-law, Lady Tasburgh (Jane West), intercepted and read it. She then
showed the letter to her son and claimed the line about Tottenham was
treasonous. At first, no one took this interpretation seriously and when,
around August of 1605, Lady Vaux and and Lady Wenman met at the home of Lady
Vaux's daughter, Mary Simeon in Oxfordshire, they still found Lady Tasburgh's
behavior annoying but not alarming. In fact, it was around this time (on August
12, 1605) that the king visited Harrowden on progress, usually a signal of
royal favor. By November, however, when the Gunpowder Plot was uncovered, even
a careless word could be damning. Even before the conspiracy was known, Lady
Vaux asked Lady Wenman's mother, Lady Fermor, her neighbor at Easton Neston,
Northamptonshire, to retrieve the letter and send it, or a copy, to her. On
November 12, 1605, Lady Fermor wrote to her daughter in Oxfordshire to pass on
this request. Agnes Wenman replied that she had dealt with the letter "as
those did letters which were not regarded," which Childs interprets as
saying she had either burnt it or lost it. On that
same day, November 12, Harrowden was surrounded by armed men and searched.
Elizabeth took to her bed. On November 15, while the search was still ongoing,
orders came for Elizabeth to be taken to London. They reached there, "ill
accommodated of coach and horses for so sudden a journey" on November 18.
Elizabeth was questioned and told a variety of versions of recent events but
although she was known to harbor priests and suspected of knowing about the
plot in advance, she was not charged or imprisoned but rather put under house
arrest in the house of Sir John Swynnerton. By September 1606, she was back at
Harrowden Hall. On All Saints Day, 1611, Harrowden was raided and ransacked and
Elizabeth was taken to London, confined first in the Gatehouse Prison in
Westminster, then taken to the Fleet, and finally confined in a house in Fleet
Street. She was tried on February 19, 1612 and sentenced to imprisonment and
forfeiture of all lands, tenements, goods, and chattels. This time she was held
in Newgate, but she still managed to hear Mass. On July 3, 1613, she was
paroled for eight months to recover her health. There is no record that she
went back to prison. By 1616, she was living at Boughton, a manor on the Vaux
estate. In 1618, she was ordered to appear before the Privy Council but she was
still living at Boughton in 1625. The last mention of Elizabeth, Lady Vaux is
in the will of Mary, Lady Fermor, dated August 13, 1625, in which she is
bequeathed two long silver boxes with elephant heads engraved on them, used to
keep medicines in. Her burial place is unknown. Childs suggests she was the
Mrs. Vaux for whom composer John Dowland wrote "Mrs. Vaux's Jig" and
"Mrs. Vaux's Galliard." Biographies: Godfrey Anstruther, Vaux of Harrowden and Jessie Childs, God's
Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England. Portrait: effigy on her
parents' tomb in Lynsted Church, Kent (with her sister Jane, aka Mary, Roper).
ELIZABETH ROPER (d.1658)
According to the entry for
her husband in the History of Parliament,
Elizabeth Roper was the daughter of Sir John Roper and other sources suggest
she belongs to the Teynham branch of the Roper family, but the relationship is
unclear. One online genealogy says she is the daughter of Edmund Roper of
Leaveland, Hartlipp (c.1538-September 1621) and Cecilia Dibald and born c.1591.
The will of Edmund Roper of Hartlipp, Kent (d.c.1653) refers to her as his
aunt, which seems to make her the daughter of John Roper, 1st baron
Teynham (c.1534-August 30, 1618), but his daughter Elizabeth married into the
Vaux family. Possibly he had a second daughter named Elizabeth, born to his
second wife, Elizabeth Dyon (d. before 1618). Whoever this Elizabeth Roper was,
by 1605 she was at court as one of the maids of honor to Anne of Denmark. She
remained in that post until her marriage in 1617. According to Archaeologia Cambrensis, when she was
about to marry Robert Mansell (or Mansfield) of Penrice, Glamorganshire
(c.1569-1656) in November 1616 she was referred to as "his old
mistress." The Oxford DNB entry for Mansell takes this literally, but the
term "mistress" need not have implied a physical relationship. In any
case, the king gave Mansell £10,000 and the queen hosted the wedding at Denmark
House on March 11, 1617 and presented the couple with "a fair cupboard of
plate." As a widow, Elizabeth was granted letters of administration for
the Mansell estate on June 26, 1656.
