A WHO’S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN (D)

A WHO’S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN: D

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her very out-of-date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

ANNE DACRE (March 1,1557-April 13,1630)

Anne Dacre was the oldest daughter of Thomas, 4^th baron Dacre (c.1526-July 25,1566) and Elizabeth Leyburne (d.September 4,1567). Her mother remarried on January 29, 1567. After the death of her only brother, George, 5^th baron, at Thetford, Norfolk on May 17, 1569 in a fall from a wooden vaulting horse, she and her sisters became considerable heiresses. They were brought up by their stepfather, Thomas, 4^th duke of Norfolk and by their grandmother, Helen Preston, dowager Lady Mounteagle. In September 1571, when Anne was fourteen, she was married to her stepbrother, Philip Howard (June 28, 1557-November 19,1595). He should have succeeded his father to the dukedom, but Thomas Howard was executed for treason in 1572 and the title was forfeit. Norfolk requested that “Meggy and Nan”—his daughter, Margaret Howard, and Anne—be given into the care of the Frances Sidney, countess of Sussex. Philip Howard was taken into the household of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, then attended St. John’s College, Cambridge, and then went to court. While he lived at Howard House in Charterhouse Square, Anne remained in the country. In 1581, Philip succeeded to his maternal grandfather’s title as earl of Arundel and shortly thereafter he and Anne began to live together, part of the time at Arundel Castle. When Anne openly converted to Catholicism, which was against the law, the queen committed her to the custody of Sir Thomas Sherley at Wiston House. There she gave birth to her first child, Elizabeth (1583-1598). She was successful in convincing her husband to convert to Catholicism as well, a step he took on September 30, 1584. As a result, he was made a prisoner in his own house by order of the queen. He was released in April 1584 and Anne was allowed to leave Wiston in September. In April 1585, however, Philip made secret plans to flee the country. Contrary winds delayed his escape and when he finally set sail, his ship was boarded and he was returned to shore. He was confined in the Beauchamp Tower, charged with trying to escape the realm. His brother William and sister Margaret and his uncle, Henry Howard, were also arrested. Shortly after he was imprisoned, Anne gave birth to their son and heir, Thomas (1586-1646). Anne and her two children were reduced to living in one wing of Arundel House on a pension of £8 a week. Anne managed, however, to scrape together £30 to bribe Cecily Hopton, one of the daughters of the Lord Lieutenant, to provide her husband with access to a priest, William Bennett, who was also imprisoned in the Tower of London. Bennett secretly said mass in Philip’s cell until, in the autumn of 1588, they were discovered and Bennett was transferred to another prison. Philip was soon after charged with treason and as a result spend the rest of his life in the Tower. Anne remained free and continued to practice her faith. From 1589 until 1595, Robert Southwell secretly lived in Anne’s household as her priest. Under James I, Anne regained possession of some of her properties, including Shifnal Manor, Shropshire, where she died. She spent her last years writing a memoir with the help of a live-in biographer. He finished it five years after her death. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Howard [née Dacre], Anne." Portraits: a stained glass window in Arundel Cathedral, West Sussex; drawing by Lucas Vorsterman, 1626, in the British Museum; engraving by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1627; portrait sent to Philip II of Spain (no longer extant).

JANE DACRE
see JANE CARLISLE

MAGDALEN DACRE (1539-April 8, 1608)

Magdalen Dacre was the daughter of William Dacre, 3^rd baron Dacre of Gilsland (April 29,1500-November 18,1563) and Elizabeth Talbot (d.1559). At thirteen, she was a gentlewoman to Anne Sapcote, countess of Bedford and at sixteen joined Queen Mary’s household. She was one of Mary’s bridesmaids when she married Philip II of Spain. Magdalen was reportedly very religious, spending much of her time in prayer and wearing a coarse linen smock under her court clothes. According to a story repeated in E. S. Turner’s The Court of St. James and elsewhere, she was a blonde, a head taller than any other maid of honor, and very attractive, and she caught the attention of Queen Mary’s husband, Philip of Spain. The story goes that Philip opened a window to a room where Magdalen was washing her face (or in some versions, brushing her hair) and, supposedly in jest, caught hold of her. Magdalen beat him off with a nearby staff and neither she nor her mistress found the incident amusing. On July 15, 1558, Magdalen was married at St. James’s palace to Anthony Browne, Viscount Montagu (November 29, 1528-October 19,1592). Magdalen raised two stepchildren and had ten children of her own: Philip (b.1559), Henry (c.1562-1628), George, Anthony, Jane, Mary, Elizabeth, Mabel, Thomas, and William. Magdalen and her husband were recusants during the reign of Elizabeth and her husband was questioned when Magdalen’s brother, Leonard, took part in the Northern Rebellion of 1569, but in general they were left alone by the government, even though they had resident chaplains who celebrated mass for as many as 120 people on special occasions. Magdalen was only once accused of recusancy, her house was searched only twice, and only once was one of her priests taken and imprisoned. She was willing to allow a printing press on her premises, but would not aid treasonous plots, not even those of another brother, Francis. Her chaplain at Cowdray was Thomas More, grandson of the martyr. When Queen Elizabeth visited Cowdray for a week in 1591, the priests were hidden and George Browne was knighted. Magdalen lived at Battle Abbey after her husband's death. In 1597, when a messenger brought a letter there to be passed on to the earl of Essex, Magdalen turned the messenger over to the magistrate and also reported the incident to Lord Buckhurst, a privy councilor, sending her niece along as a witness. At the same time, a house at the edge of Battle manor contained a subterranean passage by which priests were smuggled into England. Magdalen was buried in Midhurst Church. Biography: written in Latin by Richard Smith, Bishop of Chalcedon (1627); A.C. Southern, ed. An Elizabethan Recusant House: the Life of the Lady Magdalen, Viscountess Montague; Roger B. Manning, Religion and Society in Elizabethan Sussex; Oxford DNB entry under "Browne [née Dacre], Magdalen." Portrait: alabaster tomb in Eastbourne Church with figures of Sir Anthony Browne and both of his wives.

