A WHO’S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN: A

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her very out-of-date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 ©2008-11 Kathy Lynn Emerson (all rights reserved)

MARGARET À BARROW (1500-1560)
Margaret à Barrow was the daughter of Sir Maurice of North Barrow, Somerset. The surname is variously spelled as à Barrow, Barrow, Arbarrow, Aborough, Abarowe, d'Abarow, and Barough. Margaret may have been part of Sir Thomas More's household in 1510/11 and have studied with his daughters. She was renowned for her learning. At about that same time, although it may have been as late as 1522, she married Sir Thomas Elyot (c.1490-March 26, 1546). They lived at Long Combe, Oxfordshire from 1522-30 and then at Carlton cum Willingham, Cambridgeshire. In his will, he left his property to Margaret for her lifetime but instructed that his library be sold and the proceeds go to poor scholars. She married her second husband, James Dyer of Wincanton, Somerset (1510-March 24, 1582) by special license dated February 9, 1546/7. He was knighted in 1553. Their London house was in Cow Lane, near Smithfield. She had no children by either husband. The Oxford DNB entry for Sir James Dyer gives her date of death as 1569. The entry for Sir Thomas Elyot says 1560. Another record says she was buried August 26, 1560 at Great Staughton, Huntingdonshire, where her husband was later buried beside her. Their effigies were not added until early in the next century. The History of Parliament entries for Dyer and Elyot both say her father was John Abarough of Downton, Wiltshire and the one for Dyer gives her date of death as 1569. Portraits: drawing by Hans Holbein the Younger labeled "The Lady Eliot."

JOYCE ACTON (1532-February 10, 1595/6)
Joyce Acton was the daughter of Thomas Acton of Sutton Park, Tenbury, Worcestershire (1486-January 2, 1546/7) and Margaret Lacon (1506-April 28, 1564). At not quite thirteen, she married Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote, Warwickshire (1532-July 7, 1600). Her dowry allowed him to pull down his old house and built a new mansion. They entertained Queen Elizabeth there in August 1572. They were the parents of Anne (1550-1596) and Sir Thomas (1551-1605). Joyce's daughter married Edward Ashton of Tixhall, Staffordshire (1551-February 1, 1597) on April 27, 1581. It was an unhappy relationship and Ashton blamed his mother-in-law. Portrait: tomb effigy on parents' tomb, Tenbury; husband's tomb, Charlecote Church.

JOAN ACWORTH, ACKWORTH, or AKWORTH (1519-December 1590)

The daughter of George Acworth of Luton, Bedfordshire (d. May 17, 1530) and Margaret Wilberforce (d.1539), Joan married William Bulmer (1512-1555/6) at an early age, then left his house to go into service with the dowager duchess of Norfolk (Agnes Tylney). Joan was involved in a love affair with Edward Waldegrave (1514-August 13, 1584) at the same time Catherine Howard was living in that household. When Catherine married King Henry VIII, Joan was at court as a chamberer and was called upon to testify against the queen when the scandalous behavior of her early life was revealed in 1541. Both Joan and Edward Waldegrave were arrested and held for several months. At the time of Catherine Howard’s trial and execution in 1542, Joan Bulmer was listed as a widow, but in fact her husband was still alive. She could not marry Waldegrave until June 1556. Her children with Waldegrave were Anne (b.c.1544), Mary, Bridget, Edward, and Margaret.

ALICE AGAR (d.1557+) (maiden name unknown)
Alice Agar, a widow from Colchester, Essex, went into exile under Mary Tudor as an "unescorted woman," arriving in Geneva on June 5, 1557 with her children Joan (or Jane), Priscilla, and Thomas, a ribbon-maker. Later that year she married another protestant exile, Thomas Spencer of Wroughton, Wiltshire (b.1525), a doctor of divinity and pastor of Hadleigh.

ISABEL AGARD (d.1520+)
Isabel Agard was a member of the Agard family of Foston, Staffordshire. She married John Stonor (1480-1550). She may be the Mrs. Stonor who was with Anne Boleyn in the Tower of London in 1536 and/or the Mrs. Stonor who was Mother of Maids under Henry VIII's next four queens. See the entry for Isabel's sister-in-law, Margaret Foliot for more speculation on this identification. Isabel was the mother of Francis Stonor (1520-1564) and Henry Stonor. Retha Warnicke identifies Mrs. Stonor as "perhaps the wife of John, the king's sergeant at arms," in her The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn.

ELIZABETH AGLIONBY or EGLIONBY (d.1589+) (maiden name unknown)

According to Susan James, Kathryn Parr’s biographer, Elizabeth Aglionby or Eglionby was a gentlewoman of Kathryn Parr’s privy chamber from 1543-47, then became the lady governess of Kathryn Parr’s daughter, Mary Seymour, in 1548. She then served as Mother of Maids under Elizabeth Tudor from 1562 until she was replaced around 1588/9 by Mrs. Jones. She was not the wife of Hugh Aglionby, secretary to Kathryn Parr. His wife was named Anne.

AGNES OF ELTHAM (1498-1530)
Agnes of Eltham's father is unknown but she is alleged to be the illegitimate daughter of Bridget of York (November 10, 1480-1517), a nun who was also the daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. Other sources say simply that she was an orphan who was a ward of Dartford Priory in Kent, where Bridget Plantagenet was cloistered. Until 1503, when Bridget's sister, Queen Elizabeth of York, died, Agnes's expenses were paid by the Crown. When she left the nunnery in about 1514 to marry, she reportedly had "a considerable dowry." She married Adam Langstroth of Cosh, Arncliffe, Yorkshire (1490-1549) and had at least one child, Christopher (c.1530-September 6, 1612).