see ELIZABETH PARKE
see JANE FINEUX; MARY ROPER
MARY ROPER (d. March 20, 1572)
Mary Roper was
the daughter of William Roper (1495-1578) and Margaret More (1505-1544) and the
granddaughter of Sir Thomas More. As such, she was given a fine education, did
many translations, and was an ardent Catholic. She married twice, first to
Stephen Clarke (d.1554) and second, around June 1556, to James Bassett
(1527-November 21,1558). She bore Bassett two sons, Philip (b.1557) and Charles
(b.1559). Mary was at court under Queen Mary as a gentlewoman of the privy
chamber. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Bassett [née Roper], Mary"
MARY ROPER (c.1565-November 12, 1628)
Mary Roper was the younger
daughter of John Roper of Lynsted, Kent (c.1534-August 30, 1618) and Elizabeth
Parke (1544-September 15, 1567). Although she was christened Jane, she later
took the name Mary. She married sir Robert Lovell of Martin Abbey, Surrey (d.
by 1606), by whom she had two daughters, Christina (1597-1639) and another girl
born in 1601. Lady Lovell was a well-known recusant. She was present at a raid
in London on July 21, 1599. After one occasion when she was
"disquieted" by pursuivants, she wrote to the earl of Salisbury to
complain, saying that "If your Lordship did rightly understand their
abuses, you would not permit that gentlewoman of my sort should be subject to
the authority of so base persons." On November 19, 1605, she was
questioned in connection with the Gunpowder Plot. Her lodgings were ransacked
and she was put under house arrest, along with her daughters, age five and
eight, after admitting she knew some of the conspirators. In June of 1606 she
left England along with her daughters and her niece, Joyce Vaux, to travel to
Spa in the Spanish Netherlands, a notorious haunt of English Catholics in
exile. She claimed she was seeking treatment for breast cancer. It is at this
time that she changed her name to Mary. In 1608-9 she was living in the English
Benedictine convent in Brussels but left there with the intention of founding a
Benedictine convent in Louvain. This apparently did not happen. In late 1611,
when her sister was arrested in England, she was living in Brussels and went to
Archduke Albert to beg him to intercede with King James. He did, but it had no
effect. In 1616, Mary was attempting to found a Carmelite convent in Liège. In
1619, her donation of £1600 finally led to the foundation of a Carmelite
convent in Antwerp. For the next few years she was involved in frequent
disputes over the way the convent was being run, but she also provided further
funding and even went to England to solicit more donations. It was written of
her that "she is as forward in her monastery as she was four or five years
since, being a person humorous and inconstant, not only as she is a woman but
as she is that woman the Lady
Lovell." By 1625, she was seeking to found a Bernardine cloister at
Bruges, but her plans were still incomplete when she died. Her daughter,
Christina, was a Benedictine nun at Brussels. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under
"Lovel, Mary [née Jane Roper]."
see JANE PENTIRE
Wilbrandis Rosenblatt was born in Bad Säckingen and raised in Basel. Her first
husband was Ludwig Keller (d.1526), a reformer also known as Cellarius. In
early 1528, she remarried, taking as her second husband Johannes Hussgen of
Basel (1482-November 24, 1531), better known as Johannes Oecolampadius. They
had three children, Eusebius, Irene, and Aletheia. Her third husband was
Wulfgang Fabricius Capito (d.1541), dean of the collegiate chapter of the
church of St. Thomas in Strasbourg. They had one daughter, Agnes. The plague
came to Strasbourg in 1541, taking not only Capito but also the wife and all
but one of the children of theologian Martin Bucer (November 11, 1491-February
28, 1551). On her deathbed, Elizabeth Palass, alias Silbereisen, Mrs. Bucer, a
former nun who had borne her husband thirteen children, heard that Capito had
died and suggested that her husband marry the widow. Bucer did so in 1542.
