A WHO’S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN: C-Ch

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her very out-of-date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)

 

FRANCISCA de CÁCERES or CARCERES (d.1513+)

Francisca or Francesca de Cáceres or Carceres was one of the Spanish ladies who came to England with Catherine of Aragon when she married Prince Arthur in 1501. She shared Catherine's poverty during the years after Arthur's death and was one of those who wanted her mistress to return to Spain. There are a number of contradictory accounts of her behavior from Catherine's biographers. Garrett Mattingly calls Francisca "the gayest, most vivacious and spirited of her maids." Discouraged by the princess's stubborn refusal to consider leaving England, she intrigued with the Spanish Ambassador, Gutierre Gomez de Fuensalida, in 1508 and early 1509, visiting him in his lodgings at the house of the elderly Genoese banker, Francesco Grimaldi. Fuensalida and Grimaldi had brought the second half of Catherine of Aragon's dowry to England in February of 1508. Grimaldi was the London representative of the banking house to which the crown of Aragon owed a great deal of money. Convinced that it was Catherine's confessor, Fray Diego, whose influence prevented the princess from agreeing to return to Spain, Francisca encouraged Fuensalida to have him removed. This attempt backfired, however, when Catherine learned of Francisca's meddling. She scolded her for her disloyalty and ordered her never to see Fuensalida or Grimaldi again. Again according to Mattingly, Francisca "fled by night to the home of her elderly lover and was married to him before Catherine discovered her whereabouts." In a letter to her father, Ferdinand of Spain, Catherine claimed Francisca had been Fuensalida's mistress and that he had married her off to his landlord as a cover for their affair, but there appears to be no basis for this charge. Only two months after Francisca married Grimaldi, King Henry VII died and Catherine married Henry VIII and became queen of England. Had Francisca waited, she might have married an English nobleman rather than an Italian commoner. On the other hand, Grimaldi was wealthy. When Don Luis de Caroz replaced Fuensalida as Spanish Ambassador in 1510, Francisca was one of those who supplied him with court gossip, even though she was no longer at court. She was probably the one responsible for the story, in May 1510, that Henry VIII was involved with the duke of Buckingham's sister, Anne Stafford. In 1513, Francisca asked Catherine for a reference. Perhaps, by then, her elderly husband had died. Catherine replied that she could not recommend her to a foreign princess because "she is so perilous a woman that it shall be dangerous." By one account, Catherine then enlisted the aid of Thomas Wolsey to send Francisca back to Spain, but other sources say that Francisca secured a place with King Henry's younger sister, Mary Tudor, and Mattingly says that she wanted to return to Catherine but that, although "she later enlisted no less an advocate than Margaret of Austria, Catherine's former sister-in-law, in her cause, Catherine never took her back."

ALICE CAESAR
see ALICE GRANT

AMATA (or JANE) CALTHORPE

see AMATA BOLEYN

ANNE CALTHORPE (1509-between August 22, 1579 and March 28, 1582)

Anne Calthorpe was the daughter of Sir Philip Calthorpe of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk (c.1464-1535) and Jane Blennerhassett (c.1473-April 27, 1550). She married Henry Radcliffe, 2nd earl of Sussex (c.1506-February 17, 1557), as his second wife, at some point before November 21, 1538. She was the mother of Egremont (d.1578), Maud (d. yng), and Frances (1552-1602) Radcliffe, but the marriage was stormy. Anne was at court when Katherine Parr was queen and shared her evangelical beliefs. Along with other ladies at court, she was implicated in the heresy of Anne Askew. In 1549 she was examined by a commission "for errors in scripture." She separated from her husband between May 1547 and June 1549. Barbara J. Harris, in a footnote to her essay "Aristocratic Women in Early Tudor England," says that he threw her out of the house after Thomas Wriothesley, earl of Southampton, accused her of adultery. She was said to have entered into a "bigamous marriage" with Sir Edmund Knyvett (1508-1551). According to a rather rambling letter from Anne to her mother, dated September 13, 1549 from Newington, "a place of vile sort for all godly and worldly respects," and included by Mary Anne Everett Green in Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies, the charges against her were all lies. She specifically says she did not "seek, or intend to seek, Sir Edmund Knyvett for my husband." From her account, she had 30s a week from Sussex during the time of the lawsuit, until she appealed. Thereafter she got nothing. He had evicted her without "money, men, women, meat, nor more than two gowns of velvet uncomely for my misery to be worn." At times she refers to the "suit" and at others "the bill made by the earl of Southampton," but she blames everything on Southampton, although she gives no reason for his enmity. She claims he tricked her into signing a false confession by persuading her she would not be charged if she did so. She says that confession contained "shameful lies" and that she signed "in my extreme weakness of wit and body." Now she has realized that the bill has no force in law, since "confession is no just or able cause of divorce, as, if it were, I have confessed none in the bill, nor anything dishonest, save that opinion of matrimony, and Mr. Knyvett's coming thither three times, which lies I am so able to disprove, that . . . I may now fearfully deny it truly, the which bill being avoided, they have nothing to charge me with." She asks her mother to convey this letter—her "declaration and bill of complaint"—to King Edward, or more likely, to the Lord Protector. Her mother, who had apparently believed the lies, was not able to do much for Anne, even if she found the letter convincing. She died some seven months later. Anne still had friends. In 1551, the will of Sir Charles Brandon (illegitimate son of the duke of Suffolk) left £200 "To my lady of Sussex, late the wife of the Earl of Sussex." In September of 1552, Anne was arrested for dabbling in treasonous prophecies (sorcery) and spent five and a half months in the Tower of London. The Privy Council imprisoned two men, Hartlepoole and Clarke, for "lewd prophesies and other slanderous matters" touching the king and the council. Hartlepoole's wife and the countess of Sussex were jailed as "a lesson to beware of sorcery." According to a letter from the duke of Northumberland, cited by David Starkey in Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne, Anne had also treasonously claimed that one of Edward IV's sons was still alive. Within eighteen months of Mary Tudor's accession to the throne, Anne fled abroad, probably to avoid persecution for her religious beliefs. Meanwhile, in November 1553, a bill was introduced in Parliament against "the adulterous living of the late countess of Sussex." It did not pass. In 1554, Sussex attempted to bastardize her children with a bill in Parliament but this also failed. In November 1555, an act was passed barring the countess from enjoying her dower and jointure rights, but this was because she'd left the country without permission, not because she'd been found guilty of adultery. To prevent this, she would have to "repair into the realm, within a time limited, and make her purgation before the bishop of her diocese." Sussex's attempt to bastardize the children through an act of Parliament was apparently abandoned, but he may have continued ecclesiastical proceedings. He refers to Anne in his will as his "divorced wife." According to Sussex, she was “unnatural and unkind.” Anne returned to England at some point before December 1556 when, motivated by a desire to help Princess Elizabeth escape a forced marriage to the Catholic duke of Savoy, she twice met with the French Ambassador in England, in disguise, to broach the subject of spiriting the princess away to France. When he discouraged the idea, Anne went to France herself, taking with her three of her ladies and three servants, to study the situation there in person. When she returned to England in April 1557, after her estranged husband's death, she was imprisoned in the Fleet and questioned about her activities. In 1558, there was yet another bill in Parliament concerning the countess of Sussex, this one to settle the matter of her jointure. Susan Doran, in "The Finances of an Elizabethan Nobleman and Royal Servant: a Case Study of Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex" in Historical Research, Vol 61, Issue 146 (October 1988), states that Anne had been deprived of her jointure by a 1555 act of Parliament but that on the death of the 2nd earl, she took possession of the Lincolnshire estates and Shimpling in Suffolk, considering them rightfully hers. This prompted a lawsuit. In May 1560, the 3rd earl paid Anne an annual rent of £162 2s. 5d. In 1574, this was changed, at her request, to a lump sum of £600. Before 1559 (Doran says by 1557), Anne married Andrew Wyse (d. by January 26, 1568), a former royal official in Ireland. In 1559, he was in prison. A number of genealogies online list Wyse as the second husband of Anne's daughter, Frances, but the dates make this impossible. Furthermore, the Patent Rolls of Chancery in Ireland clearly state that Wyse was married to Anne, dowager countess of Sussex. They had two children, Elizabeth (baptized January 2, 1559 in London), who married Alexander Fitton on October 31, 1578, and Anthony. Andrew Wyse returned to Ireland with his family in 1564. I have not been able to discover Anne's whereabouts after the death of her second husband, but she apparently survived him by more than a decade.

ELIZABETH CALTHORPE (1521-May 26, 1578)
Elizabeth Calthorpe was the daughter of Sir Philip Calthorpe of Erwarton or Ewerton, Suffolk (1480-April 17, 1549) and Amata Boleyn (c.1485-1543+). Her first husband, married c.1549, was Sir Henry Parker (c.1513-January 9, 1552), by whom she had a son, Sir Philip (d.1604), who inherited the manor of Erwarton from her. After Sir Henry’s death, on November 16, 1552, she married Sir William Woodhouse of Waxham, Suffolk (d. November 22, 1563). They had three children, Thomas (b.1554), William (b.1556), and Elizabeth (b.1559). Her third husband, married in 1564/5, was Sir Dru Drury of Riddlesworth and Lynstead (1531-1617). Elizabeth was buried in a magnificent chest tomb in the north chancel aisle of St. Martin at Palace Church, Norwich. Unfortunately, it does not feature an effigy or portrait brass.