DUCHESS OF ALBA
see MARIA ENRÍQUEZ

INEZ de ALBERNOS (d.1503+)
According to Lady Cecilie Goff in A Woman of the Tudor Age, "A sister of Lady Willoughby [Maria de Salinas, mother of Catherine Willoughby, duchess of Suffolk], Lady Inez of Albernos and Salinas, married Frances [sic] Guevara of Stanyott in Lincolnshire, and six shillings are paid to 'Mr. Guevara's man, which brought two oxen in present to my master' while a half-year’s annuity of £15 is paid to Mr. Guevara." This information was taken from the Household Accounts of the duchess's household for February 1560/1. Earlier in the same volume, Goff gives the names of Maria de Salinas's parents as Martin de Salinas and Josepha Gonzales de Sales. The Oxford DNB agrees with this but, as is so often the case, there is disagreement among scholars on this point. If Maria and Inez were sisters, then they were two of at least six children born to Juan Sancriz de Salinas (d.c.July 1495) and Inez Albernos/Albornos/Albornoz. Their uncle, Martin de Salinas (d. September 28, 1503) took over their upbringing. A list of Spanish ladies remaining in England with Catherine of Aragon in 1500 includes the "daughter of Inez Dalbornoz." This was probably not Maria de Salinas, as most of her daughter's biographers agree that she did not arrive in England until c.1503, when she replaced Maria de Rojas, in Catherine's service. If this daughter was the Inez who is the subject of this entry, then she followed the tradition of using her mother's surname, apparently a not uncommon practice in Spain. She appears to have returned to her native land, where she married Juan (not Francis) Velez de Guevara (sometimes spelled Govery by the English) of Segura/Sejuia. It was their son, Francisco (Sir Francis) Velez (Velles) de Guevara (d. February 10, 1592/3), who settled in England c.1552, when he received a pension of £30 from his cousin, the duchess of Suffolk. Francis Guevara apparently remained in England during the reign of Queen Mary, while the duchess was in exile on the Continent, although he later came to share her Protestant beliefs. He settled in Stenigot, Lincolnshire and married Denise Reade of Boston on January 5, 1555/6. After her death, he wed Anne Egerton (d. 1586), sister of Sir Charles Egerton of Markenfield, Yorkshire. He had numerous children, all of whom remained in England and married into English gentry families. There is no indication that his mother was with him in England.

ALICE ALINGTON
see ALICE MIDDLETON

JANE ALINGTON
see JANE CORDELL

MARGARET ALINGTON
see MARGARET TALKERNE

URSULA ALINGTON
see URSULA DRURY

MARGARET ALLDE (d.1600+) (maiden name unknown)

Margaret was the widow of a printer, John Allde (d.1584). She continued his business at the Long Shop in the Poultry, next to St. Mildred’s church and across from the stocks used for prisoners from the Counter, for twenty-one years after his death. This was a fairly common practice among widows of members of the Stationer’s Company, although few kept at it so long or took as many apprentices as Margaret Allde did. She is recorded as taking apprentices in 1593, 1594, and 1600. Her son Edward (d.1628) was also a printer, joining the Stationer’s Company in 1584. His premises were at the Sign of the Gilded Cup without Cripplegate. When he died, his widow, Elizabeth (d. 1636) carried on the business until 1633, when it passed to her son-in-law (alternately identified as her son by a previous marriage), Richard Oulton or Olton.

AVIS ALLEN (1560-June 13, 1597) (maiden name unknown)
Avis or Avisa Allen, according to Simon Forman's book of nativities, quoted in Barbara Howard Traister's The Notorious Astrological Physician of London: Works and Days of Simon Forman, was born a bastard and her mother didn’t love her. She was "somewhat talle. a good motherly face fair and of a good nature and disposition." She also had a mole under the nose and above the lip. Avis married William Allen, a cheesemonger who lived on Thames Street in the parish of St. Botolph, Billingsgate. She was a recusant and in April 1593 was fined £100 for her failure to attend church. In November 1593 she consulted astrologer Simon Forman and soon after became his mistress, an affair that continued on and off for the rest of her life. That she distilled waters gave them something in common. There are numerous entries about her in Forman's casebooks. On March 13, 1594, for example, Simon and Avis went together to inspect the earl of Cumberland's new ship, The Scorge of Malice. Many of the details are included in A. L. Rowse's Sex and Society in Shakespeare's Age. According to Simon's records, Avis conceived a child on September 27, 1595 at 5:30 in the afternoon. On June 26, 1596, she gave birth to a son, Alexander. Forman appears to have believed the child was his, but he was accepted as William's. Alexander was born sickly, however, and died on July 9th. In the autumn of 1596, Avis believed herself to be pregnant again but was unsure who the father was. Her maid, Kate Alison, who was Avis's age, was also pregnant. Kate's lover was fourteen years her junior but Avis made sure he married her, even though he apparently preferred another young woman who was also carrying his child. Forman’s nativity of Avis indicates that she gave birth to one son and one daughter and had eleven or twelve miscarriages and that she was childless when she died. Avis was often ill in the last year of her life and Judith Cook, in Dr. Simon Forman, a most notorious physician speculates that her death was due to tuberculosis, or septicaemia caused by a dead foetus, or a combination of both. Forman himself seems to have believed she died of apoplexy.