Wilbrandis had already had a total of eight children by her three previous
husbands and now bore Bucer three more. In 1549, the family traveled to
England, where Bucer was to become regius professor of divinity at Cambridge.
He took up his duties there in January 1550, but he was in poor health,
possibly suffering from tuberculosis, and died a little more than a year later.
During her time in England, Matthew Parker was master of Corpus Christi College
and Wilbrandis met his wife, Margaret (see MARGARET HARLESTONE). As a widow,
Wilbrandis returned to Basel and died there of the plague. Portrait: unknown
artist or date.
PHILIPPA ROSEWELL (c.1562/3-1594+)
Philippa Rosewell was the
daughter of William Rosewell (Roswell/Russell) of Loxton, Somerset and Forde
Abbey, Thorncombe, Devon (c.1520-1566), Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth,
and Elizabeth Dale, widow of Gregory Isham of Brauston, Northamptonshire. They
were married c.1559. The will of William Rosewell was written June 10, 1566 and
probated November 4, 1566 and stated that his children were to be "well
godlie and vertuoslie brought opp and maineteyned." Philippa married Sir
George Speke of Dolishe, White
Lackington, and Ollington, Somerset (1555-1637) on November 17, 1584 in Exeter.
Speke was sheriff of Somerset in 1592. Their children were George (d. January
25, 1637), Anne (d.1665), Dorothy, Margaret, Elizabeth, and Philippa
(1594-1628). Portrait: artist unknown, 1592 (NOTE: this portrait was
misidentified as either Elizabeth Luttrell or Joan Portman, mother-in-law and
daughter-in-law respectively of Philippa, in the catalog for an exhibit at the
Victoria and Albert Museum in 1980-81 titled Princely Magnificence: Court Jewels of the Renaissance 1500-1630) .
JOAN ROSSITER (c.1494-July 20, 1558)
Joan Rossiter (Rosseter/Rowcetter/Roucestre) was the daughter and heir of
Richard Rossiter of Shaftesbury, Dorset (d. September 3, 1529) and Elizabeth
Perye. In 1514, she married William Hartgill, later of Kilmington, Wiltshire
(c.1491-January 12, 1557), steward to the 7th baron Stourton. Their children
were John (d. January 12, 1557), Thomas, and Edward. William Hartgill was said
to have killed a man in his youth and there were suspicions that he was not
entirely honest in his dealings with the Stourtons. At the least, he was
probably a poacher. But either at the request of Lord Stourton, or as a friend
of Lady Stourton, Joan and William were housing the baroness in their home at
the time of Stourton's death in September 1548. If they were not already feuding,
William's championship of both Lady Stourton and Lord Stourton's mistress,
Agnes Rhys, supporting the terms of the late baron's will, would have provoked
the new Lord Stourton's fury. The next nine years were filled with incidents.