JANE CALTHORPE
see JANE BLENNERHASSETT

MARGERY CALTHORPE (c.1462-1529+)
Margery Calthorpe was the daughter of Sir John Calthorpe of Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk (c.1431-1469+) and Elizabeth Wentworth. She became abbess of Brosyard in Suffolk, a nunnery of minoresses of the Order of St. Clare, by 1500. She wrote to Thomas Cromwell in May 1529 concerning an annuity "which this thirty-four years wrongfully hath been withholden from me." She offers him twenty nobles if he will obtain the amount in arrears, as well as the current payments. She describes herself as being "in that poverty I am not able to wage any law with him, or give any money to the maintenance of my quarrel." She asks him to take the matter to Cardinal Wolsey, if he thinks that best. She does not say who it is that owes her the annuity, although it seems most likely that it was her father’s heir, Margery’s brother, Sir Philip Calthorpe (c.1464-1535)

AGNES CALVERLEY (c.1474-c.1550)
Agnes Calverley was the daughter of Sir William Calverley of Calverley, Yorkshire (d.1506/7) and Alice Savile (d.1529). In about 1517, she married Sir John Vavasour of Weston, Yorkshire (c.1473-c.1549/50) as his second wife. Sir John wrote his will on December 1, 1549 and in it left all goods not bequeathed to others to his wife, Agnes, and named her as executor. The only children he mentions by name are Thomas and Anne. On January 16, 1549/50, now a widow, Agnes made her will. In it she mentions five daughters, Frances Fawkes, Dorothy Kygheley, Elizabeth Johnson, Isabel Vavasour, and Anne Vavasour, but it is impossible to tell which are daughters and which stepdaughters. Among other bequests, she also left "myne owne nag" to her curate. Various genealogical sources online also credit her with a daughter named Alice who married Walter Calverley (1483-1537) and another named Grace (c.1518-1560) who wed Robert Sotheby. One also places Agnes in the previous generation as the daughter of Sir William Calverley (1527-1488) and Agnes Tempest, who were the parents of the Sir William who died in 1506/7. Also curious is the fact that Sir John's will was proved by his executor (Agnes) on January 25, 1550/1 while Agnes's own will was proved on January 31, 1550/1 by her executors.

AGNES CALVERLEY
see AGNES WOODHULL

PHILIPPA CALVERLEY

see PHILIPPA BROOKE

ANNE CAMPBELL
see ANNE CORNWALLIS

MARGARET CAMPION (d.c.1586)
Margaret Campion was the daughter of Thomas Campion, a London merchant tailor, and Sainte Rede. She married William Blackwell, Clerk of London from c.1539-c.1570, and was the mother of Edward, Mary Thomas, William, George, Richard, Anne, Margaret, and one other daughter who married a man named Draper. They lived in the parish of St. Andrew's in the ward of Castle Baynard in a house Blackwell bought from the bishop of Ely. He wrote his will on June 7, 1567 and it was proved October 17, 1570. He left his wife ironworks in Sussex, her manor of Campions in Epping, Essex, and the London house and made her his executor. In 1584, the same year she was presented as a recusant, Margaret entertained the countess of Northumberland at the house in London. She made her will on May 14, 1585 and it was proved July 4, 1586. She left the house to her daughter Anne, wife of George Bacon, for a term of three years, after which it was to be sold and the profits divided with Anne's brother William. To her daughter Mary, who was having marital difficulties, she left an annuity to be paid only "during the time of any breach between her and her husband, William Walpole."

ELIZABETH CAPEL (c.1485-December 25, 1558)
Elizabeth Capel was the daughter of William Capel or Capell (1458-September 6, 1515), a draper who was Lord Mayor of London in 1503-4, and Margaret Arundell (1462-1522). In 1505 she married William Paulet (1485-March 10, 1572), who was created Marquess of Winchester in 1551. Their children were John, 2nd marquess (1517-November 4, 1576), Thomas, Chediok, Giles, Elizabeth, Margaret, Marjorie, and Eleanor (d. September 26, 1558). As marchioness of Winchester, Elizabeth attended Queen Mary at her coronation on October 1, 1553 and was train bearer for the queen at her wedding to Philip of Spain on July 25, 1554 in Winchester Cathedral.

MARY CAPEL
see MARY BROWNE; MARY ROOS

CATHERINE CAPELL
see CATHERINE MANNERS

ANNE CAREW (d.1544+)
Anne Carew was the daughter of Sir Richard Carew of Beddington, Surrey (d. May 18, 1520) and Malyn Oxenbridge (1475-October 1544) and the sister of Sir Nicholas Carew (x.1539). She was at court, participating in revels, in 1517-1518, although she does not seem to have been part of the royal household. She married Nicholas Leigh of Addington, Surrey (d.1565), who built Addington Place in the 1540s. Their children were John, Malyn, Elizabeth, Mary, and Anne. Portrait: stone effigy in St. Mary's, Addington.

ANNE CAREW (d. November 3, 1587)

Anne Carew was the daughter of Sir Nicholas Carew of Beddington, Surrey (1490-March 3, 1539) and Elizabeth Bryan (c.1495-1546). Impoverished by her father’s execution for treason she married Sir Nicholas Throckmorton (1515-1571) during the reign of Edward VI. As Lady Throckmorton, Anne was with Lady Jane Grey during her nine-day reign and was chosen by Queen Jane as her proxy to stand as godmother at a christening on July 19, 1553. Anne duly left the Tower for the church and after young Guildford Underhill was christened, she had dinner at her own house. By the time she returned to the Tower, Mary Tudor had been declared queen and even Jane Grey's parents had fled. Anne tried to do likewise but was prevented. She was held along with Jane, Guildford Dudley, and the duchess of Northumberland. She was later freed, but her husband then became involved in Wyatt’s Rebellion in February of 1554 and was imprisoned in the Tower. At that time, Anne was pregnant with her first child. Through a series of lucky circumstances, Throckmorton was acquitted in April. They lived quietly for the remainder of Queen Mary's reign. Under Elizabeth Tudor, Throckmorton was ambassador to France from 1559-1562. Anne did not wish to live there. When she was ill of an ague in October-December 1559, her husband returned to England to visit her. In May 1561, she did join him in France, leaving her children in the care of Francis Goldsmith, but she hated it there and refused to learn the language. In March the following year she returned to England, pregnant with her son Nicholas. His godfathers were Robert Dudley and Henry Sidney. Anne was instrumental in having her husband replaced as ambassador in 1562 by Sir Thomas Smith. In England, they had a house in London next to St. Katherine Cree and used Beddington, Anne's brother's house in Surrey, as their country estate. In 1569, Throckmorton was again imprisoned, this time on suspicion of supporting the Northern Rebellion. He was soon released, but he died two years later, suddenly, while eating a salad at the earl of Leicester's house. His lands were left to Anne for life, along with the care of their eldest son, William (1554-1623), who seems to have been incompetent to inherit. The other children were Arthur (1558-1626), Robert (b.1559), Thomas (d.1590), Henry (d.yng.), Nicholas (June 1562-1643), and Elizabeth (April 16, 1565-1647), none of whom were of age when Throckmorton died. Six months later, Anne remarried, taking as her second husband Adrian Stokes (1518-November 2, 1585), widower of Frances Brandon, duchess of Suffolk. They settled at Beaumanor in Leicestershire. In early 1579, Anne was in London and often at court, paving the way for her daughter to join the queen's household. She was again in London and at court in May 1583 and finally, on November 8, 1584, Bess Throckmorton was sworn in as a maid of honor at Hampton Court. Anne was left well provided for by her second husband's death, inheriting the manor of Langacre, Devon, goods and furniture from his London house, the lease of his house in Leicester and the goods there, and other goods, including plate and portraits, but Anne's health was failing by the autumn of 1587. She was buried alongside her first husband in St. Katherine Cree Church in London. Portrait: by Hieronimo Custodis.

ANNE CAREW
see ANN CARY; ANNE CHAPMAN

EDITH CAREW
see EDITH LATIMER

ELIZABETH CAREW

see ELIZABETH BRYAN; ELIZABETH NORWICH

JOYCE CAREW
see JOYCE CLOPTON

MALYN CAREW
see MALYN OXENBRIDGE

MARGARET CAREW

see MARGARET SKIPWITH

MARTHA CAREW

see MARTHA DENNY

MARY CAREW

see MARY HODDY; MARY NORRIS; MARY WOTTON

ANNE CAREY

see ANNE MORGAN

CATHERINE CAREY (1523/4-January 15, 1569)

Catherine Carey was the daughter of Mary Boleyn (c.1498-1543) and William Carey (c.1495-June 23,1528). She was likely Mary’s oldest child and therefore may have been fathered by King Henry VIII. If she was his daughter, he never acknowledged his paternity. Alison Weir in her biography of Mary Boleyn puts Catherine's likely date of birth at March or April 1524 and believes she was the king's daughter. Weir also suggests she may have been part of Elizabeth Tudor's household from 1533-1539. Catherine came to court as a maid of honor to Anne of Cleves in January of 1540. She married Sir Francis Knollys (1514-1596) on April 26 of that same year and they had sixteen children, including Henry (1541-1582/3), Mary (b.1542), Lettice (1543-December 25,1634), William (1545-1632), Edward (1546-1580), Maud (b.1548), Elizabeth (b.1549), Robert (1550-1625), Richard (1552-1596), Francis (1553-1646), Anne (1555-August 30, 1608), Thomas (b.1558), Catherine (1559-December 30, 1632), and Dudley (1562-1562). Catherine accompanied her husband to the Continent in September 1553. They returned to England, then left again with at least five of their children. They were in exile in Basel in June 1557 and later settled in Frankfurt. Catherine was back in England by January 14, 1559. She and her “sister” (probably Anne Morgan, her brother Henry’s wife), became ladies of the privy chamber to Queen Elizabeth. Catherine’s children were also at court. In 1560, she and her son Robert were granted Taunton Manor for life. One of her duties was to care for the queen's parrot. She died at Hampton Court and the queen paid for her funeral, which cost £640 2s.11d. She was buried in Westminster Abbey. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Knollys [née Carey], Katherine." Portraits: portrait in the Pembroke collection, 1561; by Steven van der Meulen,early 1562 when she was 38 and pregnant with her last child, Dudley; monument to Catherine and her husband in the church of Rothersfield Greys. Mary Boleyn's other biographer, Josephine Wilkinson, also identifies a portrait similar to those elsewhere identified as Lady Catherine Grey and her son as Catherine Carey and her child, but this is unlikely.