GODLINA ALLEN (d.1567+) (maiden name unknown)
Godlina Allen of Wye in Kent is one of the subjects of an essay by Catherine Richardson ("A Very Fit Hat") in Everyday Objects, edited by Tara Hamling and Catherine Richardson. In 1566, at which time she was a widow with children, she was being courted by Richard Tusten, a servant of Nicholas St. Leger, who often made trips to London on his master's behalf. During these trips he bought presents for her, including a "silk hat and sweet [perfumed] gloves." She was later charged with breach of promise for accepting these gifts, since acceptance was seen as agreement to a betrothal. Godlina claimed she refused the hat and gloves at first and then, three weeks before Christmas, accepted them with the expectation that she would pay Tusten for them. During the same week she took the gifts, she was married to another man, Simon Ansell, at Mersham Church. The records in Canterbury Cathedral Archives & Library contain contradictory accounts of these events, but one deposition suggests that Godlina was coerced into marrying Ansell by her cousin, Thomas Sprot, vicar of Boughton Aluph. Money was probably the motive. Wealthy widows were often the target of unscrupulous men.

MARY ALLEN

see MARY LONG

REBECCA ALLEN (d.1608+)
Rebecca Allen was the daughter of David Allen, rector of Ludborough, Lincolnshire, a protestant rector. She was taught Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. She married Thomas Rainbow, vicar at Lindsey, Lincolnshire, and was the mother of Edward Rainbow, Bishop of Carlisle (1608-March 26, 1684).

JOAN ALLEYN
see JOAN WOODWARD

MARY ALTHAM

see MARY MATHEWS

ELIZABETH AMADAS

see ELIZABETH BRYCE

ANNE ANDREWS (1432-July 25, 1520)
Anne Andrews was the daughter of John Andrews of Baylham, Suffolk (c.1415-1473) and Elizabeth Stratton (c.1425-1474). Her first husband was Sir John Sulyard of Weston, Essex and Welhorden, Suffolk (c.1420-March 18, 1487/8), Chief Justice of Common Pleas. She was his second wife. Their children were Anne, John (d. March 1539), Alice, Andrew, and Elizabeth (d.1529). Her second husband was Thomas Bourchier (d.1491). They had no children. In 1519, Anne offered to cancel her son-in-law's debt to her if he would assure her daughter's jointure according to the contract she had signed with his father. She left this same son-in-law, Roger Appleton, a silver and gilt spoon with her arms on it in her will. Anne was buried with her first husband.

SARA AÑES (c.1550-1595+)
Sara Añes was the eldest daughter of Dunstan Añes (c.1520-1594), also known as Gonsalvo Añes, Gonzalo Jorge, and Benjamin George, a grocer in London who was also the English financial agent for Dom Antonio, pretender to the Portuguese throne after the death of King Henry in 1580. Her mother was Constance Ruiz (c.1530-1594+). She had thirteen siblings. Born in England, she grew up in a house in Crutched Friars. The family belonged to the English church but observed traditional Jewish customs in private. By 1564, she had married Roderigo Lopez (c.1517-x. June 7, 1594). Like her father, he was the son of a Jew baptized by force in Portugal in 1497. They settled in the parish of St. Bartholomew-the-Less. She had nine children, including Ellyn/Elinor (bp. June 9, 1564), Ambrose (bp. May 6, 1565), Douglas (bp. May 13, 1573), William (bp. October 24, 1577), Anne (bp. March 1, 1579), and Anthony (b.c.1582). They were living in the ward of Farringdon Without in 1567. In 1568 they attended church at Little St. Bartholomew, in 1571, they were recorded as living in St. Andrew's Holborn, and in 1583 were in Aldgate ward. During those years, Lopez became the personal physician of Sir Francis Walsingham (by 1571), the earl of Leicester (by 1575) and finally was appointed as a royal physician, attending Queen Elizabeth (by 1586 and possibly as early as 1581). He received a life pension of £50 and was granted lands and tithes in Worcestershire. The family later lived in Wood Street, and in Mountjoy's Inn, Fenchurch Street. At the request of Sir Francis Walsingham, Lopez corresponded with Spanish officials and he continued to do so even after Walsingham's death. King Philip sent him the gift of a jeweled ring worth £100. Unfortunately, Lopez made an enemy of the queen's favorite, the earl of Essex, and it was Essex who, in 1594, accused him of having tried to poison the queen. Lopez was tried on this charge, but much was made of his Jewish origins, and that was held against him. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn for treason. In August 1594, Sara petitioned the queen for assistance, since all her husband's possessions had been seized by the Crown upon his arrest. She wrote that she was left with five children and "in woeful agony and extremity of sickness, utterly despairing the recovery of her former health and strength." She included an inventory of seized goods, asking for the return of the lease of her house and her household stuff. The queen, who had not been entirely convinced that Lopez was guilty, even though she signed his death warrant, returned everything except King Philip's ring. Sara's son Anthony returned to school in Winchester the following year. For more details, see the Oxford DNB articles on her husband and father and the essay "Portingale Women and Politics in Late Elizabethan London" by Alan Stewart in Women and Politics in Early Modern England 1450-1700, edited by James Daybell.

JANE ANGER (d. 1589+)
Although there were at least two women named Jane Anger living in Tudor England, most people think this was a pseudonym used by a man to reply to an attack in print on women (Boke his Surfyt in love). Jane Anger her Protection for Women appeared in 1589 and "Jane Anger" is styled a gentlewoman on the title page. Retha M. Warnicke comments, in Women of the English Renaissance and Reformation, that "whoever Anger was, she was not of noble or of royal status, and as a routine matter, could have expected some censure for her audacity in publishing any secular work, even one more conservative than a defense of her sex." The entry in the Oxford DNB under "Anger, Jane" adds no biographical details.