On Whit Sunday 1549, Stourton attacked Kilmington. The Hartgill house was
adjacent to the church and the family took refuge in the church tower. While
Joan's son John rode to London to report the matter to the Privy Council, they
were besieged. Stourton killed a valuable gelding belonging to William
Hartgill, but he allowed Joan to return home unmolested. Stourton was arrested
shortly thereafter and imprisoned in the Fleet, but not for long. A much worse
outbreak of violence came in January 1557, when Stourton and his men invaded
Kilmington. Charles Stourton struck Joan with his sword and his men took her
husband and son prisoner. Joan and John's wife, Dorothy (daughter of Richard
Harvey) sent word to the Privy Council, but by the time the authorities
arrived, the two men had been murdered. It took some time for their bodies to
be found where they had been buried in a dungeon, but eventually the murderers
were brought to justice. Lord Stourton was executed. According to John
Bellamy's Strange, Inhuman Deaths: Murder in Tudor England, in April
1557, Sir James Fitzjames, suspected of being one of Stourton's confederates,
was ordered to pay £25 each to Joan and Dorothy Hartgill. The History of
Parliament says the widows were also granted the wardship of Cuthbert
Hartgill, John's son, but Bellamy indicates that they were only granted his
custody while the Crown kept control of his lands. They were granted an annuity
of five marks. William Hartgill's will, proved on November 13, 1557, left Joan
"all her lands in Shaftesbury, Barow [South Barrow, Somerset] and
Bristol" for life, the house in Kilmington during her widowhood, if she
chose to live there, and £100 out of the debts owed to William by Charles
Stourton. Unfortunately, Joan only survived her husband by seven months.
ELIZABETH ROTHERFIELD (d.c.1530)
Elizabeth Rotherfield was the daughter and heir of William Rotherfield of
Rotherfield, Hampshire (d.1489). She married Richard Norton of East Tisted,
Hampshire (d.1556) in about 1495 and was the mother of his son and heir, John
Norton (d.1564) and at least one other son. Portrait: effigy in St. James's
church, East Tisted, Hampshire.
see ELIZABETH BRUGGE
ELIZABETH ROYDON (1523-August 19, 1595)
Elizabeth Roydon was the
daughter of Thomas Roydon of Roydon Hall, East Peckham, Kent (c.1482-August 10,
1557) and Margaret Whetenhall (1484-1576). She was married three times. Her
first husband was William Twysden of Wye and Chelmington, Kent (1514-November
19, 1549), by whom she had at least four children, Bennet (1539-1541),
Catherine (b. 1541 d. yng), Roger (1542-1603) and Margaret (1545-1608). On
September 30, 1550, she married Cuthbert Vaughan of Great Chart, Kent
(1519-July 23, 1563), and may have been the mother of Jane Vaughan (d.1610),
although most genealogies say they had no issue. In 1558, Vaughan was involved
in a land dispute with Elizabeth's stepson, Thomas Twysden. Vaughan died of the
plague while serving in the English garrison at Newhaven. Elizabeth was,
according to the Oxford DNB entry for "Vaughan, Cuthbert," a
"noted puritan patron." Her third husband, married on May 25, 1564,
was Thomas Golding of Belchamp St. Paul, Essex (d.1571), brother of the dowager
countess of Oxford. In 1565, Elizabeth was coheiress to her nephew, Thomas
Roydon, and inherited Roydon Hall, East Peckham, Kent. She was also the
residual legatee in her mother's 1576 will. Elizabeth was buried in East
Peckham church in Kent on November 15, 1595. Her will
can be found at Oxford-Shakespeare.com.
It was written October 4, 1591. Portrait: 1563 by Hans Eworth.
JOAN ROYDON (d. February 1631/2)
Joan Roydon was the daughter
of Henry Roydon of Battersea, Surrey, about whom nothing is known. Her first
husband, married in December 1568, was Thomas Holcroft of Battersea (d.1591).