MARGARET DAKINS (1571-1633)

Margaret Dakins was the daughter of Arthur Dakins of Hackness, Yorkshire (1517-1592) and Thomasine Grey or Gye (d.1613), but she was brought up in the Puritan household of the earl of Huntingdon. Her first husband was another of Huntingdon’s charges, Walter Devereux (1569-1591), but he was killed in France early in their marriage. By November 1591, even before Walter’s body had been returned to England for burial, she was being courted by two men. She married one, Thomas Sidney (1569-July 26,1595) and after his death, reluctantly agreed to wed the other, Thomas Posthumous Hoby (1566-1640). She maried Hoby at his mother’s house in Blackfriars on August 9,1596. They lived at Hackness, which Hoby’s powerful relations, the Cecils, had secured for her. Margaret kept a diary of her religious observances and recorded some of the “cures” she used to treat her retainers. Margaret’s piety was highly respected, but the same characteristics in her husband provoked an incident on August 27,1600 which ended in the courts. A band of hunters, dissatisfied with the way the Hobys kept “open house,” vandalized Hackness. The case was finally decided in Hoby’s favor by the Privy Council in 1602, but his refusal to unlock his wine cellar was regarded as just as rude as breaking four quarrels of glass and roistering while the Hobys were at prayers. Margaret was buried at Hackness on September 6,1633. Biography: Dorothy M. Meads, ed., The Diary of Lady Margaret Hoby, 1599-1605 (1930); Joanna Moody, ed., The Private Life of an Elizabethan Lady: The Diary of Lady Margaret Hoby, 1599-1605 (1998); Oxford DNB entry under "Hoby [née Dakins], Margaret."

MARY DALE (d. November 1601)
Mary Dale was the daughter of William Dale, a Bristol merchant. She married three times, but the name of her first husband is unknown. Her second husband was Thomas Avery (d. 1576), to whom she was married by 1554. In 1578, she wed Sir Thomas Ramsey (1510/11-1590), who was lord mayor of London that year and one of the richest men in London. His house in Lombard Street was one of the finest in the city. By the time of her death, Mary owned her own coach. Since there were no children from Ramsay’s first marriage and Mary had no children from any of hers, she was very active in charitable works. She left £1000 to her native city, Bristol, and the total value of charities established by both husband and wife from 1583 until Mary’s death is reckoned at £14,318. After Mary’s death, she was twice honored in print. The first was Nicholas Bourne’s 1602 An Epitaph upon the Decease of the Worshipful Lady Ramsay and in 1606 she was presented as what the Oxford DNB calls “the model of virtuous civic womanhood” in Thomas Heywood’s play If You Know Not Me You Know Nobody, Part II. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under “Ramsey [née Dale; other married name Avery], Mary.” Portraits: oil painting at Christ’s Hospital; line engraving.

ELIZABETH DANET, DANNET or DANNETT (c.1500-1564)

Elizabeth Danet was the daughter of Gerard or Gerald Danet of Danet’s Hall, Leicestershire (c.1455-May 20, 1520) and Mary Belknap (d.1558). She was at court by 1517, when she participated in revels there, and was one of Queen Catherine of Aragon’s women by 1521. Elizabeth’s younger sister, Mary Danet, was also at court. She is recorded as being in the household of Mary Tudor (later Queen Mary) in 1526. Mary Danet married George Medley (d.1562), half brother of Lady Jane Grey’s father. Elizabeth Danet's marriage contract with Sir John Arundell of Lanherne (c.1500-November 7, 1557) bears the date July 10, 1525. She was his second wife. They had twelve children, including John (c.1530-November 17, 1590), Cecill (Cecilia or Cecily), Thomas, Marie, George, Elizabeth, and Edward (d.1586). Arundell was in prison from 1549 until June 1552. After his death, his widow was granted the administration of his possessions, including his library. Elizabeth was buried in St. Mawgan's church.