CATHERINE CAREY (c.1546-February 24, 1603)

Catherine Carey was the daughter of Henry Carey, Baron Hunsdon (March 4, 1525/6-July 23, 1596) and Anne Morgan (1529-January 19, 1606/7). She came to court in January 1560 as a gentlewoman of the privy chamber and quickly became one of Elizabeth Tudor’s favorites. In July 1563 she married Charles Howard, later earl of Nottingham (1536-December 14,1624). They had ten children, including William (1577-1615), Charles (1579-1642), Elizabeth (d.1646), Margaret, and Frances (d.1628). The children were brought up at Reigate, but Catherine spent her time at court. She held various posts, including Mistress of Robes and Mistress of Jewels. She twice entertained the queen at her husband’s house in King Street, Westminster, in 1585 and again in 1587. As a reward for her long service, she was granted the manor of Chelsea in 1591. According to legend, the countess of Nottingham was responsible for the earl of Essex’s execution in 1601. The story goes that Essex was supposed to have given a ring (a gift to him from the queen) to a messenger with directions to give it to Lady Scrope, Lady Nottingham’s sister, who sympathized with his situation. The messenger mistook the sisters and gave the ring to Lady Nottingham and, as she was not an Essex supporter, she kept it. On her deathbed she is said to have confessed her deception to the queen, who cried out “God may forgive you, Madam, but I never can!” The problem with this story is that Lady Nottingham was not at court in 1601. She fell ill in January of that year and her health continued to decline until her death at Arundel House two years later. Her passing so demoralized the queen that Elizabeth lost her own will to live. Catherine was buried at Chelsea three days before Queen Elizabeth was interred in Westminster Abbey. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Howard [née Carey], Katherine." Portraits: in Nottingham Castle museum; one by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger; a miniature by Isaac Oliver

ELEANOR CAREY (c.1496-1528+)

Eleanor Carey was the daughter of Thomas Carey of Chilton (c.1455/60-1500) and Margaret Spencer (1472-1536) and the sister of Mary Boleyn’s first husband, William Carey (d.June 23, 1528). She was a nun at Wilton Abbey, a large Benedictine nunnery located some seventy miles from London. When the abbess, Cecily Willoughby, died on April 24, 1528, the prioress, Isabel Jordan or Jordayn, whose sister was the abbess at Syon, was the natural successor. She was "ancient, wise, and discreet." But Eleanor Carey's name was also proposed, and Eleanor had the backing of Anne Boleyn. Cardinal Wolsey, supporting Isabel Jordan, ordered that Eleanor’s background be thoroughly investigated. It soon came out that Eleanor had borne two children out of wedlock to two different priests and had more recently been involved with a servant in Lord Willoughby de Broke's household. Eleanor's eldest sister, also a nun at Wilton, was then proposed as a compromise candidate. This may have been Anne Carey (c.1493-1550). In July, the king decided that none of them should have the post, but Wolsey went ahead with Dame Isabel’s appointment anyway, precipitating the first violent disagreement between king and cardinal. What happened to Eleanor Carey after that is unknown. Side note: Philip W. Sergeant's The Life of Anne Boleyn mistakenly names Elizabeth Shelford as abbess of Wilton, rather than Cecily Willoughby. Elizabeth Shelford was abbess of Shaftesbury in Dorset from 1505 until her death in 1528.

ELIZABETH CAREY (May 24,1576-April 23,1635)

Elizabeth Carey was the daughter of George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon (1547-September 9, 1603) and Elizabeth Spencer (1552-March 1618). She was a patron of the arts. Thomas Nashe dedicated his Terrors of the Night to her in 1594 and Peter Erondell probably used her as his model for Lady Rimellaine in his manual on proper behavior, The French Garden (1605). On February 19, 1595, Elizabeth married Sir Thomas Berkeley (1575-1611), one of the occasions that has been suggested for the first performance of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Erondell had been his French tutor and had received "gratuites faveurs" from Lady Berkeley. Elizabeth had one son, George, 8th Baron Berkeley (1601-1658) and a daughter, Theophila (b.1596). On January 5, 1606, she was one of the Powers in the tableau at the end of Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones’s Hymenaei, performed at the wedding of the earl of Essex to Frances Howard. After her husband’s death, Elizabeth paid off his debts. In February 1622 she took Sir Thomas Chamberlain (d. September 17, 1625), a justice of the King's Bench, as her second husband. He provided generously for her and left her son £10,000. Elizabeth was buried in Cranford Church, Middlesex. Portrait: in masque costume, 1606, at Berkeley Castle.

ELIZABETH CAREY

see ELIZABETH NEVILLE; ELIZABETH SPENCER; ELIZABETH TREVANION

JOYCE CAREY
see JOYCE DENNY

MARGARET CAREY (1567-1605)

Margaret (or Mary) Carey was the daughter of Henry Carey, Baron Hunsdon (March 4, 1525/6-July 23, 1596) and Anne Morgan (1529-January 19, 1606). She is said to have been a maid of honor before she married Edward Hoby (1560-1617) on May 21, 1582. He was knighted the next day. They had no children and did not get along, although she accompanied him to Berwick-upon-Tweed in November 1584, when he was governor there, a position her father had held when she was a young child. For the most part, however, when in London, Lady Hoby lived in rooms in Somerset House rather than with her husband in his house in Canon Row. In 1592, she helped her mother-in-law, Lady Russell, entertain the queen at Bisham. Margaret suffered from gout and journeyed to Bath in April 1600 with her brother, Lord Hunsdon and his wife to take the waters there. The following year she was a patient of Dr. Simon Forman. Her monument is in Bisham Church.

MARY CAREY

see MARY BOLEYN

PHILADELPHIA CAREY (c.1552-February 3, 1627)

Philadelphia Carey was the daughter of Henry Carey, Baron Hunsdon (March 4, 1525/6-July 23, 1596) and Anne Morgan (1529-January 19, 1606). She was the middle sister between Catherine and Margaret and came to court in 1558 as a maid of honor. Like her sister, Catherine, she was in the queen’s service all her life. She married Thomas, 10th baron Scrope (c.1567-September 2,1609) and was the mother of Emmanuel Scrope, 11th baron (1584-1630). She wore mourning during the earl of Essex’s imprisonment in 1599 and campaigned for his pardon in 1601. She was with the queen when Elizabeth Tudor died in 1603 and went on to serve Queen Anne.

CHRISTIAN CARKETT (d. 1570+)
Christian Carkett was the daughter of William Carkett. She married widower John Browne of Horton Kirby (before 1513-September 1570), a wealthy London merchant. They had five children, including William, Charles, and Christian. I believe Christian Carkett was the Lady Brown arrested for hearing mass in 1568, along with Lady Cary, who had been arrested before. Lady Cary was pardoned. Lady Brown had to find surety for future behavior. I am not certain of this identification and I am still trying to discover which Lady Cary was involved.

ANNE CARLETON
see ANNE KILLIGREW

ELIZABETH CARLETON
see ELIZABETH HUSSEY

JANE CARLISLE (d.1575)
Jane Carlisle or Carlyle was an Englishwoman from Carlisle who inherited property in that city. She had a sister, Elizabeth (c. 1510-c.1564), who is sometimes said to have been the daughter of William Carlisle, 2nd Lord Carlisle of Torthorald, Dumfrieshire, but Lord Carlisle was a Scot and neither Jane nor Elizabeth are listed among his children in the usual sources, so I don’t believe this is accurate. An online genealogy gives her parents as Robert Carlisle and ___ Bewley. Whatever her parentage, Jane became the mistress of Sir John Lowther (c.1488-1553) during his tenure as constable of Carlisle Castle in the 1540s. She had two daughters by Lowther, Mabel and Jane. In his will Lowther named his mistress as one of his executors and as residuary legatee. In March 1564/5, Jane traveled to Scotland to attend the wedding of her nephew, John Sempill or Semple (Elizabeth’s son by Robert, 3rd lord Sempill, legitimized after their 1546 marriage), to Mary Livingston, Queen Mary’s lady in waiting. The queen called John Sempill “the Englishman” because he had been born in the south to an English mother. It may be at this time that Jane received the gift of a chain worth £60, possibly from Mary Queen of Scots herself. It is unclear exactly when Jane became the third (or fourth) wife of Sir Thomas Dacre (d. July 17, 1565), illegitimate son of Thomas, 2nd baron Dacre, but they appear to have had a happy marriage. After his death, however, Jane was involved in a bitter lawsuit with one of Dacre’s sons by an earlier marriage. Biography: Oxford DNB entry in “Dacre family” as “Jane Dacre [née Carlisle].” Portrait: c.1545, previously misidentified as Lady Jane Grey.

HONOR CARNSEW
see HONOR FITZ

BRIDGET CARR
see BRIDGET CHAWORTH

FRANCES CARR

see FRANCES HOWARD

ELLEN CARRELL (1555-1597+)
Ellen Carrell or Carowle accompanied Marie Mountjoy to a consultation with astrologer Simon Forman on December 1, 1597. She thought herself pregnant. Charles Nicholl in The Lodger Shakespeare, His Life on Silver Street, suggests that she is the E. C. referred to in the sonnet series, Laura: The Toyes of a Traveller (1597) by Robert Tofte (1562-1620). The poems identify her as an older married woman and in one of them capital letters spell out CAREIL. In Tofte’s sequel, Alba: The Months Mind of a Melancholy Lover (1598), he uses similar capital letters to spell out CAREL. Laura was dedicated to Lady Lucy Percy, daughter of the 8th earl of Northumberland and Alba was dedicated to Anne, Lady Herne, wife of Sir Edward and sister of Sir John Brooke. One of the poems is also addressed to Lady Herne.

ELIZABETH CARTER (d.1557+)
Elizabeth Carter was the daughter of Thomas Carter and the second wife of Thomas Fasshyn (by 1511-November 1557), a merchant who traded in canvas and other goods. He was mayor of Southampton in 1531/2. According to Fasshyn's will, written on March 6, 1556, Elizabeth's brother once arrested him at Guildford, but no details are given, not even a date. In spite of this, Fasshyn states, he is leaving his widow £420, part of that in the form of the lease of the King's Arms in Cheapside. Fasshyn died in possession of at least thirteen houses and numerous other properties.

ROSE CARTWRIGHT (1518-January 6, 1574/5)
Rose Cartwright was the daughter of John Cartwright of Sussex and was a silkwoman of St. John's Walbrook, London. She was the wife of John Trott (d.1551), a draper, and after his death bound at least six apprentices as an independent businesswoman. In August 1561, she turns up in the records of the city Aldermen with other silkwomen because they did not wish to weigh their silk at the common silk beam. In 1569-70, she sold silk fringe to the Drapers' Company. Assessments and subsidies indicate she was a wealthy woman throughout her widowhood. In her will, written January 20, 1574/5 and proved March 18, 1575, she left a standing silver-gilt cup to the Drapers. Her children were John (1537-February 9, 1600/1), Mary (1540-1574+), and Martin. She was buried on January 17, 1575 in the church of St. John the Baptist, Walbrook.