Some sources mistakenly give his first name as William. They had two children,
Geoffrey and Henry (1580-1648). In about 1592, she married Oliver St. John
(c.1560-December 29, 1630), by whom she had no children. In 1621, he was
created Viscount Grandison and in 1626, Baron Tregoz. Joan made her will on
February 19, 1630/1 and was buried on March 20, 1630/1 at Battersea. Portrait:
a memorial at Battersea, Surrey displays busts of Joan and her second husband.
see MARGARET WHETENHALL
MARY ROYDON (before 1543-1566+)
Mary Roydon was the daughter of Sir Christopher Roydon of Roydon Hall, Ramsey,
Essex (d.1543/4) and his wife, Katherine, who married second Richard Sandes or
Sondes. Mary (sometimes called Margaret), became the ward of the 16th earl of
Oxford. According to a story told after the death of John Lucas of Colchester,
Essex (d. September 13, 1556), Lucas was "a great gamester" and won
Mary's wardship at dice. She is mentioned in his will and later married Lucas's
youngest son, another John Lucas. Their children were Roydon, Mary, Margaret,
Elizabeth, Edward, John, Edmund, and Christopher. They lived at Roydon Hall.
AMY ROYSE (d.1594+)
Amy Royse had a brother named Robert and she styled herself a gentlewoman in
her will, but nothing else is known of her family. In around 1546, she married
Thomas Cooper (c.1517-April 29, 1594), headmaster at Magdalen College School,
Oxford. If the ribald verses directed at her are to be believed, she had
affairs with at least two men during the early days of their marriage, but
Cooper refused to divorce her. She also reportedly threw an early draft of his
dictionary, the Thesaurus, which was published in 1565, into the fire.
In 1556, Cooper left the university to practice as a doctor. He was reappointed
in 1559, after Elizabeth Tudor became queen. By 1560, he had been ordained, and
he was made bishop of Lincoln in 1571. The family, which consisted of at least
one daughter, Elizabeth, lived at Buckden. In 1584, Cooper became bishop of
Winchester. At his death, Amy lost her home, but she seems to have coped with
the changes. According to Mary Prior in "Reviled and crucified marriages:
the position of Tudor bishops' wives," in Women in English Society
1500-1800 (edited by Mary Prior), she leased the parsonage of Buckden and
ran a working farm during her widowhood.
see CHRISTINE BALDRY
ANN RUSSELL (December 1548-February 9, 1603/4)
The eldest
daughter of Francis Russell, 2nd earl of Bedford (1527-July 28,1585) and
Margaret St. John (c.1524-August 27, 1562), Ann went to court as a maid of
honor after her mother's death. Poet Pietro Bozzari wrote of her that she had
"a form like Helen's, by delight attended." On November 11, 1565, she
married Ambrose Dudley, earl of Warwick (1531-February 21, 1590) but remained
at court as a lady of the privy chamber. She became extremely influential, and
was once said to have refused a bribe of £100 to advance a suit in chancery
because the sum was too small. In addition to her lodgings at court, Ann kept a
house in what had once been the garden of the priory of the Austin Friars in
Broad Street, London. She was also lady of the manor of Rowington, Warwickshire
and it was to her that William Shakespeare had to apply for the copyhold on his
cottage and grounds in Stratford-upon-Avon. Ann was a patron of the arts. She
had no children of her own, but she was guardian to her nephew, the 3rd earl of
Bedford, and took an interest in the upbringing of three of her nieces, Anne
and Elizabeth Russell and Ann Clifford. Ann Russell was with Queen Elizabeth
when the queen died. In the new reign, she returend to Northall but made
frequent visits to friends and family. She was at Chenies in Buckinghamshire
when she died. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Dudley [née Russell],
Anne." Portraits: There are several portaits of Ann Russell, countess of
Warwick, including the one (c.1565) below; effigy at Chenies, Buckinghamshire,
erected 1619.
see ANNE ST. LEGER; ANNE SAPCOTE
ANNE RUSSELL (c.1578-April 1, 1639)
Anne Russell was
the younger daughter of Lord John Russell (d.1584) and Elizabeth Cooke
(c.1528-May 1609). She went to court as a maid of honor in 1594. On June 16,
1600, she married Henry Somerset, Lord Herbert (later earl of Worcester)
(1577-December 18,1646). Her nine sons and four daughters included Edward, 2nd
marquis of Worcester (1601-April 3,1667), John (d.1630), Thomas (d.1676+), and
Elizabeth (d.c.1684). Biography: Roy Strong's The Cult of Elizabeth
gives a detailed account of Anne's wedding and the painting attributed to
Robert Peake called "Queen Elizabeth going in Procession to Blackfriars in
1600." Portraits: There were at least two portraits done of Anne Russell, one
as a child and one c.1600, plus her likeness in the wedding portrait. She also
appears in effigy on her mother's tomb in Bisham Church.