JANE DANIELS

see JANE REHORA

ELIZABETH DANVERS
see ELIZABETH NEVILLE

MAGDALEN DANVERS

see MAGDALEN NEWPORT

ELIZABETH DARCY (c.1584-March 9, 1650/1)
Elizabeth Darcy was the daughter of Thomas Darcy, 3^rd baron Darcy of Cliche (July 5, 1565-February 1640) and Mary Kytson (1566-June 28, 1644). On May 14, 1602 she married Thomas Savage (c.1586-November 20, 1635) of Melford Hall, Suffolk. He was created Viscount Savage in 1626. Following his death and that of her father, Elizabeth was created Countess Rivers for life in her own right on April 21, 1641. She was a lady of the bedchamber to Queen Henrietta Maria and because she was a Catholic, became a target when Parliament called for action against all recusants. Her homes at St. Osyth and Long Melford were destroyed by mobs, for a loss estimated at £100,000. Although Parliament ordered restitution, her troubles continued and in May 1643 she requested permission to leave England for France, but does not appear to have gone. By her death, she was said to be bankrupt. Elizabeth and Thomas Savage had eleven sons and eight daughters, including Anne, John (c.1602-1654), Jane (1607-1633), Thomas (1611-1682), Dorothy (c.1611-1691), Charles, Elizabeth, Catherine, Henrietta Maria, Francis, William, James, and Richard. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under “Savage [née Darcy], Elizabeth.” Portrait: c.1640 by P. Leley.

ISABEL DARCY
see ISABEL WRAY

MARY DARCY (1528-1558+)
Mary Darcy was the daughter of Thomas Darcy, 1^st baron Darcy of Cliche (1506-June 28, 1558) and Elizabeth de Vere. She married Robert Leeche or Leech of Norwich (d.1544+) but during that marriage was the mistress of Richard Southwell of Woodrising (d. c. 1564), who had married her aunt, Thomasine Darcy, in 1540. They had four children together before Thomasine died and Southwell was able to marry her—Richard (1540-1600), Dorothy, Mary (c.1545-1622), and Thomas. According to one account, Mary’s husband had also died. According to another, he was still alive when Thomasine died but Southwell accused him of making a bigamous marriage with Mary, since his (Leeche’s) first wife still lived. Southwell was a courtier, high in King Henry VIII’s favor, so no one made any trouble about this, nor was Mary ever prosecuted for adultery. It isn’t clear when they did marry. In 1544, Southwell was granted Widford Manor in Hertfordshire. Later the same year Thomas Lewyn, clerk, acting for Southwell, had license to alienate the manor to the use of Mary Leech, wife of Robert Leech, alderman of Norwich. In 1558, she is listed as Mary Darcy alias Leech of Horsham St. Faith, Norfolk. After their marriage, they had one additional child, Catherine.

MARY DARCY
see MARY KYTSON

ELIZABETH DARRELL (d.c.1556)

Elizabeth Darrell was the daughter of Sir Edward Darrell of Littlecote, Wiltshire (1466-March 9, 1531) and his first wife, who was probably named Jane Croft or Crofts. She was one of Catherine of Aragon's gentlewomen and among the mourners at her funeral. She asked to join the household of Queen Jane Seymour but is next found in the household of Gertrude Blount, marchioness of Exeter, in November 1538, when the marchioness and others were arrested on suspicion of treason. She was forced to give evidence against the marchioness. In her interrogation on November 6, she confessed that she had heard that the king had sent Peter Mewtas into France to kill Cardinal Pole with a handgun. Elizabeth was the mistress of Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) the poet and diplomat, but exactly when they met and how long they were involved in a romantic relationship is unclear. Some suggest that the affair began as early as June 1532. Wyatt was out of the country a good deal as an ambassador. They could not marry because Wyatt already had a wife, Elizabeth Brooke, from whom he had long been separated. In 1537 an attempt was made by the Brooke family to force a reconciliation between husband and wife, but Wyatt refused to take her back. Elizabeth Darrell was openly living with Wyatt, as his mistress, at Allington Castle in Kent, in January of 1541, when Wyatt was arrested. Because she was pregnant at the time, she was allowed to remain in one of Wyatt’s confiscated houses. There was another attempt made at that time to force him to take back his wife, but following his release from the Tower, he returned to his mistress. Wyatt made provision in his will for Elizabeth and the son born in 1541, leaving her properties in Dorset with the right of reversion to her son, Francis, and Montacute and Tintinhull in Somerset, to revert to his son Sir Thomas on Elizabeth's death. She gave birth posthumously to a second son, Henry, who died young. Elizabeth apparently got along well with Wyatt’s legitimate son, Thomas Wyatt the younger, which is probably what gave rise to the identification of her as his mistress rather than his father’s. There is also a story that credits her with a third son, Edward (c.1540-1590), who was involved with the rebels led by Sir Thomas the Younger in 1554 and sentenced to be executed, even though he was only thirteen or fourteen at the time. This Edward is variously identified as a natural son of Sir Thomas the Younger and as the son of Sir Thomas the Elder. If he was thirteen or fourteen, however, he would have been born before Sir Thomas the Elder died and one would have expected him to be named in Sir Thomas’s will. It seems more likely he was the natural son the younger Thomas. He was pardoned on April 29, 1554. Elizabeth's son Francis went by the name Francis Darrell. Sir Thomas the Younger transferred Tarrant, Kent to him in 1542 (or, according to other sources, to Elizabeth in 1544). With the attainder of Sir Thomas the Younger in 1554, those properties held by Elizabeth that would have gone to him on her death, went to the Crown instead. She was in possession of Tintinhull in 1547 but it was occupied by the Crown's tenant, Sir William Petre, in 1556, and papers relating to the lease suggest that Elizabeth was by then deceased. The parsonage at Stoke, Somerset was leased to Elizabeth in 1548 and around 1554, at about the same time Queen Mary seems to have paid Elizabeth a legacy left to her by Queen Catherine of Aragon, Elizabeth married Robert Strode or Strowde. In 1560, he was living in the provost's house at Stoke.