ANN CARY (1564-June 1611)
Ann Cary was the daughter of Richard Cary (1515-June 1570), a wealthy Bristol merchant, and Joan Holton. She married Nicholas Ball (d. March 1586), a pilchard merchant of Totnes, Devon, who was M.P. for Totnes in 1584 and mayor in 1586. His house in Totnes is still standing. She is said to have had several children by him, the youngest a daughter, Elizabeth (1585-September 28, 1659). On June 19, 1586, the recently widowed Ann Ball married Thomas Bodley (March 2, 1545-January 29, 1613). Although they had no children, they had a happy marriage that lasted for twenty-four years. Bodley was resident ambassador to the United Provinces from December 1588 until early 1597 and Ann was issued a safe conduct on May 29, 1589 to take ship to join him. It is not clear how long she resided with him in the Hague. Following his return to England, Bodley devoted himself to restoring the university library at Oxford, which opened in 1602. He was knighted in 1604, making Ann Lady Bodley. Biography: Bodley wrote his autobiography in 1608. Portrait: monument in St. Bartholomew-the-Less.

CATHERINE CARY
see CATHERINE KNYVETT

ELIZABETH CARY

see ELIZABETH TANFIELD

MARY CARYLL (1596-July 18, 1639)
Mary Caryll was the daughter of Thomas Caryll of Benton and Shipley, Sussex and Margaret Tufton. She was baptized on April 12, 1596. In 1615, she married Richard Molyneux of Sefton (February 1593-May 8, 1636), who was later created viscount Molyneux of Mayborough, as his second wife. In 1880, Alexander Grosart, editor of the poems of Richard Tofte (1562-1620), identified Mary as the subject of Tofte’s Alba, but since this was published in 1598, when Mary was only two years old, this does not make sense. See the entry for ELLEN CARRELL for an alternative.

ELIZABETH CASSEY
see ELIZABETH BRUGGE

ELIZABETH CASTLYN or CASTELIN (d.1583)
According to Anne F. Sutton in The Mercery of London, Elizabeth Castlyn or Castelin was the daughter of Edward Castlyn/Castelin/Castleyn/Castelyn, mercer, and his Greek wife. A rather vague online source indicates that William Castelyn, mercer of London, married Angela Villacho, daughter of Michael Villacho of Chio, Greece. Unless there were two marriages to Greek women in the family, this is likely Elizabeth's mother, but the family did have a long history of Anglo-Iberian trading. Elizabeth married twice, first to Thomas Knowles or Knolles (d. July 11, 1550), a mercer by whom she had two sons, Thomas and Samuel. When she remarried, according to Richard Grassby in Kinship and Capitalism, she had his body moved so that she could later be buried with both her husbands. She became the second wife of Sir Roger Martin or Martyn of Long Melford, Suffolk (d. December 20, 1573), another mercer and Lord Mayor of London in 1567-8. Their children were Mary (1558-1574), Anne, and Joan. The family lived in Soper Lane. When Sir Roger died, Elizabeth was responsible for the verse epitaph to both her husbands at St. Antonin's Budge Row.

CATALINA (d.1531+)
Catalina was a slave who belonged to Catherine of Aragon, one of two female slaves who accompanied the Spanish princess to England in 1501. Giles Tremlett, in Catherine of Aragon, identifies her as a Moor. Catalina's duties included making Catherine's bed and attending "to other services of the chamber." Thirty years after the marriage of Catherine and Arthur, Prince of Wales, Catalina was being sought to give a deposition concerning whether or not that marriage had ever been consummated. According to the instructions given those looking for her, Catalina had "married at Valdarcaray to a cross-bow maker named Oviedo," then moved to Malaga, where he died. Oviedo is further identified as a Morisco—a Spanish Moor. After his death, Catalina and her two daughters returned to Motril, "of which town she was a native." Valdarcaray, also written as Valdeyzcarria in the records, is probably Valdezcaray in Castile.

DOROTHY CATESBY (c.1527-September 30, 1613)

Dorothy Catesby was the daughter of Anthony Catesby of Whiston, Northamptonshire (c.1500-October 10,1554) and Isabel Pigott. In about 1550, Dorothy married Sir William Dormer of Eythrope and Wing, Buckinghamshire (c.1503-May 17, 1575). The Dormers were a Catholic family and sheltered priests during the reign of Edward VI. When Elizabeth Tudor took the throne, Dormer’s daughter by his first marriage, Jane, married a Spanish duke and moved to Spain. Dormer’s mother settled in the Netherlands. The family in England, however, seems to have conformed. Dorothy’s children by Dormer were Catherine (c.1550-March 23, 1615), Robert (January 26,1551-November 8, 1616), Margaret (1553-April 26,1637), Mary (c.1555-1637), Richard, Frances, Anne, and Peregrine. After Dormer’s death, Dorothy took as her second husband Sir William Pelham (c.1530-November 24, 1587), by whom she had one son, William. Pelham died of wounds suffered in battle at Flushing. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under “Pelham [née Catesby; other married name Dormer], Dorothy.” Portrait: alabaster effigy in Wing Church, Buckinghamshire.

ELIZABETH CATESBY (d.1515+)
Elizabeth Catesby was said to be the king's kinswoman and a member of Elizabeth of York's household before she went on to serve as one of Mary Tudor's ladies. She received an annuity of 40 marks on June 30, 1515, for her service to Mary, Queen of the French. The only Catesby connection I’ve found so far is the marriage of Isabel (or Elizabeth) Catesby to John Owen (c.1525-1559), son of Davy Owen, bastard son of Owen Tudor, grandfather of Henry VII. She remarried on May 19, 1559 in Carshalton, Surrey, John Prestall/Prestolfe/Priston. This is too late for her to have served Elizabeth of York. Of earlier Elizabeth Catesbys there are three possibilities, but all seem a little old. Two were daughters of Sir William Catesby (d.1470), one by each wife. The daughter by Philippa Bishopstone (d. December 20, 1446) married first Roger Wake (d. March 16, 1503/4) and then, in 1509, John Grey. The daughter by Joan Barre must have been born after 1446 but nothing more is known of her. A third Elizabeth Catesby was born in 1444, the daughter of a different William. Again, nothing more is known of her. Of course, Elizabeth Catesby could also be an Elizabeth married to a Catesby. In 1496, George Catesby (c.1473-May 20, 1507) married Elizabeth Empson (d. before 1567). Since her father, Richard Empson (x. August 17, 1510) was an advisor to Henry VII, it is reasonable to assume she might have been at court. Their children were Elizabeth, Jane, Audrey, William (1504-October 2, 1517), Sir Richard (c.1505-March 8, 1553/4), and another daughter. She remarried on September 15, 1510 to Thomas Lucy (1488-September 3, 1525), by whom she had William (1511-1551), Anne, Radugund, Thomas, Edmund, and Barbara (b.c.1523).

CATHERINE OF ARAGON (December 16,1485-January 7,1536)

The daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon (1452-1516) and Isabella of Castile (d.1504), Catherine of Aragon was sent to England in 1501 to marry Henry VII’s oldest son, Arthur, Prince of Wales (September 19, 1486-April 2,1502). He died soon after their marriage and Catherine spent the next seven years on the fringes of the English court and in near poverty. When Henry VIII (June 28,1491-January 28,1547) succeeded his father, one of his first acts was to marry his brother’s widow. During the early years of Henry’s reign it was a successful and harmonious marriage. When the king left England to make war on France, he named Catherine as regent. Although she had expert help from the earl of Surrey and others, she was the one who ordered troops to defend England against the Scottish invasion that ended with the Battle of Flodden and she had a hand in negotiating the peace that followed. When she failed to give King Henry a son, he divorced her. Biographies: Garrett Mattingly’s Catherine of Aragon and Mary M. Luke’s Catherine the Queen have both been around for awhile, but both are excellent. Portraits: there are a number of these, most fairly well known.

ANNE CAUNTON (d.1617)
Anne Caunton (Cawnton/Nannton) was the daughter of John Caunton (d.1526+) and Maud Thurston (d.1521+). Caunton was a haberdasher of London, alderman of Bishopsgate Ward from 1523-8 and sheriff in 1525-6. Anne married Richard Cooke of Gidea Hall, Essex (1531-October 3, 1579) and was the mother of Anthony (1559-1604), John, Philippa, Mary, Mildred, and Francis (April 25, 1577-April 7, 1663). She remained at Gidea Hall after her husband’s death while her son and daughter-in-law resided on the adjoining manor of Bedfords. She had an extravagant lifestyle and her household included a number of gentlewomen and a dwarf. She was censured by the church when, in 1589, she arranged to hide an unmarried, pregnant servant during her confinement. By 1601, she was obliged to take in boarders to make ends meet, housing Lady Bedford in that year and Gilbert, earl of Shrewsbury, in 1602. In 1612, she finally allowed her grandson, Edward Cooke, to sell some of the lands she held for life.

BRIDGET CAVE

see BRIDGET SKIPWITH

ELIZABETH CAVE

see ELIZABETH DANVERS; ELIZABETH LOVETT

ELIZABETH CAVE (d. 1562+)
Elizabeth Cave was the daughter of Thomas Cave of Stanford, Northamptonshire (d. September 4, 1558) and Elizabeth Danvers (1506-1522+). She married Humphrey Stafford of Bletherwick, Northamptonshire (d.1574). They had two children, Humphrey (d. unm.) and John (d.1596). In 1562, Elizabeth brought charges against her husband in the Court of Requests. Timothy Stretton's Women Waging Law in Elizabethan England provides a number of details from the case. Elizabeth accused Humphrey of fathering a child with a maidservant and giving his mistress expensive gifts, of slandering acquaintances, sacking servants, and falsely accusing her of infidelity. Humphrey maintained that she had been unfaithful to him, saying that one of her lovers had committed suicide and indicating that she had told one man that he should be patient and not marry someone else, implying that she would soon be free to remarry. Humphrey freely admitted that he had beaten his wife (a husband’s right in those days) because she had uttered "many unseemly and quarrelous words." His goal, he said, was to reform "her manners and life." Humphrey also protested the authority of the Court of Requests to rule of the matter. It appears that the final outcome of the case is not known.