see CATHERINE BRYDGES
see CHRISTIAN COKE
ELIZABETH RUSSELL (October 22, 1575-July 1600)
Elizabeth Russell was the
elder daughter of Lord John Russell (d.1584) and Elizabeth Cooke (c.1528-May
1609). She was born within the precincts of Westminster Abbey, where the Dean,
Dr. Gabriel Goodman, had given her mother permission to take refuge from an
outbreak of the plague. Queen Elizabeth and Frances Sidney, countess of Sussex,
were her godmothers with Anne Russell, countess of Warwick, serving as the
queen's proxy. Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, was her godfather. She was
christened on October 27 at 10 AM in Westminster Abbey. The midwife, Mrs.
Bradshaw, carried the infant. Her mother's sisters, Mildred Cooke Cecil and
Anne Cooke Bacon, bore Lady Warwick's train. A "costly delicate
banquet" followed. At nineteen, she went to court as a maid of honor. She
and her sister Anne (above) sold their inheritance, Russell House in St. Martin-in-the-fields,
provoking a quarrel with their mother. Elizabeth further irritated Lady Russell
by being thrown out of the Coffer Chamber in April 1597, in company with
Elizabeth Brydges, for going unchaperoned to watch
the earl of Essex and other gentlemen play at ballon.
One rumor makes Elizabeth Russell the earl's mistress. She certainly had
admirers, Lord Cobham and Lord Admiral Charles Howard
(later earl of Nottingham) among them. Although the Lord Admiral was already
married, Lady Russell urged her daughter to use her influence with him. Lady
Russell wanted him to grant her the lease to Donnington.
At one point in the 1590s, negotiations were ongoing for Elizabeth Russell's
marriage to the earl of Worcester's heir, but that young man died and the next
brother in line was betrothed to Elizabeth's younger sister, Anne. Elizabeth
danced at their wedding. Then, within a fortnight, she fell ill and died. There
are various stories about her death. One says she died of consumption. Another
blames her death on a prick from a needle and asserts that it was her
punishment for working on a Sunday. However she died, she was buried in
Westminster Abbey, where she is the subject of a most unusual sculpture. She is
shown asleep sitting up, one foot resting on a skull.
JANE RUSSELL (d.1557/8) (maiden name unknown)
Jane was the wife of William Russell, by whom she had several children,
possibly including the Mary Russell in the household of Queen Mary from 1554-7.
Jane herself served Mary before she was queen, since she is listed among the
"fellows in service" with Margaret Pennington, Lady Cooke, from 1552.
She is listed as a chamberer in 1553 and as a gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber
from 1554-7. She was granted five leases of land by the queen. In the winter of
1557/8, Jane was invited to live in the London house of Henry Fisher, a wealthy
skinner and one of the founders of the Russia Company, and his wife, Elizabeth,
"for the great friendship she showed to the same Fisher in such suits as
he had" to Queen Mary. According to the entry for Fisher in The History
of Parliament, the Fishers nursed Jane during her last illness, for which
expenses Fisher later sued in the court of requests. Jane had a son to whom
Frances Baynton repaid a loan in her will in 1583.
see JANE SYBILLA MORISON
MARGARET RUSSELL (before 1505-1568)
Margaret Russell
was abbess of Tarrant in Dorset and related to the earl of Bedford, although I
have not been able to sort out the exact relationship. She became a Cistercian
nun and was elected abbess after the death of the previous abbess, Edith Coker,
in 1535. The abbey was surrendered on March 13, 1539. Margaret received a
pension of only £40 but seems to have had the means to live well. In her will,
proved in July 1568, her bequests include "my best gown of silk chamlet, my
kirtle of satin, my scarlet petticoat, my best bonnet of velvet," and money,
jewels, and plate. She was buried in Bere Regis Church.