MARY DARRELL (c.1545-1594+)
Mary Darrell was the daughter of Thomas Darrell of Scotney, Kent and Mary Roydon (c.1525-1591+). In 1563, the Darrells approached John Lennard of Chevening, near Tunbridge Wells, about making a match between Mary and his son, Sampson (1545-September 20, 1615). Mary seemed agreeable and Lennard approved of her and a pre-contract was arranged. By Bartholomewtide, however, Lennard had heard rumors that Mary was to wed someone else. When he questioned the Darrells about this, they denied it. They admitted that she had another suitor, one Barnabe Googe of Gooche (June 11, 1540-February 7, 1593/4), who had been writing poems to her, but insisted that there was no “secret enticement.” The case was submitted to arbitration by Archbishop Parker of Canterbury. He removed Mary from her parents’ house and made her a ward of the court while the matter was decided. To the dismay of both the Darrells and the Lennards, the archbishop decided in favor of Master Googe, to whom Mary was wed on February 5, 1564. They had eight children: Matthew (c.1566-c.1624), Thomas (b.c.1568), Barnabe, William, Henry, Robert, Mary, and Francis. Additional details on Mary and the Lennards are given in Germaine Greer’s Shakespeare’s Wife.

ELIZABETH DAUNCEY

see THE DAUGHTERS OF SIR THOMAS MORE

FAITH DAVYS
see FAITH FULFORD

MARGARET DE LA POLE
see MARGARET SCROPE

HONORA DENNY

see HONORA GREY

JOAN DENNY

see JOAN CHAMPERNOWNE

MARGARET DENNY

see MARGARET EDGECUMBE

MARTHA DENNY (1505-January 9,1571/2)

Martha Denny was the daughter of Sir Edmund Denny (c.1461-Decembe 22, 1520) and Mary Troutbeck (c.1461-June 29,1509). She married Sir Wymond Carew (c.1493-August 22,1549) and they had nineteen children, including Thomas (1527-February 12,1564/5), Roger, George John, Matthew (1531-1618), Anthony, Harvey, Prudence, and Temperance (c.1537-October 9,1577). During her husband’s lifetime, the Carews lived in grand style at Bletchingley, Surrey, where he held the position of Anne of Cleves’s receiver, and had their own houses at Pyshoo, Hertfordshire and Hackney, Middlesex. When he died, Martha was left owing almost £8000 and in 1554 lost Hackney and other lands to the Crown. She petitioned the exchequer for relief, more than once, but Hackney was not returned to her and the debts were not fully discharged until 1611. Martha ended up living in London where, on September 8, 1562, she was arrested for attending mass. She was tried and convicted a month later and when she did not pay a fine of 100 marks, she was put in prison for six months. She was arrested a second time on the same charge on April 4, 1568. This time she received a pardon from Queen Elizabeth. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under “Carew [née Denny], Martha.”

ELIZABETH DENTON

see ELIZABETH JERNINGHAM

MARY DENTON

see MARY MARTYN

MARY DENYS (1517-1593)
Mary Denys was the daughter of Sir William Denys of Dyrham, Gloucestershire (1470-June 22, 1533) and Anne Berkeley (1474-1519). She was a nun at Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire, a small house of Augustinian canonesses with fifteen professed nuns and three novices. In late 1535, this "a faire yong woman of Laycok" was appointed prioress of Kingston St. Michael, a Benedictine house, also in Wilsthire. In August 1535, there had been only three nuns at the priory. Two were guilty of incontinence and one, who was under twenty-four years of age, did not want to remain a nun. The latter was discharged. The next year, under Mary Denys, the report was better: there were four "religious of honest conversation, all desirous of remaining in religion," together with a clerk, four women servants, one waiting servant, and four farm laborers. When the priory was dissolved, Mary Denys received a pension of £5 a year. She was living in Bristol at the time of her death.

ANNE DERING

see ANNE VAUGHAN

OLD COUNTESS OF DESMOND
see KATHERINE FITZGERALD

DOROTHY DEVEREUX (1564-August 3, 1619)