ELIZABETH CAVE (1564-November 1638)
Elizabeth Cave was the daughter of Roger Cave (d. July 26, 1585) and Mary or Margaret Cecil (d. March 19, 1552/3) and the niece of William Cecil, Lord Burghley. In about 1584, she married Walter Bagot of Blythfield (October 24, 1557-March 16, 1623). Their children were Lewis (April 19, 1587-June 8, 1611), Anne (b. September 7, 1589), Hervey (February 8, 1590/1-1660), Richard, (October 11, 1592-November 31, 1666), Thomas (December 15, 1595-d.yng), Frances (b. November 9, 1597), William (b. April 25, 1605), Lettice (b. November 25, 1606), and Mary (b. April 2, 1608). Portrait: attributed to John Bettes the Younger, 1584.

MARGARET CAVE (d.1558+)
Margaret Cave was the daughter and coheir (with her sister Catherine, who died August 18, 1555) or Edward Cave of Wenwick and Stanford, Northamptonshire (d. c.1534). Her mother was Dorothy Mallory. She was also one of the heirs of Mary Kingston (d. March 24, 1539), de jure baroness Lisle and wife of Sir Thomas Lisle (d. February 1542). Her inheritance included lands in Dorset, Hampshire, and Wiltshire. Between 1536 and 1542, she married Thomas Boughton of Cawston and Lawford, Warwickshire (d. May 4, 1558). They had seven or eight sons, including Thomas and Edward (c.1545-1589) and three daughters. When her husband died, Margaret inherited a life interest in all his property provided she entailed her Somerset, Warwickshire and Wiltshire lands on her heirs male.

MARGARET CAVE (d. 1588+)
Margaret Cave was the daughter of Roger Cave (d. July 26, 1586) and Margaret (or Mary) Cecil (d. March 19, 1552/3). She is included here mostly because she is so often confused with her mother and then, in some cases, said to be a daughter of William Cecil, Lord Burghley and his second wife, Mildred Cooke. Margaret Cave’s mother was Burghley’s sister, not his daughter. Margaret herself married Sir William Skipwith of Coates (c.1564-May 3, 1610), by whom she had a son, Henry Skipwith. Some genealogies give her a second husband named Erasmus Smith. Others give her mother a second husband named Ambrose Smith. Neither seems likely, since in both cases these women were outlived by their first (and apparently only) husbands.

MARGARET CAVE (1549-1606)
Margaret Cave was the daughter and heir of the very wealthy diplomat, Sir Ambrose Cave (c.1503-April 2, 1568), and Margery Willington (d.c.1561). She married Henry Knollys of Rotherfield Greys, Oxfordshire (1541-1582/3) on July 16, 1565 at Durham House on the Strand, a wedding attended by Queen Elizabeth. It was celebrated with a ball, a tourney, and two masques. They had two daughters, Elizabeth (c.1579-before 1632) and Lettice (c.1583-1655). His will, proved May 14, 1583, named Margaret as executor and advised her to sell their house at Greenwich and take the advice of Mr. Edward Williams in financial matters. Alternate life dates for Margaret, from a genealogy site, are April 25, 1548-June 1602. Some sites also say she died in 1600. Portrait: tomb effigy in St. Nicholas Church, Stanford-on-Avon, Northamptonshire.

ELIZABETH CAVENDISH

see ELIZABETH HARDWICK

ELIZABETH CAVENDISH (March 31, 1555-January 21, 1582)
Elizabeth Cavendish was the daughter of Sir William Cavendish (c.1505-October 25,1557) and Elizabeth Hardwick (1527-February 13,1608) and the goddaughter of Elizabeth Brooke, Lady Northampton and Lady Catherine Grey. She was an attractive girl with whom Sir Christopher Hatton was said to be in love. Her mother tried to arrange a marriage for her with Peregrine Bertie, but in 1574 she found a more prestigious match. In the autumn of that year, Margaret Douglas, countess of Lennox, and her son Charles Stuart, earl of Lennox (1556-1577) were en route to Settringham. On October 9 they stopped for a few days with the duchess of Suffolk at Huntingdon. Elizabeth’s mother, better known as Bess of Hardwick and by that time married to the earl of Shrewsbury, was at nearby Rufford. She met them between Huntingdon and Sheffield and invited them to stop for the night with her. According to some accounts, this meeting had been pre-arranged for the purpose of establishing contact between Margaret and her imprisoned daughter-in-law, Mary Queen of Scots, who was in the keeping of the earl of Shrewsbury. At Rufford, Lady Lennox took to her bed, claiming to be ill, and remained there, with Lady Shrewsbury for company, for the next five days. During that time the two young people were left to their own devices and Charles so “entangled himself” with Elizabeth Cavendish that they had to be secretly married in early November. On November 17, both mothers and newlyweds were ordered to London by the queen. The blame seems to have fallen entirely on the two countesses, but by March both had been acquitted of “large treasons.” The cause of the queen’s alarm was Charles Stuart’s claim to her throne, which he would pass on to any children he and Elizabeth produced. Their daughter, Arbella Stuart, was born at Chatsworth the following September. Sadly, Charles Stuart died when his daughter was only two and Elizabeth died when Arbella was six. Portrait: reproduced in E. C. Williams’s Bess of Hardwick (1959).

FRANCES CAVENDISH (c.1594-September 1, 1613)
Frances Cavendish was one of the three daughters of William Cavendish (December 27, 1551-March 3, 1625/6), later 1st earl of Devonshire, and Anne Keighley (d.1598). Before July 12, 1608, she married William Maynard (d. December 17, 1640), later created 1st baron Maynard. She died at nineteen, giving birth to her daughter, Anne. Frances and her sisters Mary and Elizabeth are named on the tomb of her mother in Ault-Hucknall Church in Derbyshire. Portrait: painting at Hardwick Hall, c.1613; effigy in Little Easton, Essex.

GRACE CAVENDISH
see GRACE TALBOT

MARGARET CAVENDISH
see MARGARET KYTSON

MARGARET CAVENDISH (d.1595)
Margaret Cavendish, was not the daughter of William Cavendish (December 27, 1551-March 3, 1625/6), later 1st earl of Devonshire, and Anne Keighley (d.1598). Her father was Richard Cavendish (c.1530-1601). Margaret was at court, probably as a maid of honor, from 1589-91. In 1591, Sir Robert Dudley (August 7, 1574-September 6, 1649) was temporarily barred from court for kissing her in public. They married soon after. Up until that time, and possibly afterward, Dudley had been having an affair with another maid of honor, Frances Vavasour. Years later, he tried to claim that he’d married her, in the hope of invalidating both his first and second marriages so that he would be allowed to marry his mistress. (see ALICE LEIGH, ELIZABETH SOUTHWELL, and FRANCES VAVASOUR). Margaret died of the plague in the spring of 1595, while her husband was in the West Indies. She had no children.

MARY CAVENDISH (1556-1632)

Mary Cavendish was the youngest daughter of Sir William Cavendish (c.1505-October 25,1557) and Elizabeth Hardwick (1527-February 13,1608), better known as Bess of Hardwick. On February 9, 1568, when she was twelve, Mary was married to her mother’s stepson, Gilbert Talbot (1553-May 8, 1616), who became earl of Shrewsbury on his father’s death. Their children were George (1575-1577), Mary (b.1580), Elizabeth (1582-1651), John (d.yng), and Alethea (1584-1654). The countess of Shrewsbury was a patroness of Rowland Lockey the painter, a subscriber to the Virginia Company, and a contributor to St. John’s College, Cambridge. She is best known, however, for her scheming on behalf of her niece, Arbella Stuart. Mary planned Arbella’s escape from the Tower of London, hoping she would go abroad and serve as a Catholic pretender to the throne. Mary was arrested and twice examined by the Privy Council after Arbella’s capture and was then fined and confined to the Tower herself in 1611. She was not restricted to her lodgings in the Lord Lieutenant’s House and was helpful in bringing to light the truth about the murder of Thomas Overbury. When her husband fell ill in 1618, she was released in order to nurse him, after which Mary was fined £20,000 and set free. Portraits: at St. John’s College and at Hardwick Hall (called “Queen Elizabeth”).

ANN CECIL (December 5, 1556-June 5, 1588)
Ann Cecil was the daughter of William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1520-1598) and Mildred Cooke (1526-1589). She was educated by her mother and then, after 1565, by William Lewin. She is said to have briefly been a maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth. Her father wished to marry her to Sir Philip Sidney, but she fell in love with Edward de Vere, 17^th earl of Oxford (1550-1604), one of her father’s wards. He asked for her hand in July 1571 and they were married on December 19, 1571. Soon, however, Oxford neglected his wife, spending all his time at court flirting with the queen and with other ladies. He blamed his father-in-law for failing to obtain the freedom of his kinsman, the duke of Norfolk, who was executed in 1572, and by May 1573 there was open hostility between Oxford and Lady Burghley. Oxford swore “to ruin the Lord Treasurer’s daughter,” casting doubt on her honor. This careless talk came back to haunt him when Ann gave birth to their first child, Elizabeth (July 2, 1575-1627) while Oxford was abroad. Lord Henry Howard, Nofolk’s brother, stirred up more trouble, and Ann was unable to convince her husband that the child was his. Apparently, part of the trouble was that Oxford was convinced that the gestation period was twelve months rather than nine. Surviving letters testify to her efforts and reveal her continuing love for him. They were finally reconciled in 1582, but not until after Oxford’s mistress, Ann Vavasour, had borne him a son. Ann gave her husband four more children, a son who died in infancy in May 1583 and three daughters, Bridget (April 6,1584-1620), Frances (d. September 12, 1587), and Susan (May 26,1587-1629). When she was at court in 1584, Ann's entourage consisted of two gentlewomen, a chambermaid, a gentleman, and two yeomen. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Vere [née Cecil], Anne de." Portraits: effigy in Westminster Abbey, where she shares a tomb with her mother (Ann is behind her mother on the raised shelf).

DIANA CECIL (1596-April 27, 1654)
Diana Cecil was the daughter of William Cecil, 2nd earl of Exeter (1566-1640) and Elizabeth Drury (January 4, 1577/8-February 26, 1653/4). She had a twin, Anne. She married first, on January 1, 1623/4, Henry de Vere, 18th earl of Oxford (February 24, 1593-June 1625) and then, on November 12, 1629, Thomas Bruce, earl of Elgin. Portrait: attributed to William Larkin, c.1614-1618.