ANNE OF CLEVES (September 22, 1515-July 16, 1557)

The daughter of John, duke of Cleves (d. 1539) and Mary of Berg and Juliers (d. 1543), Anne of Cleves married Henry VIII of England (1491-1547) on January 6, 1540 but was persuaded to accept an annulment granted on July 9 of that same year. She retired to Richmond and Bletchingley, properties granted to her in a generous settlement, and was thereafter treated as the king’s sister. A false rumor, circulated in 1541, claimed she’d given birth to a child. She was present at ceremonial occasions during the reign of Mary I and when she died at Chelsea she was buried in Westminster Abbey. Biographies: Mary Saaler, Anne of Cleves: Fourth Wife of Henry VIII; Elizabeth Norton, Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's Discarded Bride (2009); chapters in Antonia Fraser, The Wives of Henry VIII, Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, and other collective biographies of Henry VIII and/or his wives; Oxford DNB entry under "Anne [Anne of Cleves]." Portraits: two by Hans Holbein the Younger, one a miniature; one by Barthel de Bruyn the Elder.

GODLINA ANSELL
see GODLINA ALLEN

DOROTHY ANSON
see DOROTHY FOSSER

JOYCE APPLEBY

see JOYCE CURZON

MARGARET APPLETON (c.1433-1508+)
Margaret Appleton was the daughter of John Appleton of Waldringfield, Suffolk (1412-April 9, 1481) and Margaret Welling (1416-July 1468). She married Thomas Spring of Lavenham, Suffolk (c.1430-September 7, 1486). Their children were Thomas (1454-1510), James (who died in a brawl on August 31, 1493), William (1460-November 1510), Marian (1463-1491), Cecily, another son and four more daughters. Although the partial date 148_ appears as a death date on the “resurrection brass” portraying the entire family in the Church of St. Peter and Paul, Lavenham, the Oxford DNB article on the Spring family cites records of her attempts to collect a debt of £16 in 1492 and as executor of her brother Thomas's will in 1508. Portrait: brass in Lavenham.

ELIZABETH APPLEYARD
see ELIZABETH SCOTT

MARY APPLEYARD

see MARY SHELTON

ALICE ARDEN

see ALICE BRIGANDINE

MARGARET ARDEN (d.1583+)

Margaret Arden was the daughter of Edward Arden of Park Hall, Warwickshire (1533-x.December 20, 1583) and Mary Throckmorton (c.1542-1603). She married John Somerville of Edstone, Warwickshire (1560-December 19, 1583). In 1583, convinced that it was his duty as a Catholic to kill Queen Elizabeth, Somerville set out to do so, telling anyone who would listen of his plans. When arrested, he implicated Margaret, her parents, and the family priest, Hugh Hall, who lived with the Ardens in the guise of their gardener. Margaret's father's entry in the Oxford DNB says she was arrested along with her parents. Her husband's entry says only her parents were taken into custody. They were condemned to die. Somerville hanged himself in his cell the night before the execution. Arden was executed. Margaret's mother was released from the Tower of London after her husband's death. According to another account, the priest, Margaret, and her mother were pardoned. Margaret had two daughters by Somerville, Elizabeth (who married Thomas Warwick) and Alice.

MARY ARDEN (c. 1537-1608)

Mary Arden was the youngest daughter of Robert Arden (d. 1556/7) of Wilmcote, Warwickshire by his first wife, Mary Webb (1512-before 1550). Shortly after inheriting ten marks and a property called Asbyes upon her father’s death, Mary married John Shakespeare (d.1601). Although she was the mother of William Shakespeare (1564-1616), little is known of Mary’s life in Stratford. Her inheritance was sold during the 1570s to keep the family out of debt. She had seven children besides William: Joan (b.1558), Margaret (1562-3), Gilbert (1566-1612), Joan (b.1569), Anne (1571-9), Richard (1574-1613), and Edmund (1580-1607). Mary Arden Shakespeare was buried on September 9, 1608.

MARY ARDEN
see MARY THROCKMORTON

KATHERINE ARDINGTON
see KATHERINE INGLEBY

MARGARET ARGALL
see MARGARET TALKERNE

MARY ARMYNE or ARMINE
see MARY TALBOT

JULIANA ARTHUR (d. November 14, 1592)

Juliana or Julian Arthur was the daughter of William Arthur, Esq. of Clapham, Somerset. She married Robert Hicks or Hickes (c.1524-1557/8), an ironmonger who also operated a retail mercery at the sign of the White Bear at Soper Lane End in Cheapside near the Great Conduit. On his death, Juliana inherited her widow's third, including a life interest in the White Bear as well as in land in London, Bristol, and Gloucestershire. His will, written November 21, 1557 and proved February 22, 1558, also left "my well loved wife" all his land and property in Bristol, with the provision that she pay his mother £10 a year while she lived. Juliana's second husband was Anthony Penn or Penne (d.1572), to whom she was married c.1558. Penn's will, written December 12, 1570 and proved July 17, 1572 again calls Juliana "well beloved wife" and she is his principal beneficiary and executrix. He leaves his son, Anthony Penne, who appears to be from an earlier marriage, only a black gown. It was as Mrs. Penn that Juliana was well known as a London moneylender, although she also carried on the mercery business. She loaned money to such luminaries as Lord Burghley and the earls of Oxford and Kildare and in 1577 the debts owed her totaled £1800. In 1559 she bought a house on St. Peter's Hill where she lived for the remainder of her life. In 1590, she may have rented rooms at £25 a quarter to Thomas Churchyard and other writers. The Oxford-Shakespeare site includes the 17th earl of Oxford among them. She had six sons by Hicks, Sir Michael (October 21, 1543-1612), Francis (January 1545-before 1557), Hilary (January 1546-July 1548), John (March 1548-March 1548), Clement (d.1627), and Sir Baptist (1551-October 18, 1629). The latter was created viscount Campden under the Stuarts. Juliana may be the Mrs. Penne, a gentlewoman, who gave Queen Elizabeth silk knit hose at New Year’s in 1561/2 (or that may have been Sybil Hampden). Dunning letters written by her show, according to her son's biographer, "uneducated but vigorous and distinctive handwriting." For more information see Alan G. R. Smith's Servant of the Cecils: The Life of Sir Michael Hicks and R. G. Lang, “Social Origins and Aspirations of Jacobean London Merchants,” Economic History Review, February 1974.