Dorothy Devereux was the daughter of Walter Devereux, earl of Essex (September 16,1539-September 22,1576) and Laetitia Knollys (1543-December 25,1634). After her father died, she became the ward of the earl of Huntingdon. He hoped to marry her to his wife’s nephew, Philip Sidney, even offering to provide an additional dowry if the match were made, but Dorothy’s stepfather, Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, (Lady Huntingdon’s brother and therefore also Sidney’s uncle), proposed a match with the king of Scotland instead. In March 1583, the Spanish ambassador, Inigo de Mendoza, reported that Leicester had assured James VI that the English crown would be his after Elizabeth Tudor’s death if he married Dorothy Devereux and promised to remain a protestant. When the queen heard of the proposed match, however, she forbade it. Leicester then claimed he’d planned to marry Dorothy to a private gentleman. In July, Dorothy took matters into her own hands by eloping with Sir Thomas Perrott (d. February 1594). The groom was imprisoned in the Fleet for a month and Dorothy’s dowry of £2000 was not paid. In 1587, when she was at North Hall, country seat of the earl of Warwick, during a royal visit, she was ordered to keep to her room. This decree so angered Dorothy’s brother, Robert Devereux, earl of Essex, that he quarreled with the queen, then sent his servants to pack Dorothy’s things and rode off with her. They were ordered to return by a royal messenger. After Perrot’s death, Dorothy married Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland (April 1564-November 5,1632). They were often at odds and, as a supporter of King James, Dorothy was at court even while her husband remained a prisoner in the Tower of London for his part in the Gunpowder Plot. In spite of their differences, when Dorothy died her husband was deeply upset and had to be reminded by friends of how bitterly they had always quarreled. Dorothy had five children, Penelope Perrot and Dorothy (1598-1659), Lucy (1599-November 5,1660), Algernon (September 29,1602-October 18,1668), and Henry (1604-March 11,1705) Percy. Portraits: a double portrait of Dorothy and Penelope Devereux painted in 1581 is at Longleat (Dorothy's half shown below); portrait mislabeled “Lettice Knollys” at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland.

FRANCES DEVEREUX

see FRANCES HOWARD; FRANCES WALSINGHAM

LETTICE DEVEREUX

see LETTICE KNOLLYS

MARGARET DEVEREUX

see MARGARET DAKINS

PENELOPE DEVEREUX (1562-1607)

Penelope Devereux was the daughter of Walter Devereux, earl of Essex (September 19,1539-September 22,1576) and Laetitia Knollys (1543-December 25,1634). Like her younger sister, she became a ward of the earl of Huntingdon after her father’s death, but in Penelope’s case, Lady Huntingdon (née Katherine Dudley) took her to court in 1581 to find her a husband. Sir Philip Sidney was suggested, but he had no prospects. Instead she was married to Robert, 2nd baron Rich (December1559-March 24,1619) on November 1, 1581. Sidney’s infatuation with Penelope, the “Stella” of his sonnets, developed after her marriage and their composition probably took place during the summer of 1582 when he was away from court. On his deathbed, Sidney is said to have called Penelope “a vanity wherein I had taken delight,” but it is unknown if the two had an affair. As Lady Rich, Penelope was a lady of the privy chamber to Queen Elizabeth. As early as 1589 she began a secret correspondence with the king of Scotland. When her brother, Robert Devereux, earl of Essex, fell out of royal favor, Penelope aggravated matters with a saucy letter to the queen. Penelope’s marriage was an unhappy one. It was not until she had borne her husband several children, however, that she began an affair with Charles Blount, 8th baron Mountjoy (1563-April 3, 1606). She then had a number of children by Mountjoy. There is considerable confusion about the paternity of many of them. Rich was probably the father of Lettice (d.1619+), Essex, Robert (March 18, 1587-April 19,1658), a daughter, possibly named Elizabeth, born November 26, 1588 who died young, and Henry (May 19, 1590-1649). Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy was probably the father of Penelope (March 1592-October 26, 1613), Mountjoy (1597-1666), Scipio (b.December 1597), St. John, Charles (d.1645), and Isabel. In 1595 Penelope worked out a settlement with Rich and in 1601 they were formally divorced. However, under the Anglican church, remarriage was forbidden while a former spouse still lived. 1601 was also a significant year in Penelope’s life for another reason. Her brother the earl of Essex attempted to take over the government and was executed for treason. Even though Penelope had twice been put under restraint in the past for defending her brother and even though Essex blamed her for inciting him to rebellion, she was not severely punished. Penelope maintained that she had been more like a slave than a sister to Essex and had done what he told her to out of love for him. She was released into Lord Rich’s care. When James became king in 1603, Penelope was appointed a lady of the bedchamber to Queen Anne and given precedence at court over all other baronesses and over the daughters of all but four of the earls (Oxford, Arundel, Northumberland, and Shrewsbury). She forfeited her place, however, by marrying her long-time lover on December 26, 1605. He died the following spring. Seven books were dedicated to Lady Rich between 1594 and 1606. Penelope converted to Roman Catholicism late in life. Her former husband, Lord Rich, was at her side when she died. Biographies: Sylvia Freedman, Poor Penelope; Sally Varlow, The Lady Penelope; Oxford DNB entry under "Rich [née Devereux], Penelope." Portraits: double portrait with her sister Dorothy, 1581; portait said to be Penelope at Lambeth Palace; miniature.

DOROTHY DODDRIDGE or DODDERIDGE

see DOROTHY BAMPFIELD

ELIZABETH DONNE
see ELIZABETH HASTINGS

MARGARET DONNINGTON (1510-January 20,1562)
Margaret Donnington was the only daughter of John Donnington of Stoke Newington, Middlesex (d.1544) and Elizabeth Pye. She married three times, each time improving her lot. Her first husband was Sir Thomas Kytson (1485-September 11, 1540), a widower with one daughter (Elizabeth), who built Hengrave Hall in Suffolk between 1525 and 1538. King Henry VIII often visited them there. Kytson also had houses in Milk Street, London, Stoke Newington, Westley, and Risby, Suffolk, and Torbrian, Devonshire. Kytson and Margaret were the parents of Frances (c.1527-c.1586), Katherine (d. before November 8, 1586), Dorothy (1531-May 2, 1577), Anne, and Thomas (October 9,1540-January 28,1603), the latter born posthumously. In 1541, Margaret took a second husband, Sir Richard Long of Shengay (c.1494-September 29, 1546), a courtier. She had four children by him, Jane, Mary, Catherine, and Henry (1543-April 15,1573). The latter was still a minor when Queen Elizabeth visited his inheritance, Filliot’s Hall, Essex, in 1561. Margaret’s third husband was John Bourchier, earl of Bath (1489-February 10,1561), as his third wife. They were married December 11,1548 and together they had two more daughters, Susanna and Bridget. Margaret married her eldest daughter, Frances Kytson, to her stepson, John Bourchier, Lord Fitzwarine. Margaret’s monument in Hengrave Church is to herself and all three husbands.