DOROTHY CECIL
see DOROTHY NEVILLE

ELIZABETH CECIL
see ELIZABETH BROOKE; ELIZABETH DRURY; ELIZABETH MANNERS

ELIZABETH CECIL (July 1, 1564-1583)
Elizabeth Cecil was the daughter of William Cecil, Lord Burghley (September 13, 1521-August 4, 1598) and his second wife, Mildred Cooke (August 24, 1524-April 4, 1589). Born at Cecil House, her godmothers were Queen Elizabeth and Margaret Douglas, countess of Lennox. She was educated at home with her sister Ann and her father's wards. Her father refused offers for her hand from the earls of Essex and Shrewsbury and Lord Buckhurst and accepted William Wentworth (d.1582), heir to the second Lord Wentworth. They wed in February 1582. When he died ten months later, Elizabeth was pregnant. She insisted on nursing him, in spite of the risk of infection. She died five months later, probably in childbirth, since no children survived her. Portrait: identified as “Elizabeth Cessil” c.1580, by Lucas de Heere.

ELIZABETH CECIL (1578-January 3,1646)

Elizabeth Cecil was the daughter of Thomas Cecil, earl of Exeter (May 5,1542-1623) and Dorothy Latimer (1547/8-1609). She married Sir William Hatton (d.1597), a wealthy gentleman who left her with properties on the Isle of Purbeck and in London. She also had the guardianship of her stepdaughter, Frances Hatton. She was courted by Francis Bacon and Fulke Greville, but married Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634), a widower who had recently won a lawsuit for her father. She insisted on the wedding taking place in secret, on November 2, 1598, with only her father and the minister present. This was illegal for several reasons. They had wed without banns. They did not have a special license. The ceremony took place in a house instead of a church. And it took place outside the acceptable hours of the day for weddings. When Queen Elizabeth heard of it, she insisted that they remarry in St. Andrew’s Church. Rumor had the bride pregnant by another man before either ceremony, but the couple’s first child was not born until August 1599. Elizabeth continued to be known as Lady Hatton. By Coke she had two daughters, Elizabeth (1599-1623) and Frances (1603-1645) but for most of their marriage she did not live with her husband. They quarreled over the arrangements Coke made for the marriages of Elizabeth’s daughter and stepdaughter. By 1614, the servants at Hatton House had orders not to admit their mistress’s husband. He was forced to use a side door to see his own wife. In 1617, Lady Hatton kidnapped her daughter, Frances Coke, from Stoke Park to prevent her marriage to Sir John Villiers. She took the girl first to the house of her cousin, Sir Edmund Withipole, at Oatlands and then to the earl of Argyll at Hampton Court. Coke found them there, hiding in a closet, and took Frances away. Elizabeth chased them in her coach until it lost a wheel, forcing her to stop. According to one account, Elizabeth followed her husband, seeking another opportunity to make off with their daughter, until King James stepped in and ordered her locked up until after the September 27, 1617 wedding. The DNB, however, says that the matter went to trial, where it was ruled that the consent of both parents was needed for her marriage, since Frances was heir to her mother’s estates. Eventually, Lady Hatton agreed to the match, but on terms ensuring Frances’s income. Villiers, created Viscount Purbeck in 1618, later went insane and Frances returned to her mother’s house. There she fell in love with Robert Howard. In the hope of putting an end to their affair, Elizabeth took her daughter to Holland to visit the Electress Palatine, King James’s daughter, but in 1624, Frances gave birth to an illegitimate child and both she and Howard were arrested for adultery. After 1623, when she sold Hatton House in London, Lady Hatton lived mostly at Stoke Park. She entertained Parliamentary leaders there during the Civil War and in 1643 they returned Hatton House to her. According to legend, she died there, carried off by the devil in a clap of thunder, leaving behind only her heart. The name Bleeding Heart Yard clung to Hatton House for many years. In fact, she was buried in St. Andrew’s Holborn. Biography: Laura L. Norsworthy, The Lady of Bleeding Heart Yard (1935); Oxford DNB entry under “Hatton, Elizabeth [née Lady Elizabeth Cecil].”

FRANCES CECIL (1590-1644)
Frances Cecil was the daugher of Robert Cecil, 1st earl of Salisbury (1563-1612) and Elizabeth Brooke (1562-Janaury 1596/7). From her mother's death until late 1604, Frances was raised by her maternal aunt, Frances, Lady Stourton. She inherited her father's spinal deformity and in 1599 an attempt was made to have her back straightened by putting her in irons. It was unsuccessful. In August 1604, she returned to London and although her maternal great aunt, Elizabeth, Lady Russell, wished to take Frances into her household, she was probably placed instead at the Charterhouse with the countess of Suffolk and her children. She remained there until mid-1607, when she was sent to Lancashire to live with her two de Vere cousins, Lady Derby and Lady Norris. This arrangement was made by her father against Frances's wishes and probably to thwart an unsuitable attachment to one of the young men in the Suffolk household. Earlier that year, John, 1st Lord Harington, had proposed that Frances marry his son John but Salisbury refused the match. He also refused Harington's suggestion that France join the household of Princess Elizabeth, a household that was under the supervision of Harington and his wife. Apparently Frances did meet the Princess, who liked her, but Salisbury was protective of his daughter and feared she would be made fun of at court. A letter is extant from about this time in which he wrote: "I know it is the fashion of the Court and London to laugh at all deformities. I would be exceeding glad that somewhat was done to cover the poor girl's infirmities before such ladies and others as will find her out, should see her in such ill case as she is." He arranged a marriage for Frances to Henry, Lord Clifford (1592-1643), son and heir of the 4th earl of Cumberland. They were wed on July 25, 1610 at the house of Sir Walter Cope in Kensington. The reception cost £250, the bridal apparel £935, and Frances’s dowry was £6000. In spite of that, shortly after her father died in 1612, she was in the unhappy position of being stranded, penniless, on Clifford lands in the north, while her husband lived well on his own in London. In time, however, they found they had a love of music in common and produced six children. Most of the information in this entry comes from Helen Payne, "The Cecil Women at Court," an essay in Patronage Culture and Power: The Early Cecils 1558-1612, edited by Pauline Croft. Portrait: 1599 at age 9 with her brother William (1591-1668); attributed to Marcus Gheeraerts or Federico Zuccaro

FRANCES CECIL

see FRANCES BRYDGES

JANE CECIL
see JANE HECKINGTON

LUCY CECIL (March 7, 1568-October 1614)
Lucy Cecil was one of the eight daughters of Thomas Cecil (May 5, 1542-1623), later earl of Exeter, and Dorothy Neville (1547-1609). She was at court in 1586, left to marry William Paulet, 4th Marquis of Winchester (1563-February 4, 1627/8), and returned after her marriage, which took place February 28, 1586/7 at St. Martins-in-the-Fields. Her children were William (d.1621), Thomas, John (1598-March 5, 1675), Henry (1600-1672). Charles, Elizabeth (c.1590-September 16, 1656), and Edward.

MARY CECIL
see MARY CHEKE

MILDRED CECIL

see MILDRED COOKE

CECILIA OF SWEDEN (November 16,1540-January 27,1627)

Cecilia of Sweden was the daughter of Gustavas Vasa (May 12,1496-September 29,1560) and Margareta Leijonhufvud (January1,1516-August 26,1551). Gustavus wanted an alliance with England and at least three of his children, Eric, John, and Cecilia, grew up with a rosy picture of that island kingdom. Both John and Eric proposed marriage to Elizabeth Tudor and, as a condition of Cecilia's 1564 marriage to Margrave Christopher of Baden (1527-1575), she insisted on a wedding journey to England. They left Sweden in October but did not reach Dover until September of the following year, by which time Cecilia was about to give birth. She created a sensation when the countess of Sussex and Lady Cobham escorted her through London by wearing a black velvet dress with a mantle of cloth of gold and her long, pale blonde hair loose under a crown. Her son was born on September 15,1565. Queen Elizabeth was the child’s godmother and named him Edward Fortunatus. Cecilia remained in England until April 29,1566, running up huge bills that she had no intention of paying. Hounded by creditors, the Margrave was briefly imprisoned for debt. Eleven years later, when Cecilia was widowed, Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, sought her hand in marriage. He was formally rejected in January 1578. Cecilia apparently led a rather wild life, possibly taking a lover before her marriage, dabbling in piracy to help her brothers and, as a widow, giving birth to a daughter, Caritas (b.c.1579) fathered by Spanish Ambassador Francisco de Eraso. She converted to Catholicism for political reasons and sent her sons to be educated by Jesuits.

ELIZABETH CHAMBER or CHAMBRE (d.1520+) (maiden name unknown)
Elizabeth Chamber was the wife of Edward Chamber (Chambre/Chambyr) of Dorset. She was in the household of Elizabeth of York and later served Princess Mary, sister of Henry VIII. She received an annuity of £20 from at least 1515 until at least 1520.

REBECCA CHAMBER (x. July 1571) (maiden name unknown)
According to Holinshed's Chronicle, Rebecca Chamber poisoned her husband, Thomas Chamber, with a dish of roseacre mixed with milk. Two days later he was dead. She was tried and convicted at the Maidstone assizes in July 1571 and burned to death that same month.