MARGARET RUSSELL (July 7, 1560-May 24, 1616)
Margaret Russell
was the daughter of Francis Russell, 2nd earl of Bedford (1527-July 28, 1562)
and Margaret St. John (d. August 27, 1562). Following her mother's death, she
was placed in the household of an aunt, Alice Elmers or Elmes, at Lilford,
Northamptonshire. It was not until she was seven that she joined her father and
his second wife, Bridget Hussey (d. January 12, 1602). On June 24, 1577, more
"on the ground of common good than any particular liking," she married George
Clifford, earl of Cumberland (1558-October 30, 1605). In 1591, she left him,
taking with her their daughter, Anne (1590-1676), and went to live with her
sister, Ann, the recently widowed countess of Warwick, in Austin Friars. She
had borne two sons, Francis (1584-1589) and Robert (1585-1591), but both had
died. When her daughter was old enough, Margaret hired Samuel Daniel as her
tutor. She was a patron of the arts, receiving a number of dedications, and was
a subscriber to the Virginia Company. After Cumberland's death, Margaret had
difficulty with his brothers over her inheritance. Biography: Oxford DNB entry
under Clifford [née Russell], Margaret." NOTE: the DNB lists biographies
of Margaret's daughter and husband. Portraits: Portraits of Margaret Russell
are in the Bodleian Library, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Victoria
& Albert Museum. She is also shown in the Clifford family portrait
commissioned by her daughter many years after Margaret's death and in an effigy
on her monument in Appleby Church, Cumberland. The portrait below was painted
c. 1585. The artist is unknown.
see MARGARET LYGON; MARGARET ST. JOHN
see ISABEL STANLEY
see JANE PEYTON
see ELIZABETH GEDNEY
MARGARET RYTHER (d.1540) (maiden name unknown)
Margaret, wife of Nicholas Ryther of Castle Hedingham, Essex (d. before 1537),
was from Wakefield, Yorkshire. She was a waiting gentlewoman to Elizabeth de
Vere (née Scrope) countess of Oxford. According to the countess's 1537 will, in
which she left Margaret 100 marks in ready money, two salts of silver gilt, two
featherbeds with sheets, bolsters, pillows, and other household items. She
received these bequests "for true and faithful service that she of long
continuance hath done to me." Margaret was also one of the will's
executors. Margaret's husband had been in the household of the 13th earl of
Oxford and their son John Ryther (d.October 11, 1552) was comptroller of the
countess's household in 1537. Later he entered royal service. An Elizabeth
Ryther, the countess's goddaughter, is also mentioned in the will and is likely
Margaret's daughter or granddaughter. Margaret made her own will on March 22,
1539/40 and it was proved July 21, 1542. She made bequests to several relatives
of the late countess, giving them such items as rings, beads, spoons, bonnets
gowns, and sheets. She also left a bequest to her maid, Agnes, and to the
churches in Wakefield, Yorkshire and in Castle Hedingham and Earls Colne,
MARY RYTHER or
Mary Ryther or Ryder was the daughter of Sir William Ryther, Lord Mayor of
London in 1600-1601 (c.1544-September 1611) and Elizabeth Stone (d.1611). She
was raised in wealth and luxury. On June 29, 1591, she married Sir Thomas Lake
of Canons or Cannons, Middlesex (October 1561-September 17, 1630), an up and
coming administrator and politician who had been appointed a clerk of the
signet in 1589. Their children were Thomas (c.1595-1653), Arthur (c.1598-1633),
Anne (November 1599-1630), Elizabeth, Mary, and Bridget. In 1611, Mary and her
surviving sibling, Susanna (1577-1640) were her father's coheirs, but they
disputed the terms of the will. Anne already had something of a reputation for
temper and arrogance by this point. The Lakes' London house was next door to
that of the Venetian ambassador and the family made a practice of attending
Catholic services in the embassy chapel. In spite of his religion, in January
1616, Lake was appointed secretary of state to James I. On February 12, 1616,