ANNE DORMER (1525-1603)

Anne Dormer was the daughter of William Dormer of Eythrope, Buckinghamshire (1503-May 17,1575) and Mary Sidney (d.1542). In May 1558 she married Sir Walter Hungerford of Farleigh (c.1526-1596). They had four children, Lucy (b.1560), Edmund (b.1562), Susan (b.1564), and Jane (b.1566) but in 1570, Hungerford sued Anne for divorce, claiming that she had committed adultery with William "Wild" Darrell of Littlecote (1540-1589) between 1560 and 1568 and had had a child by him. Sir Walter also accused her of trying to poison him in 1564. Surviving letters from Anne to her "good Will" give some foundation to the charges but Anne was acquitted and awarded costs (£250) in the law suit. Hungerford refused to pay or to support his wife while they were separated (he did agree to take her back) and spent three years in Fleet Prison as a result. In a letter written in 1570 to "Doll" (Dorothy) Essex, her sister Jane's lady in waiting, Anne complained that she had not seen her children in over a year. She also wrote to her sister at this time. In 1571, Anne received a license to travel to Louvain to visit her dying grandmother (Jane Newdigate, Lady Dormer, who died on July 7). In August of that year Anne's sister (Jane Dormer, duchess of Feria), asked that the license be extended from six months to two years. Anne took over her grandmother's household in Louvain after Lady Dormer's death and remained there. In 1573, she was granted a pension of 1,100 livres a year by the king of Spain and in 1583 he granted her a further pension of fifty escudos a month. Anne became friends with Margaret of Parma as well as with the other English exiles living in Flanders. After her only son died (the date of his death varies, depending on the source, from 1583 to 1587), Anne claimed that Hungerford was attempting to defraud their daughters of their portion. In his 1595 will, Hungerford left two farms to Margery Bright, his mistress for some years and the mother of four children by him, the last born after Hungerford's death. Upon hearing a rumor that Anne was dead, Hungerford married Margery shortly before he died with the result that both Anne and Margery sued to establish the right to inherit as Hungerford's widow. There was never any question but that the victory would go to Anne. During that same period, Anne involved herself in politics in Flanders, urging her sister, the widowed duchess of Feria, to leave Spain and travel to Brussels. She wrote a number of letters on the subject and seems to have been convinced that the duchess's journey would alarm Queen Elizabeth and turn the tide in King Philip's favor in the ongoing war in the Netherlands. Anne's nephew, Don Lorenzo, 2^nd duke of Feria, took steps to thwart this intrigue and Anne seems to have given up the plan around 1599. As far as is known, Anne never returned to England. She died in Louvain.

DOROTHY DORMER

see DOROTHY CATESBY

JANE DORMER

see JANE NEWDIGATE

JANE DORMER (January 6,1538-January 13, 1612)

Jane Dormer was the daughter of William Dormer of Eythrope, Buckinghamshire (1503-May 17,1575) and Mary Sidney (d.1542). She was a favorite maid of honor to Queen Mary, having entered the queen’s service before the death of Mary's brother, King Edward VI. Jane’s hand in marriage was sought by the earl of Devon, the duke of Norfolk, and Charles Howard, later earl of Nottingham, but she accepted the proposal of Don Gomez de Figueroa, count of Feria (d. September 7, 1571). They were waiting for the return to England of Philip II to marry when Queen Mary died. Jane herself had been ill in October of 1558 but she returned to her dying mistress’s bedside in November and was entrusted with the errand of journeying to Hatfield to deliver Mary’s jewels to her sister and heir, Elizabeth Tudor. After Mary’s death, Jane lived with her grandmother, Jane Newdigate, Lady Dormer (d.July 7,1571) at the Savoy Palace. Jane Dormer married the count of Feria on December 29 and left England in July 1559. Her party included her grandmother and six gentlewomen. Jane’s son Lorenzo (September 28, 1559-1607) was born at Mechlin, at the court of Margaret of Parma. At Amboise, France the following spring, Jane began a friendship with Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, that lasted until the queen’s execution. Upon reaching Spain, Feria and Jane settled at Zafra in Estremadura and Feria was created duke of Feria in 1567. Jane proved so adept at running his estates after Feria’s death that Philip II considered naming her Regent of the Netherlands. Instead, she devoted her time to helping other English Catholics, although she also obtained the release of Protestant Englishmen imprisoned at Seville. In 1603, an Englishman named Henry Clifford entered her service and wrote her biography, possibly from her dictation, but it was not published until 1887. After 1609, Jane was in poor health and spent the last year of her life bedridden. She died in Madrid. She was buried in the habit of a Franciscan tertiary. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Suarez de Figueroa [née Dormer], Jane;" Chapter Four of Albert J. Loomie's The Spanish Elizabethans. Portraits: c.1563 by Sanches-Coello; one painted c. 1560-9 by Antonio Mor may be Jane. It may also be an unknown Englishwoman, a Netherlandish aristocrat, or one of the duke of Alva’s concubines. Margaret of Parma, once identified as the sitter, has been ruled out as the subject.