ANNE CHAMBERLAIN
see ANNE HARLING

CONSTANCE or CONSTANTIA CHAMBERLAIN or CHAMBERLAYNE (d.1542)
Constance or Constantia Chamberlain was the daughter of Sir Robert Chamberlain or Chamberlayne (x. March 12, 1491/2) of Capel and Gedding, Suffolk and Elizabeth Fitz Ralph (d.1517). She was married twice, first to Richard Harper of Latton, Essex (d.1507), by whom she had a son, George (March 11, 1503-December 8, 1558), and second to Sir Alexander Culpepper or Culpepper of Bedgebury, Kent (1459-1541). Their children were Sir Thomas (d. May 13, 1558), John, Catherine, Elizabeth, Johanna, Margaret and Anne (d.1550). Lacey Baldwin Smith's biography of Queen Catherine Howard misidentifies her lover, Thomas Culpeper (x. December 10, 1541), as a second son named Thomas in this family, but this is unlikely since neither Sir Alexander's will nor Constance's refer to more than one son by that name. In Sir Alexander's will, written on May 20, 1540, he named his wife as executor and left £100 to each of their unmarried daughters, Margaret and Katherine, for their dowries. He left another daughter, Alice, the child of Agnes Davy, a yearly pension of £3. 6s. 8d. for twenty years but specified that it would cease if she married. The residue of the estate was to go to Constance, "to her own proper use." He added a codicil on May 5, 1541 to deal with some matters of debt, and it is only here that he mentioned any Thomas Culpepper, identifying him as "myne eldist sonne." He also mentioned his other children—Anne, John, Margaret, and Katherine Culpepper. The will was proved June 21, 1541 and Culpepper was buried at St. Mary's Church, Gouldhurst, Kent. Constance made her own will on October 4, 1541, shortly before the scandal broke at court concerning Thomas Culpeper and Queen Catherine Howard, so if he were her son, she would have had, as yet, no reason not to mention him. Barbara J. Harris, in English Aristocratic Women 1450-1550 identifies the Alice Culpepper mentioned in both wills as illegitimate, thus explaining why the bequests to her—a "gown of black cloth . . . a featherbed, a bolster, two pair of sheets, two blankets and a coverlet, a tester and ceiler with three curtains of white cloth and two kine" and an annuity of £3 6s. 8d "according to her father's will and 26s. 8d. of my gift to her yearly" for nine years—were closer to what Constance left to Jane Porter, who was probably her waiting gentlewoman, than to the legacies bestowed on her own children. Jane and Alice were also to have all her rails, kerchiefs and smocks, to be divided between them. The will is a lengthy document. Among other bequests, she left her son George Harpur "my ring of gold with a diamond three square set therein," "a bay colt, the dam I bought of Luce Harpur, and my best saddle with the gilt pommel with the bridle and harness thereto pertaining and also my pillion of fustian of Naples with bridle, harness, and foot scale thereto belonging" to her daughter Margaret, "my featherbed which I now lie on with the bolster, two pillows, the tester, ceiler and coverlet as it now is with three curtains of green silk with all other things to the same bed belonging . . . and my sorrel colt that I bought of Bruer the Colyer and my saddle covered with tawny velvet with bridle and harness thereto belonging and my pillion of tawny velvet with bridle and harness thereto appertaining" to her daughter Katherine. Margaret and Katherine also received £100 each toward their marriage. Her married daughters received less. She left a cow to each of two goddaughters, Constance Fynch (apparently the daughter of Nicholas Fynch, who was left her bay horse and 40s. and his wife, Agnes, who received "20s. to buy her a gown") and Constance BesByche (sic), £10 each to her goddaughters Constance Clifford (with £5 to her sister, Ursula) and Constance Molyns, and £20 each to her goddaughters Constance Culpepper and Dorothy FitzJames. She also had a godson, Nicholas Clifford. She left 20s. to her chaplain, Sir William Pyerson, and in a codicil added £7 "for his labor." She also left, to "my Lady Grey of the Mote in Kent" [Anne Barlee], apparently a close friend, "a pair of beads of gold with a tassel of gold . . . and nineteen great bead stones besides the small bead stones in the same." The will was proved November 13, 1542. Portrait: wooden effigy, St. Mary's Church, Gouldhurst, Kent.

CECILY CHAMBERLAYNE (d.1592+)

Cecily Chamberlayne was the daughter of Sir Leonard Chamberlayne of Shirburn Castle, Oxfordshire (d.1561) and Dorothy Newdigate. She was a devout Catholic and married another of that ilk, Sir Francis Stonor (1520-1564), in 1552. The entire family was involved in hiding priests and turning out Catholic propaganda during the reign of Elizabeth I. From 1577, Cecily paid an annual fine of £500 for recusancy. Cecily allowed Father Campion to set up an illegal printing press at Stonor Park, which is four miles south of Henley-on-Thames and about twenty miles from London. Her younger son, John (1556-1626), was arrested in August 1581 and Cecily's estates were confiscated. she was put under house arrest with her older son, Sir Francis (1553-1625), at Blount's Court in September but by November had been allowed to return to Stonor Lodge. She was in poor health in April 1582 and was allowed to spend two months in Bath. Also in April 1582, John was released from the Tower. In 1583, he left England for the Low Countries and never returned. Around 1590, Cecily's son Francis embraced Catholicism and was arrested for recusancy. In 1591, he paid a fine of £30 for himself and £60 for his mother. In 1592, Cecily herself was arrested and imprisoned and that is the last we hear of her.

MARGERY CHAMBERLAYNE
see MARGERY BRINKLOW

JOAN CHAMBERS
see JOAN GOLDSTON

CATHERINE CHAMPERNOWNE
see CATHERINE BLOUNT

JOAN CHAMPERNOWNE (d. September 10,1553)

Joan Champernowne was the daughter of Sir Philip Champernowne of Modbury, Devon (c.1479-August 2, 1545) and Catherine Carew (1495-February 5, 1546+). Joan came to court as a maid of honor to Catherine of Aragon and remained at court during the tenures of Henry VIII’s next five wives. Initially sponsored by her uncle, Sir Gawen Carew, her own beauty, her accomplishments, and her conversion to the New Religion all contributed to her success. She married Sir Anthony Denny (January 16, 1501-September 10, 1549) by whom she had at least ten children: Honora (b.1526), Anne (b.1528), Mary (b.1530), Arthur, Douglas (b.1534), Charles (b.1536), Edmund, Henry (1540-March 24,1574), Anthony (1542-1572), and Edward (c.1544-1600). N. P. Sil in Tudor Placemen and Statesmen gives the date of their marriage as February 9, 1538, but this does not mesh with the dates usually given for their children's births. Joan was accused of sending 8s. to Anne Askew but nothing was proven against her. In 1547, she retired to Cheshunt but her service to the Crown was not yet over. In May 1548, Princess Elizabeth and her household were sent to stay there with the Dennys and remained until autumn. Some accounts say Elizabeth’s governess, Katherine Champernowne Astley, was Joan’s younger sister. Others believe they were only distantly related.In her widowhood, Joan bought land for her younger sons. In her will, she left an additional 500 marks to each of her five daughters (their father had left them each 600 marks). Her eldest son received his father's gold chain.

KATHERINE CHAMPERNOWNE (d. July 18,1565)

Known as Kat, Katherine Champernowne’s birth year and parentage are uncertain. Some sources say she was the sister of Joan Champernowne (above), others identify her (and sometimes, Joan) as the daughter of Sir John Champernowne of Dartington (1458-1503) and Margaret Courtenay (c.1459-1504). She may have been from another branch of the family altogether. What is known is that Kat was appointed as a waiting gentlewoman to the young Elizabeth Tudor in July 1536 and that a letter from Kat to Lord Cromwell written in that same year makes reference to her father, saying he "has much to do with the little living he has." The implication is that this Champernowne was still alive and was not well-to-do. This seems to eliminate both Sir Philip, who was wealthy, and Sir John, who had died thirty-three years earlier, as candidates to be her father. In addition, no contemporary records refer to Joan Denny and Kat Astley as sisters. Whatever her origins, by the end of 1537, Kat had been made Elizabeth’s governess. In 1545, Kat married John Astley—also spelled Ashley—(c.1507-August 1, 1596), Elizabeth’s senior gentleman attendant. In 1547, when Henry VIII died, the household was combined with that of the Queen Dowager at Chelsea. While there, Kat permitted her charge to go to a party on the Thames at night. The Lord Protector’s wife declared that she was not fit to have governance of the king’s daughter. Soon, however, Kat faced a more serious problem in dealing with a flirtation between Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour, the Queen Dowager’s husband, and the young princess. In the end, Elizabeth and her household were sent to Cheshunt. After the Queen Dowager’s death, Kat seems to have believed that a match between the Lord Admiral and the princess could be arranged. She journeyed to London in December 1548 to meet with Seymour. On that same visit she also saw Lady Cheke and Lady Tyrwhitt and was commanded to go to the Lord Protector’s wife, Ann Stanhope, Duchess of Somerset. On January 21, 1549, Sir Anthony Denny arrested Kat at Hatfield and conducted her to the Tower. She finally confessed in February, but to nothing treasonous, and she was released thirteen days before Seymour’s execution. By August she had returned to Hatfield. When Mary became queen, Kat’s husband went into exile but she remained with the princess until Elizabeth was imprisoned in the Tower in 1554. Kat was allowed to rejoin her in October 1555 but shortly thereafter a search of Somerset House unearthed a casket full of seditious books and papers. Kat was arrested in May 1556. This time she spent three months in Fleet Prison and after her release was forbidden to see Elizabeth Tudor again. When Mary Tudor died the order was recinded and Kat was made either First Lady of the Bedchamber or Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber. She may also have served as Mother of Maids until 1562. She was much sought after as a source of information about the new queen and as a means of asking favors of the sovereign. Her death distressed Elizabeth greatly. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Astley [née Champernowne], Katherine." Portrait: unknown artist or date.

KATHERINE CHAMPERNOWNE (1519-1594)
This second Katherine Champernowne, was the daughter of Sir Philip Champernowne (c.1479-August 2, 1545) and Catherine Carew (d.1545+). She married first Otho Gilbert (d.1547) and second Walter Raleigh (d. February 1581), giving birth to several famous sons. Her offspring were John, Humphrey (1539-1625) and Adrian Gilbert and Carew (1550-1625),Walter (1552-1618), and Margaret Raleigh. During the reign of Henry VIII, she converted to Protestantism and refused to give up her beliefs when Mary Tudor was queen. She sat with the martyr, Agnes Prest, the night before her execution. She does not, however, seem to have been prosecuted herself. Under Elizabeth Tudor, through the influence of Katherine’s relative, Kat Astley (cousin? aunt? sister?), Katherine’s son Walter was introduced to court and made a success of himself there. Katherine continued to live in the West Country, where she kept liveried servants and a waiting woman, but she was in debt when she died. She made her will on April 18, 1594. She was buried in Exeter with her second husband.

MARY CHAMPERNOWNE

see MARY NORRIS

ROBERDA CHAMPERNOWNE
see ROBERDA LORGES

DENISE CHAMPION (d. 1539+) (maiden name unknown)
This lady was first the wife of Walter Champion, wealthy draper, alderman, and sheriff of London in 1529. In 1534, she married, as his second wife, Sir Richard Sandys (d.c.1538), younger brother of Lord Sandys of the Vyne. They lived at the Vyne and in those few years of marriage, or so Denise afterward claimed, her husband and his brother "consumed and expended" over £7000 that she had brought to the marriage. Lord Sandys wrote to Lord Cromwell that he had offered her a pension of £80 a year and that she had accepted that amount, then changed her mind and refused it. As is so often the case, records of how the case was resolved do not seem to have survived.