Mary's daughter Anne married William Cecil, baron Ros (May 1590-June 27, 1618),
another secret Catholic. Soon after, Lake arranged Cecil's appointment as ambassador
to Spain, but before he could leave England, there was serious trouble in the
marriage and Mary, not surprisingly, took her daughter's part. What happened
next filled 17,000 pages of legal paperwork for a case before the Star Chamber
and enlivened numerous letters and diary entries. Amid the charges and
countercharges, there is little doubt that Mary and her daughter resorted to
both forgery and slander, not to mention extortion, in an attempt to wrest the
manor of Walthamstow, Essex and other financial and property considerations
from Lord Ros as a result of Anne's dislike of the marriage. Lord Ros went to
Spain in November 1616 with the matter still unresolved, mostly because his
grandfather, the earl of Exeter, had a claim on Walthamstow and refused to turn
it over. Ros returned to England in the spring of 1617 with nothing settled. In
late May, he attempted to take Anne from her parents' house, where she had been
living, and the resulting altercation ended up in the street outside, creating
even more scandal. In August, Ros secretly left the country for Rome, but by
then the earl of Exeter was directly involved and determined to protect his
absent grandson's interests. In retaliation, late in 1617, Mary and Anne
launched a vicious attack on the character of Exeter's young second wife (see
FRANCES BRYDGES), claiming she'd had an adulterous affair with her
step-grandson and had tried to poison Anne. Exeter made countercharges against
the two women and the matter came before the privy council. In February 1618,
when Anne refused to answer questions, she was confined in the bishop of
London's house until she changed her mind. She was released on March 5th.
Although Lord Ros died in Naples in the interim, a trial before the Star
Chamber had become inevitable. Mary, Lake, Anne, and Anne's two brothers were
accused of slandering the earl and his wife, suborning witnesses, and forging
documents. Anne was popularly believed to be guilty of everything from incest
with one of her brothers to attempted murder. King James himself presided over
the trial in February 1619 and meted out the punishments he thought fit. He
declared that Mary was to blame for the conspiracy and had convinced her
daughter and husband to go along with her evil plans. Mary, Lake, and Anne were
sent to the Tower and fined. Mary and Anne together were fined £15,000. Anne's
portion of the fine was 10,000 marks. The two women were universally condemned
by the general public and were regarded as great villains, but Lake was also
punished. He was stripped of his position as secretary of state and fined
£5000. In May 1619, Anne confessed to her crimes and supplied the Crown with
further evidence against her family, claiming that her brother Arthur had
composed the slanders against Lady Exeter and that her own maid, Hobbie, had
copied them, creating the forgeries. By June 3, both of Mary's sons were in
prison, too. Anne was released from the Tower in early July. She remained in
confinement, but was allowed to choose where she was held and she was apparently
freed sometime during the following year. She remarried, c.1621, taking as her
second husband a second son, George Rodney, and living quietly with him in
Somerset. Mary and her husband remained in the Tower, both initially refusing
to make public confessions, but Lake soon relented and by July he was out of
the Tower and in the custody of his brother, the bishop of Bath and Wells.
Later he retired to Canons, where he remained until his death. Mary, never one
to be forced into doing anything she did not want to do, remained in the Tower
until December 14, 1620. She did not formally confess in the Star Chamber until
May 1621. Mary was buried February 27, 1642/3 at Whitchurch. Biography: entries
for her father, husband, and daughter in the Oxford DNB.
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