MARGARET DORMER (1553-April 26, 1637)
Margaret Dormer was the daughter of William Dormer of Eythrope, Buckinghamshire (1503-May 17, 1575) and Mary Sidney (d.1542). Around 1575, she married Sir Henry Constable of Burton Constable, Holderness, Yorkshire (c.1551-December 15,1607) and as Lady Constable was a notable recusant who spent time in prison in 1592. She raised her children—Catherine (c.1579-c.1626), Dorothy (1580-March 26, 1632), Henry (c.1582-1645), Margaret (c.1582-February 27, 1662/3), John (b.c. 1589), and Mary (c.1586-April 17, 1669+)—as pious Roman Catholics.

MARGARET DOUGLAS (October 8, 1515-March 7, 1578)

Margaret Douglas was the daughter of Margaret Tudor (1489-1541) by her second husband, Archibald Douglas, 6th earl of Angus (1489-1557). She was thus half sister of James V of Scotland and granddaughter of Henry VII of England. Her mother was fleeing from Scotland, seeking shelter with her brother, Henry VIII, when Margaret was born at Harbottle, on the English side of the border. Margaret was in and out of trouble all her life. She formed two unacceptable romantic alliances with English suitors and was confined for a time after each incident. She may actually have married Thomas Howard (1512-October 29,1537), one of the duke of Norfolk's half-brothers. Thomas died in the Tower of London, where he had been imprisoned for his liaison with Margaret. Margaret remained close to Thomas Howard's niece, Mary Howard, duchess of Richmond, who had been married to Henry FitzRoy. Their "circle" had a literary bent and they all wrote poetry, although only the sonnets of Mary's brother, the earl of Surrey, achieved renown. On July 6, 1544, Margaret married Matthew Stuart, earl of Lennox (1516-1571). They had four sons and four daughters but only two sons survived to adulthood, Henry, Lord Darnley (1545-1567) and Charles, earl of Lennox (1556-1577). Shortly before Henry VIII’s death, Margaret quarreled with him over a matter of religion (she remained a devout Catholic all her life) and was disinherited. She was high in favor under Queen Mary, but under Queen Elizabeth she was under arrest on three separate occasions, once on suspicion of witchcraft and treason, once because her son, Lord Darnley, had married the queen of Scots, and once because she conspired to marry her other son, Charles, to Elizabeth Cavendish. Biography: Kimberley Schutte, A Biography of Margaret Douglas; Oxford DNB entry under "Douglas, Lady Margaret." Portraits: tomb effigy; included in the Darnley Centograph of 1567/8 by Livinus de Vogelaare; two portraits, one full length and painted in 1572

MAGDALEN DOWNES (d.1552+)
Magdalen Downes was a novice in the Benedictine priory of Ankerwick in Buckinghamshire by 1519. In that year, Bishop Atwater found two cases of apostasy in the priory. Two nuns had left the monastery. One had married, but since marriage was forbidden to professed nuns, she was declared to be living in sin in the house of a relative. Magdalen went on to become the last prioress of Ankerwick, succeeding Alice Worcester when Alice resigned in 1526. After Ankerwick was dissolved, Magdalen achieved notoriety by becoming the only former nun in Buckinghamshire to marry. According to a footnote to the article on Ankerwick Priory in British History Online, there were only a few nuns in all of England who married after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Several came from Elstow in Bedfordshire and fourteen from Lincolnshire (eight of them Gilbertine nuns).

MARGARET DOWNES

see MARGARET NEVILLE

ANNE DOWRICHE

see ANNE EDGECUMBE

FRANCES D’OYLY

see FRANCES EDMONDS

ANNE DRAPER (August 1560-March 29, 1641)
Anne Draper was the daughter of John Draper (d. 1576), a wealthy London brewer, and Margery Wilkes (d.1600/01). After her father’s death, his clerk, Thomas Hobson, wanted to marry her, but Anne’s mother refused and dismissed him. He took her to court. She claimed he’d “shamefully, wickedly, and horribly” tried to marry Anne. Exactly what this entailed is not spelled out, but it was obviously more than Margery Draper was willing to allow. On June 4, 1579, Anne married Eustace Bedingfield (d. May 19, 1599). They had several children, including two named Anne, one who died in 1581 and one who survived her mother. Anne Draper’s inheritance from her father included a piece of property in Clerkenwell. By 1605, she had leased this to Aaron Holland, who built the Red Bull theater on the property. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under “Bedingfield [née Draper], Anne.” Portrait: memorial brass 1641, All Saints, Darsham, Suffolk.