ANNE ARUNDELL

see ANNE STANLEY

BLANCHE ARUNDELL
see BLANCHE SOMERSET

DOROTHY ARUNDELL (c.1540-1575+)
Dorothy Arundell was the daughter of Sir Thomas Arundell of Wardour (c.1500-x. February 26, 1552) and Margaret Howard (c.1515-October 10, 1572). In 1559, she married Sir Henry Weston (1535-April 11, 1592) and frequently entertained her distant cousin, Queen Elizabeth, at Sutton Place, Guildford. She and Weston had three children, a son who died young, Richard (1564-1613) and Jane. Portrait: a full length likeness measuring 71x40" and said to be by Federigo Zuccaro.

DOROTHY ARUNDELL (c.1560-1613)

Dorothy Arundell was the daughter of Sir John Arundell of Lanherne, Cornwall (c.1530-November 17, 1590) and Anne Stanley (d. September 22, 1602). From 1583-1594, when he was executed, the priest John Cornelius was the Arundell family chaplain. Although Roland Connelly, in Women of the Catholic Resistance in England 1540-1680, confuses Dorothy with her mother, she is probably the one who spoke out at the 1594 trial in an attempt to save Cornelius and the men arrested with him. In her statement, she refers to her mother, and also to Cornelius's mother, who was apparently also living at Chideock Castle at the time of the raid. No women were indicted, but the men were executed. Dorothy left England in 1597 and she and her sister, Gertrude (b.1574), together with Mary Percy, founded the English Bridgettine convent in Brussels, which they then entered. They were professed as nuns on November 21, 1600. At some point prior to this, Dorothy wrote a biography of John Cornelius. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under “Arundell, Dorothy.”

ELIZABETH ARUNDELL (1465-1513+)
Elizabeth Arundell was the daughter of Sir John Arundell of Lanherne (January7, 1421-November 12, 1473) and Catherine Chideock (1423-April 10, 1479). She married Giles Daubeney, later baron Daubeney (January 6, 1451/2-May 21, 1508), before September 17, 1483 and was the mother of Henry (1493-1548), Cecily, and possibly Anne. Although the transcript of her tomb inscription, made in 1600, says she died in 1500, there are records of her after that. In November 1510, she was paid £100 by King Henry. Portrait: effigy on her husband's tomb in Westminster Abbey.

ELIZABETH ARUNDELL

see ELIZABETH DANET

JANE ARUNDELL (by 1506-1577)

Jane Arundell was the daughter of Sir John Arundell of Lanherne, Cornwall (c.1474-February 8, 1545) and his first wife, Eleanor Grey (d. before 1507). She was at least thirty when she went to court as one of Queen Jane Seymour’s maids of honor in 1536. Although at one point there was talk of a marriage with Thomas Cromwell's son Gregory, Jane never wed. Her younger half sister, Mary Arundell, was also one of Queen Jane’s maids of honor and after the queen’s death, Mary having married the earl of Sussex, Jane became part of their household. She was a gentlewoman in Queen Mary's household, then retired to Lanherne. She was buried in St. Mawgan church.

MARGARET ARUNDELL

see MARGARET HOWARD; MARGARET WILLOUGHBY

MARY ARUNDELL (c.1517-October 20, 1557)

The daughter of Sir John Arundell of Lanherne, Cornwall (c.1474-February 8, 1545) and his second wife, Catherine Grenville (d.1545+), Mary Arundell was a maid of honor to Queen Jane Seymour before she married Robert Radcliffe, earl of Sussex (1483-November 27, 1542), on January 14, 1537, as his third wife. She remained at court as one of Queen Jane’s ladies until the queen’s death and returned as one of the Great Ladies of the Household to Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard. She had two sons by Sussex, the king's godson, probably named Henry (March, 1538-d.yng) and John (December 31, 1539-1568). After the earl’s death, Mary married (on December 19, 1545), Henry Fitzalan, earl of Arundel (1512-February 24, 1580), as his second wife. Mary is said by some to have been famous as a translator of Greek and Latin epigrams and the writings of Emperor Severus, but they appear to have confused her with her stepdaughter, Mary Fitzalan. A glimpse of her domestic life and some of her correspondence can be found in M. St. Clare Byrne’s edition of The Lisle Letters. She died at Arundel House (aka Bath Place) on the Strand and was buried in St. Clement Danes on October 30, 1557, but she was later removed to Arundel for reburial. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Arundell, Mary."