ANNE CHAPMAN (d.1599)
Anne Chapman was the daughter and sole heir of Thomas Chapman and the granddaughter of Robert Chapman (d.1574/5), merchant adventurer of London and owner of Stone Castle, Kent. . She married William Carew of London (d.1588). Their children were William, Henry, Thomas, and Thomasine (d.1639). After the death of her grandfather's second wife's second husband, she inherited Stone Castle. Although she left a will, made January 4, 1599 and proved March 21, 1599, Anne could not write. She signed it with her mark. In addition to other bequests, she left her maid, Margaret, twenty shillings. The entire will can be found at Oxford-Shakespeare.com.

MARGARET CHAPMAN
see MARGARET PRATT

ELEANOR CHARLES
see ELEANOR SMITH

BRIDGET CHAWORTH (1548-April 18, 1621)
Bridget Chaworth was the daughter of Sir John Chaworth of Wiverton, Nottinghamshire (c.1498-September 3, 1558) and Mary Paston (c.1520-September 30, 1583). Around 1590, she married Sir William Carr of Sleaford (May 16, 1542-1608). One online genealogy gives them at least three children, Benjamin, William, and George (August 15, 1599-April 4, 1682), while another says Carr's heir was his brother, implying that he did not have children to inherit. Bridget was a chamberer to Queen Elizabeth both before and after her marriage. In 1591, she was given a gift of a "skarfe of Ash cullor cypers with ij edges of gould & Sylver," which she then gave away to one George Tenecre. Portrait: effigy at Ufford, Northamptonshire.

ELIZABETH CHAWORTH
see ELIZABETH COMPTON

AGNES CHEKE
see AGNES DUFFORD

MARY CHEKE (c.1520-February 22, 1543/4)
Mary Cheke was the daughter of Peter Cheke (1477-January 30, 1529/30), an esquire bedell in divinity at Cambridge University, and Agnes Dufford or Duffield (1479-1549). Mary’s mother was a vintner in St. Mary’s parish, Cambridge even before her husband’s death. By the terms of her father’s will, Mary inherited £10 at the age of nineteen. At about that time, Mary met William Cecil (September 18, 1520-August 4, 1598), a student at St. John’s. Her brother, John Cheke, was his tutor. Cecil left Cambridge in May 1541, without a degree, and married Mary on August 8 of that year. The marriage was considered a misalliance by the Cecil family. The couple had one child, Thomas (May 5, 1542-February 1623).

MARY CHEKE

see MARY HILL

ANNE CHENEY (d. September 1553)
Anne Cheney was the daughter of Sir Thomas Cheney (Cheyney/Cheyne) of Shurland (1485-December 16, 1558) and Anne Broughton (d.1562). She married Sir John Perrot (November 1528-September 1592) and died giving birth to her only child, Sir Thomas Perrot (September 1553-February 1594/5).

ELIZABETH CHENEY (1505-November 20, 1556)
Elizabeth Cheney was the daughter of Thomas Cheney of Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire and Anne Parr. Elizabeth married Thomas, 2^nd Lord Vaux (1510-1556) and by him had William (1542-1595), Nicholas, Anne (d. May 7, 1619), and Maud. Portraits: Holbein sketch; Holbein portrait at Hampton Court and copy in National Gallery, Prague; miniature dated 1535.

JANE CHENEY (d. September 15, 1574)
Jane Cheney was the daughter and heiress of William Cheney of Chesham Bois, Buckinghamshire and Emma Walwyn. She was taught to read and write and owned a copy of the 1532 edition of Chaucer, in which she later wrote "this ys Jane Southampton boke." Before 1533, possibly as early as 1527, she married Thomas Wriothesley (December 21, 1505- July 30, 1550), who was created earl of Southampton in 1547. A number of sources, some very reputable, say they had only one daughter, Elizabeth (d.1554/5), perhaps because she was the only one to marry into the peerage. The earl's will, however, written in 1550, also lists daughters Anne, Mary (d. December 1561), Katherine, and Mabel. All but Anne married and had families. Jane's male children were William (1535-1537), Anthony (d.1543), and Henry (April 24, 1545-October 9, 1581). Jane was at court as a senior lady attending Katherine Parr and later was in attendance on Queen Mary on state occasions. As a widow, Jane inherited several manors, most in Hampshire, including Titchfield and Micheldever, and Southampton House in Holborn. The wardship of her son Henry was granted to the earl of Pembroke. In January 1551, the Privy Council ordered the arrest of her children's schoolmaster, suspicious of certain messages he'd been sending abroad. On February 25, 1556, Lady Southampton was at Titchfield Abbey. Her dinner guests were Christopher Ashton, John Bedell, Thomas White, and Richard Rythe, who were at that time engaged in a treasonous plot to overthrow Queen Mary. Jane's cousin, Henry Peckham (x.1556) was another of the conspirators. The countess does not seem to have been implicated when the plot was thwarted. The loss of Jane's first two sons in infancy appears to have made her overly protective of the third. When nineteen-year-old Henry was summoned to court in 1564, she refused to let him leave home. The Privy Council had to issue a special order to remove him from his mother’s house. Henry himself seems to have wished to make his own decisions. In February 1566, when he wed Mary Browne, he did so without his mother’s consent. He did not, of course, need her consent. Jane appears to have forgiven him. In her will she left specific gifts of jewelry to each of her daughters, her daughter-in-law, and her granddaughter. She left her prayer book, in which she had collected inscriptions and verses written by friends, to her daughter Katherine. Jane's son left instructions in his will for the erection of a family monument that would include his mother's effigy. Work on the tomb began in 1582. Portraits: effigy in St. Peter’s Church, Titchfield, Hampshire; A. L. Rowse, in Shakespeare's Southampton, describes a portrait of Jane as seen in an article by R. W. Goulding titled "Wriothesley Portraits" in Walpole Society, viii (pp. 17-94): rounded face; surprised, rather sweet expression; small mouth and nose; arched eyebrows; white lace cap with long lappets falling behind; richly dressed.

JANE CHENEY
see JANE WENTWORTH

WERBURGA CHENEY
see WERBURGA BRERETON

MARGARET CHERTSEY
see MARGARET BUTLER

JOAN CHESTER
see JOAN HILL

AGNES CHETWODE
see AGNES WOODHULL

MARGARET CHEYNEY

see MARGARET STAFFORD

ELIZABETH CHOLMELEY

see ELIZABETH PICKERING

MARGARET CHOLMELEY (d.1570)
Margaret Cholmeley was the daughter of Sir Roger Cholmeley of Kinthorpe and Roxby, Yorkshire (d. April 28, 1538) and Catherine Constable (c.1498-c.1585). Her first husband was Sir Henry Gascoigne of Sedbury, Yorkshire and Ravensworth, Durham (d. October 28, 1558), by whom she had several children, including Richard (d.1605), Margaret (d.1567), Henry, and Thomas, the youngest, (b.1558). Her sister Jane (d. before December 1558) was at that time married to Henry Neville, 5th earl of Westmorland (1525-February 10, 1564), as his second wife. After the deaths of both Jane and Sir Henry, Margaret first lived with and then married her brother-in-law. The wedding took place before June 21, 1560 and thus was before the publication of the Table of Kindred included in the Book of Common Prayer (1563), which might have prevented the earl from marrying two sisters. Margaret survived her second husband, by whom she had two daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth, both living in 1563. She is not one of the two wives shown in effigy with him in a wooden memorial at Staindrop, Durham. She was buried instead, on April 2, 1570, in St. Dunstan’s-in-the-West, London. Westmorland’s will, dated August 18, 1563, left Margaret a yearly income of £100, all the plate she’d owned at the time of their marriage, and a gelding named Gray Wycliffe.

CATHERINE CHOLMLEY
see CATHERINE CLIFFORD

ELIZABETH CHOLMLEY
see ELIZABETH PENNINGTON

MARGARET CHOLMONDELEY

see MARGARET BABTHORPE

MARY CHOLMONDELEY

see MARY HOLFORD

CHOLMONDELEY SISTERS

The identities of the sisters pictured below with their babies, born on the same day, is not certainly established. It was long said that they were twins, but it is more likely that they were sisters Mary (d.1616) and Lettice (1585-1623) Cholmondeley, daughters of Sir Hugh Cholmondeley (1557-1601) and Mary Holford (1563-1626). Mary married Sir George Calveley and Lettice's husband was Sir Richard Grosvenor (1595-1646). The portrait, painted between 1600 and 1610 is in the Tate. Lettice had a son, named Richard after his father, who was born c.1604.

CHRISTINA OF DENMARK (1522-1590)

The daughter of Christian II, deposed king of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (1481-1559) and Isabella of Austria (July 18,1501-January 19,1526), Christina was married in 1533 to Francesco Sforza, duke of Milan (February 4,1495-October 24,1535). In 1538, she was considered as a prospective bride for Henry VIII and was at the court at Brussels when Hans Holbein the Younger painted her portrait. This likeness, in which Christina was said to resemble Henry’s former mistress, Margaret Shelton, convinced the king that she should be queen, but negotiations were not successful. Henry wanted Christina to be named heir to Denmark but she was second in line behind an older sister. Christina was not enthusiastic about the match, although she would have married Henry if the Emperor had commanded it. In 1541, Christina married Francis I, duke of Lorraine (August 23,1517-June 12,1545) and had by him two children, Charles III, duke of Lorraine (February 18,1543-May 14,1608), and Renata (April 20,1544-May 22,1602). Christina became active in politics after her husband’s death, serving as her son's regent, and she visited England in 1557, during the reign of Mary Tudor, to try to arrange a marriage between Elizabeth Tudor and the duke of Savoy. Mary’s husband, Philip of Spain, was said to be in love with Christina. In 1558, she helped bring about a peace between Philip and King Henri II of France. Portraits: aside from the Holbein portrait, there are at least three others, one as a baby in “The Children of King Christian of Denmark” and two others as duchess of Lorraine. NOTE: An almost identical engraving is elsewhere identified as the children of Henry VII of England.

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