ELIZABETH DRAPER

see ELIZABETH GARTON

ANNE DRURY

see ANNE BACON; ANNE JERNINGHAM

ELIZABETH DRURY

see ELIZABETH STAFFORD

AMYE DUDLEY

see AMYE ROBSART

ANNE DUDLEY

see ANNE RUSSELL; ANNE SEYMOUR; ANNE WHORWOOD

ELIZABETH DUDLEY
see ELIZABETH SOUTHWELL

JANE DUDLEY

see JANE GUILDFORD

KATHERINE DUDLEY (November 1545-August 4, 1620)

Katherine Dudley was the daughter of John Dudley, duke of Northumberland (1504-x.August 22, 1553) and Jane Guildford (1509-January 15, 1555). Although the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography gives her birthdate as c.1538, there is a record of a christening on November 30, 1545 that several authorities believe was Katherine's. The godparents were Francis van der Delft, Imperial Ambassador to England, Princess Mary, and Catherine Willoughby, duchess of Suffolk, who hosted a reception at Suffolk Place, Southwark. Assuming this birthdate to be correct, Katherine was seven when she was married to eighteen-year-old Henry Hastings (1535-December 14, 1594) on May 24, 1553 at Durham House in the Strand. Three months later, her father was arrested and executed for treason. It would have been easy for her father-in-law, the earl of Huntingdon, to have her marriage annulled. Instead he took her to Ashby-de-la-Zouche to be raised with his own family. She first came to court in 1562 or 1563 and because her brother, Robert Dudley, was the queen’s favorite, she was made a lady of the privy chamber. In 1564, however, when a book on the succession urged acceptance of her husband’s claim to the throne, Katherine was given “a privy nippe” by the queen. His assurance that the book was “foolishly written” did not mend the rift and for a time Katherine left the court. In 1576 she and her husband became legal guardians of the earl of Essex’s children. She was already fostering and training several young gentlewomen but had no children of her own. After her husband’s death, she returned to court and was considered one of the queen’s closest friends during the last years of her reign. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Hastings [née Dudley], Katherine." Portrait: In 1599, Frances Powlett, an Essex gentlewoman, widowed and a recusant, owned a portrait of Katherine Dudley.

LETTICE DUDLEY

see LETTICE KNOLLYS

MARGARET DUDLEY

see MARGARET AUDLEY

MARY DUDLEY (1531-August 9, 1586)

Mary Dudley was the daughter of John Dudley, duke of Northumberland (1504-x.August 22,1553) and Jane Guildford (1509-January 15, 1555). She was educated with her brothers, having among her tutors Roger Ascham and John Dee. She wrote poetry as a young woman. On March 29, 1551, she was married to Sir Henry Sidney (June 20, 1529-May 5, 1586). When her father attempted to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne instead of Mary Tudor, Mary Sidney was sent to fetch Lady Jane to Syon House where she was told of her great good fortune. Mary remained with Queen Jane throughout her brief reign. After the failure of the coup, Mary was allowed to return to her husband, who was pardoned for his role in the attempt on July 21. Sir Henry’s father obtained for them the confiscated Dudley property of Penshurst and there the couple made their home. Mary’s son, Philip Sidney, was born November 30, 1554. His godfather was King Philip II. Mary’s other children were Margaret (1556-1558), Elizabeth (October 1560-February 1567), Mary (1561-1621), Robert (November 19,1563-1626), Ambrosia (1565-1575), and Thomas (March 25,1569-July 26,1595). Under Elizabeth I, Mary Sidney was at court as one of her ladies and nursed the queen through her bout of smallpox in October 1562. Mary subsequently caught the disease herself and was left horribly scarred by it. Thereafter, it is said, she always wore a mask in public. When her husband was Lord Deputy of Ireland, Mary was with him briefly, but soon returned to England. She had rooms at court but spent most of her time at her house near Paul’s Wharf in London or at Ludlow Castle. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Sidney [née Dudley], Mary." Portraits: Two portraits identified as Mary Dudley Sidney exist, one by Hans Eworth at Wilton House and the other by Willaim Scots at Petworth.

MARGARET DYER

see MARGARET à BARROW

MARGARET DYMOKE (c.1490-1550)

Margaret Dymoke was the daughter of Sir Robert Dymoke of Scrivelsby, Lincolnshire (c.1461-April 15,1545) and Jane (or Anne) Sparrow. She married Sir Richard Vernon of Haddon, Derbyshire (1477-1517) in about 1507 and was the mother of a son, George (1508-1567) and a daughter, Elizabeth. When she was left a wealthy widow, Cardinal Wolsey advocated a match with Sir William Tyrwhitt, but Margaret accepted Sir William Coffyn of Porthledge, Devon (c.1492-December 8, 1538). Margaret attended Catherine of Aragon at the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520 and was at court with her second husband, who was master of horse to both Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour. Margaret was one of the gentlewomen sent to wait (and spy) upon Anne Boleyn in the Tower. Some accounts give the name as “Mistress Cosyns” but this is a mistake for Coffyn. In Jane Seymour’s household, Margaret was a lady of the bedchamber. In 1539, she married Sir Richard Manners of Garendon, Leicestershire (1490-1551), by whom she may have had a son, John. During this marriage she lived primarily at Haddon Hall. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Coffin, Sir William." NOTE: the DNB gives her mother's name as Anne Sparrow. Portrait: effigy at Tong, Staffordshire.

MARY DYMOKE or DYMOCK

see MARY HUSSEY

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