MARY ARUNDELL
see MARY WRIOTHESLEY

MARGARET ASCHAM
see MARGARET HARLESTONE

ELIZABETH ASHBURNHAM
see ELIZABETH KENN

ANNE ASHBY (c.1497-1526+)

The daughter of George Ashby of Harefield, Middlesex (d. March 14, 1515), clerk of the signet for the king and master of the swans in the Thames, and Rose Eden, Anne Ashby became the second wife of Francis Lovell (d.1552) in about 1525. Anne is probably the subject of the painting by Hans Holbein the Younger of a woman with a squirrel and a starling. A red squirrel eating a nut is the badge of the Lovell family. She and Lovell had one child, Thomas (April 9, 1526-March 23, 1567). For more details see David J. King’s article, “Who was Holbein’s Lady with a squirrel and starling?” (Apollo, May 2004)

CATHERINE ASHLEY

see CATHERINE BASSETT

CECILY ASHLEY
see CECILY SUTTON

EDITH ASHLEY (d. October 8, 1553)
Edith Ashley was the daughter of Sir Henry Ashley of Wimborne St. Giles, Dorset (d. March 1, 1549) and Radegan Gilbert (c.1495-1538). She was an "old playfellow" of Paul Bushe (1489/90-October 11, 1558), who became first bishop of Bristol in 1542. As soon as it became legal for clergy to take wives, in 1549, Bushe married her, but only a few years later, when Queen Mary took the throne, he was arrested and required to recant and repudiate his wife if he wished to keep his life. He did recant, but he never had to repudiate Edith. She died while he was held in the Tower of London, possibly in childbirth. They did have a son, Paul, who was raised by his maternal uncle, Sir Henry Ashley (1519-1588). Ashley was married to Catherine Bassett, whose mother, Lady Lisle, was a devout Catholic (see HONOR GRENVILLE; CATHERINE BASSETT). Edith was buried at the east end of the north choir in Bristol Cathedral.

JANE OR JOAN ASHLEY, ASTLEY, OR ASTELEY (c.1517-c.1551?)

Jane’s parentage is unknown but she had a brother named John Asteley who was a mercer in London. She may be the Mrs. Assheley listed as a maid of honor to Anne Boleyn in January 1534. She was definitely a maid of honor to Queen Jane Seymour, and then married Peter Mewtas (Meautas, Meautys, de Meautis) (d.1562) in 1537 (before October 9). In 1540 and 1541, Jane Mewtas was apparently in the household of Prince Edward. Henry VIII's household accounts list the expense of 10s for "a dozen handkerchiefs garnished with gold" in each of those years. Peter Mewtas was knighted in 1544. Their children were Cecily (a maid of honor), Frances, Henry, Thomas, and Hercules (d.1587). Sir Peter Mewtas married his second wife, also named Jane, by 1552. The will of Jane, Lady Mewtas in 1577, leaves items to Hercules Mewtas, identified as her son, but it was common in the sixteenth century to refer to a stepson as a son. Hercules is generally believed to have been Jane Asteley's son, born around 1548. Portrait: drawing by Hans Holbein the Younger (c.1536) labeled “Lady Meutas.”

JANE ASHLEY (d.1610+)
Jane Ashley was the daughter of Anthony Ashley (Astley) of Dameham, Hampshire and Dorothy Lyte. She had three brothers deemed worthy of entries in the Oxford DNB, Sir Anthony (1551-1627), Robert (1565-1641), and Francis (1569-1635). She married Sir Francis Langley (1548-1602), builder of the Swan theater, who is also the subject of a DNB entry, as well as a full-length biography (A London Life in the Brazen Age: Francis Langley, 1548-1602 by William Ingram). Jane had at least seven children by Langley, including Jane (b.1586) and Francis (1590-1592). They lived in Cheapside until about 1591, when they took up residence the manor of Paris Garden in the Bankside (Southwark). Soon after, Langley erected the Swan. His biographer suggests that either Jane or one of her children came up with the name. In 1599, according to the account given several years later by Alice Pattenson, a widow who lived in the Langley household, Jane told her "that her husband Francis Langley had caused her to go to her brother Sir Anthony Ashley, knight, and to offer the sale of the said manor unto him" for £2,000. Ashley, Pattenson said, told Jane "to make the best of her land and to sell it to whom they would" but "the price was too much . . . he would not buy it nor any more land till he was out of debt." Mrs. Pattenson suggested that Hugh Browker might buy the manor and offered to talk to him, which she did. When Langley died, he left behind many unresolved lawsuits, numerous debts, and no will. Jane was granted the administration of his goods in lieu of a will on July 24, 1602. She continued to live in the manor house and when she discovered that Hugh Browker had no intention of buying Paris Garden, she brought suit against him for fraud. At the same time, her brother sued the estate for a judgment he had earlier won against Langley in the Queen's Bench for £600. Other claims against the estate followed, which Jane made an attempt to settle. She was still living in the manor house in 1605 and on June 4, 1606 she remarried, taking as her second husband George Delahaye of Reigate, Surrey (d.1608). When he died, leaving a will that distributed most of his estate elsewhere, Jane appears to have returned to Paris Garden, where she was still living in 1610.

KAT ASHLEY or ASTLEY

see KATHERINE CHAMPERNOWNE

CATHERINE ASHTON

see CATHERINE GORDON

KATHERINE ASHTON
see KATHERINE WARNEFORD

CATHERINE ASKE (d.1507)
Catherine Aske was the daughter of Sir John Aske of Aughton, Yorkshire (1442-June 1497) and Elizabeth Bigod (1443-1507+). She married Sir John Hastings of Fenwick, Yorkshire (1466-July 12, 1504) in about 1496, as his second wife. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, who died before her mother and was buried in Hymmyngburgh Church. In her will, made on February 25, 1506/7, Dame Catherine left clothing and jewelry to a variety of churches and also to family members, including her best beads to her mother. Her servant and gentlewoman, Elizabeth Leners received three black gowns, two plain velvet bonnets, a frontlet of tawny satin, and a kirtle of crimson cloth. Dame Catherine asked that a stone be laid over her late husband at Norton Priory and another over her grave in the parish church of Askton (Aughton?).

ELIZABETH ASKE (c.1506-1568)

There are significant differences between the details given in the Oxford DNB entry for Elizabeth Aske and the information in online genealogies. In this case, I find the genealogies more convincing. The DNB version appears in brackets. Elizabeth Aske was the daughter of Roger Aske of Aske Hall, Yorkshire (1483-1510)[d. before 1510] and Margery or Margaret Sedgwick, who married Aske in 1502 [Margery Wycliffe (d. before 1510)]. After her father’s death, Elizabeth's guardian was Ralph Bowes. Elizabeth married his son, Richard Bowes (1488-November 10, 1558) [b.c.1497] in 1521 and bore him fifteen children, including Ralph, George (1527-1580), Christopher, Francis, Margery (1533-December 1560) [Marjorie (b.c.1534)], Robert (1535-1597), Bridget, Anne, Jane, Elizabeth, and Muriel. Margery married reformer John Knox in July 1553. In June 1556, Elizabeth left her husband and accompanied her daughter into exile on the Continent, then to Scotland, where Margery died. There were some who accused Elizabeth of having more than a "spiritual" relationship with her son-in-law. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Bowes [née Aske], Elizabeth."

ANNE ASKEW (c.1521-July 16, 1546)

Anne Askew was the daughter of Sir William Askew of Stallingborough, Lincolnshire (d.1541) and Elizabeth Wrottesley. She is unlikely ever to have been a maid of honor to Queen Katherine Parr, as some accounts claim. Anne married in 1536. Katherine did not become queen until 1543. Anne’s husband, Thomas Kyme of Friskney, had been betrothed to Anne’s sister, Martha. After Martha’s death, the younger sister was substituted for the older one. After giving birth to two children, Anne’s Zwinglian convictions led to disputes with the clergymen of Lincoln and eventually to her eviction from Kyme’s house in December, 1544. Anne borrowed money from one of her brothers and set out for London with a maidservant. She was arrested there for heresy but acquitted in June, 1545. Arrested a second time in 1546, she was tortured and finally burnt at the stake. Biography: see portions of Derek Wilson’s Tudor Tapestry; Oxford DNB entry under "Askew [married name Kyme], Anne." Portraits: the portrait by Hans Eworth labeled “Anne Ayscough” was not painted until 1560 and is probably Anne Clinton Askew.

ANNE ASTLEY
see ANNE WOOD

JOAN ASTLEY or ASLEY (d. 1554+)
Joan Astley or Asley, former nun at Sempringham, married Christopher Hudson (d.1559), previously a canon at Catley, probably after the spring of 1549, which was when the marriage of ex-religious was first allowed in England. In 1554, they were living at Dorrington, Lincolnshire, near Sleaford, where Christopher was vicar. His pension was £2 and hers was £2 6s. 8d. and he earned £6 a year as vicar. It is likely they were forced to separate soon after, since during the reign of Mary Tudor clerical marriage once again became illegal.

MARGARET ASTLEY
see MARGARET GREY

JANE ASTON (d. 1501)
Jane Aston was the daughter of Sir Richard Aston of Aston, Cheshire (d.1492) and Maud Massy. She married first Roger Dutton of Cheshire (1431-1499), by whom she had a son, Lawrence (d.1526). Her second husband was Sir Richard Strangeways of Yorkshire (d.c.1500). On October 28, 1500, when she made her will, she was a lodger in the house of the Friars Preachers at York. Most of this document deals with instructions for her burial and the prayers to be said for her soul and the souls of her two husbands, but she did leave small bequests to her five goddaughters, her waiting gentlewoman, Elizabeth Eland, another woman servant, Agnes Nottyngham, on the condition that they remained in her service until her death. Jane added a codicil on March 21, 1500/1 to leave her "syster Warwycke" her best girdle and her daughter-in-law, Margaret Dutton, a red velvet bonnet. The will was proved on February 3, 1501/2.

ANNE ATKINSON or ATKINS (d.1611)
Anne Atkinson was the daughter of Sir Robert Atkinson of Stowell, Gloucestershire (d.1607) and Joyce Ashfield. Her father was a barrister of the Inner Temple with a house in Chancery Lane. She married Sir William Wentworth of Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire (1562-1614). Their children were Anne (1591-July 30, 1633), Thomas (April 13, 1593-May 12, 1641), William (d.1644), Michael (b.1600), Margaret (1602-1626), Elizabeth (1603-1661+), John (d.1625), Robert, Matthew (1605-1635), Philip (1608-1634), and George (1609-1645+). Portrait: effigy in Holy Trinity Church, Wentworth Rotherham, Yorkshire.

MARY ATWATER
see MARY WATERS

JANE AUDER, ALDER or AWDER (c.1524-1613)
Jane Auder was the daughter of George Auder (1490-1560), alderman of Cambridge, and his wife Agnes (d. April 1576). On November 13, 1540, she married William Turner, botanist, physician, and Dean of Wells (c.1510-July 7,1568). They were wed in secret because Turner was a clergyman who had taken a vow of chastity. It was against the law for such persons to marry. The penalty was death. Soon after the wedding, the newlyweds fled religious persecution in England. They spent time in Ferrara and Bologna, where Turner studied medicine, and then lived in various Rhineland cities. All three of their children, Peter (1542-May 27, 1614), Winifred, and Elizabeth, were born during this exile. Returning to England after the death of Henry VIII, Turner became the personal physician and auxiliary chaplain of Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset and Lord Protector, a position that ended abruptly when Somerset was arrested in 1549. From 1549 until Turner’s appointment as Dean of Wells in March 1551, the family lived in considerable poverty. The first part of Turner’s Herball was published before the death of Edward VI forced the family back into exile during Mary Tudor’s reign. Once again they lived in several different cities, including Cologne, Worms, and Weissenburg. Under Elizabeth, Jane and her husband had a home in Crutched Friars, London. Only a few months after Turner’s death, Jane married again and once again her marriage was controversial in religious circles. Her second husband was Richard Cox (c.1500-July 22,1581), whose first marriage c.1547 had raised eyebrows because his wife publicly resided with him in Christ Church. Cox, who eventually became Bishop of Ely, openly defended the right of priests to marry and remarried quickly when he became a widower. This displeased the queen. By the end of 1575, there were a number of complaints against both Cox and Jane. Lord North accused them of corruption and one of their tenants called Jane “Jezebel.” These matters appear to have been settled by Cox relinquishing property, in particular to Lord North. In 1579, Cox asked to retire and had negotiated the grant of Doddington Manor for life and an annuity of £200, but the arrangements were never finalized and he died while still serving as bishop. He left goods valued at £1334 to his widow and seven children. It is unclear how many, if any, of the children were Jane’s.

ELEANOR AUDLEY
see ELEANOR PERCY

ELIZABETH AUDLEY

see ELIZABETH GREY; ELIZABETH TOUCHET

MARGARET AUDLEY (1539-January 10, 1564)

Margaret Audley was one of the wealthiest young women in England when she was married at thirteen to Lord Henry Dudley (1531-August 27,1557), younger son of the duke of Northumberland. The only child of Thomas Audley, 1st baron Audley (1488-April 30,1544) and Elizabeth Grey (c.1510-c.1564), she had inherited lands worth £1000 per annum, including Cree Church Place in London and Audley End on the outskirts of Saffron Walden. These were confiscated when the duke was found guilty of treason and executed. Henry Dudley was restored in blood on July 5,1556 and his wife's lands were returned, but he died in France after the Battle of Saint Quentin the following year. Early in 1558, Margaret was betrothed to Thomas Howard, 4^th duke of Norfolk (March 10,1538-June 2,1572), but they were obliged to wait for a papal dispensation to wed since his first wife had been Margaret’s first cousin. They were still waiting when Queen Mary died and Queen Elizabeth succeeded, restoring Protestantism to England. They wed quietly, without the dispensation, during the first days of the new reign and Parliament ratified the marriage in March, 1559. After participating in the coronation, Margaret and her new husband retired to Kenninghall and did not return to London until the following autumn. The marriage appears to have been a love match and produced four children, Elizabeth (1560-d. yng), Thomas (1561-1626), Margaret (1562-1591), and William (December, 1563-1640). So great was Margaret’s desire to rejoin her husband for Christmas in 1563 that she left Audley End when she was still weak from childbirth. She caught a chill on the journey and died at Norwich on January 10, 1564. Portraits: by Hans Eworth, 1562, a companion piece to one of her husband.

FRANÇOISE d’AUMENT
see FRANÇOISE de MAILLÉ

ALICE AVENON
see ALICE HUCTHEN

MARY AVERY
see MARY DALE

FRANCES AYLMER (d.1540) (maiden name unknown)
Frances Aylmer (also spelled Aelmer and Elmer) was a lady of the privy chamber to Princess Mary Tudor from at least 1525 until 1533 and returned to her service in 1536. She served as Mary's proxy when Mary was godmother to one of the children of Lord William Howard. In mid-July 1533, Thomas Cromwell wrote to Lord Hussey, Chamberlain of Mary's household, ordering him to have Mary’s jewels and plate inventoried and placed in the custody of Frances Aylmer. This did not happen. The countess of Salisbury, who was Lady Mistress of the household, refused to comply unless she received written orders from the king himself. Frances is probably the same Frances Aelmer whose will was proved March 21, 1540, since she makes reference in it to Sir William and Lady Butts (Margaret Bacon), who were also members of Mary's household. In a query to Notes and Queries in 1896, citing that will, the writer suggests that Frances might have been the mother of John Aylmer, Bishop of London (1520/21-June 3, 1594). This is certainly a possibility. The Oxford DNB entry for Aylmer list his parents as unknown. Online sources say he was the younger son of John Aylmer of Aylmer Hall in Tilney, Norfolk (John Aylmer had another son, Sir Robert Aylmer) but do not give life dates or a name for this senior John Aylmer’s wife.

FRANCES AYLWORTH (c.1556-July 4, 1605)
Frances Aylworth was the daughter of John Aylworth or Ayleworth of London and Polstow, Devon and Elizabeth Ashton. On March 3, 1584 she married Sir Thomas Reynell of West Ogwell, Devon (before 1555-April 8, 1618). Their children were Jane, Frances, Agnes, Lucy, Mary, Cecilia, Sir Richard (c.1584-February 10, 1647/8), Sir Thomas (1589-1665), and Walter (March 10, 1591-1627). Portrait: by Robert Peake, 1597.

ANNE AYSCOUGH
see ANNE CLINTON

EMMA AYSCOUGH (1550-1600+)
Emma Ayscough or Ascough was married twice. Her first husband, married c.1570, was Thomas Estcourt of Shipton Moyne, Gloucestershire (1545-1599). They had a number of children. Those still living in 1599 were Thomas (1571-1624), Edmund (1573-1618), Elizabeth, Richard, and Anne. In 1600, Emma married Sir Henry Blomer of Hatherop. Portrait: effigy in Shipton Moyne.

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