A WHO’S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN (H-He)

A WHO’S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN: H-He

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her very out-of-date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

MARY HABINGTON
see MARY PARKER

AGNES HACKETT (d.1529+)
Agnes Hackett was the daughter of John Hackett of Wolverton. Her first husband was the last member of the Fry family to own Appuldurcombe Manor and the Priory of Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight. By Fry, Agnes had one daughter, Joan (d.1505+). Agnes took as her second husband Sir John Leigh of More, Dorsetshire (d.1529) and records from 1505, assigning Appuldurcombe to him, state that his wife’s name was Agnes and that her daughter was named Joan Fry. For some reason, however, other records call Agnes Mary Hackett and others confuse Joan Fry with Agnes’s daughter by Leigh, who was named Anne (d.1567). One daughter was in service to Lady Margaret Beaufort (d.1509), the mother of King Henry VII. Anne Leigh married in 1512, but it is not clear when she was born. Agnes survived her second husband and was not buried in the tomb with him but rather under a stone a little below it in All Saints, Godshill, Isle of Wight. She is said to have died a very old woman. Portrait: alabaster effigy on her husband’s tomb.

KATHERINE HADDON
see KATHERINE NORLOND

CATHERINE HAKLUYT
see CATHERINE TRENTHAM

CATHERINE HALL
see CATHERINE GEDDING

ELIZABETH HALL
see ELIZABETH FLEMING

JANE HALL
see JANE HARRINGTON

MARY HALL (by 1532-1557+)
Mary Hall was the daughter of Francis Hall of Grantham, Lincolnshire (d.1552/3), controller of Calais, and Ursula Sherrington (d.1569). By 1557, she was in the service of Anne of Cleves, and was left £40 when Anne died. There is a certain irony in this. Also in Anne’s household was Catherine Bassett, whose mother was held under house arrest in the Hall home in Calais when Mary was a girl.

MARY HALL

see MARY LASSELLS

SUSANNA HALL
see SUSANNA SHAKESPEARE

URSULA HALL
see URSULA SHERRINGTON

JANE HALLIGHWELL (c.1486-October 24,1558)

Jane Hallighwell was the daughter of Sir Richard Hallighwell, Halliwell, Halwell, or Holywell of Harberton (c.1462-July 24,1506) and Jane (or Anne) Norbury. She married Edmund, 1^st baron Bray (1484-October 18,1539) and had by him one son and ten daughters, all of whom are shown with her on the memorial brass in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire. Those for whom there are records are Anne (1500-November 1,1558), Elizabeth (c.1513-1573), Frideswide (b.c.1516; some lists do not include this daughter), Mary(c.1518-1569), Frances (c.1522-May 27,1592), Dorothy (c.1524-October 31,1605), and John (c.1527-November 18,1557). By 1545, Lady Bray had remarried, taking as her second husband Sir Urian Brereton (c.1510-March 19,1578) of Handforth, Cheshire. From 1553-1557, various members of Jane's immediate family, including several grandchildren, were in and out of prison on charges of treason for their participation in the attempt to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne instead of Mary Tudor, in Wyatt's Rebellion, and in the Dudley Conspiracy. In May, 1556, Jane's only son was arrested on suspicion of treason in connection with the latter. She immediately went to London to petition for his release. He was held for nearly a year but was never tried and was eventually pardoned. Soon after that, he left with King Philip's army to fight in France and was wounded at Saint Quentin on August 10, 1557. He died of his injuries in his house in Blackfriars. Jane was with him and was named his executrix. The will was proved two days after his death. She made all the arrangements for his funeral, which was conducted according to Catholic ritual, and for his burial at Chelsea, where his father and grandfather were buried. There was obviously some dissention in the family. No one from John's wife's family attended the funeral, nor did the husbands of at least three of his sisters. The chief mourner was Lord Cobham, who was married to Jane's eldest daughter. Jane died during the influenza epidemic of 1558. Portrait:memorial brass in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire.

SYBIL HAMPDEN (d. November 6, 1562)

Better known as Mrs. Penne, Sybil or Sibell Hampden was the daughter of William Hampden of Dunton and Wingrave, Buckinghamshire and Audrey Hampden (daughter of Richard Hampden of Kimbell). She married David Penne (d.c.1570) and had two sons, John (d.1596) and William. In October 1538 she became the chief nurse in the household of the future Edward VI and remained in that post until 1544. The prince was very fond of her and, as king, gave her the manor of Beaumond and the rectory of Little Missenden in Buckinghamshire. In 1553 she reappears in the household of Queen Mary, Edward’s sister, and she continued to live in rooms at Hampton Court during the reign of Elizabeth Tudor, although she had a house, called Penn's Place, nearby. She was stricken with smallpox at the same time Queen Elizabeth caught the disease, but Sybil Penne died of it. She was buried on the north side of the chancel at St. Mary in the village of Hampton, Middlesex, just upstream from Hampton Court Palace. The inscription reads:

Pen here is brought to home, the place of longe abode
Whose vertu guided hathe her shippe into the quyet rode.
A myrror of her tyme for vertues of the mynde
A matrone such as in her dayes the like was herd to find
No plant of servile stocke a Hampden by discent
Unto whose race 300 yeres hathe frendly fortune lent
To cowrte she called was to foster up a kinge
Whose helping had long lingring, sutes, to spedie end did bring
Twoo quennes that scepter bare gave credyt to the dame.
Full manye yeres in cowrt she dwelt without disgrace or blame.
No howse ne worldly wealthe on earthe she did regarde
Before eche love yea and her life her princes health prefard
Whose long and loyal love, with skilfull care to serve
Was such as did through heavenly help her princes thankes deserve
Woolde God the ground were grafte with trees of such delight
That idell braines of fructfull plantes might find just caws to writ[e]
As I have plyed my pen to praise this Pen with all
Who lyeth entombed in this grave untill the trompe her call
This restinge place beholde no subject place to bale
To which perforce ye lokers on, your fletinge bodyes shall.
According to Ernest Philip Alphonse Law’s The History of Hampton Court, the arms on the monument make it clear that Sybil Penne was a Hampden rather than a Pagenham, and yet generations of biographers have repeated the story that she was the daughter of Hugh Pagenham or Pakenham and the sister-in-law of Sir William Sidney. Sidney was responsible for Sybil obtaining her position in Edward’s household. In a letter, he refers to Sybil as his sister-in-law. However, in sixteenth-century usage, sister-in-law could mean any connection that was "by law" rather than by blood. Sir William's son, Sir Henry Sidney, added to the confusion in a letter to Frances Walsingham dated March 1, 1583, in which he lists as being in Prince Edward's household "my near kinswoman being his only nurse my father being his chamberlain my mother his governess my aunt in such a place as among meaner personages is called a dry nurse." The ghost of Sybil Penne supposedly haunts Hampton Court Palace. Portraits: life size recumbent effigy in Hampton Church; illustration said to be Sybil Penne’s ghost (from Law's book).

ELIZABETH HANCHET (c.1545-September 26, 1584)
Elizabeth Hanchet was the daughter of Thomas Hanchet of Hamels in Braughing, Hertfordshire. She married Sir Thomas Barnardison of Kedington, Suffolk (c.1543-December 28, 1619) and was the mother of Thomas (d. July 29, 1610), Edmund, William, Mary, and Elizabeth. In 1578, she entertained Queen Elizabeth at Kedington and the earl of Leicester stayed at another Barnardiston property (Blunts Hall) a mile away. Portrait: effigy in St. Peter and Paul, Kedington.

DOROTHY HANCOCK

see DOROTHY BAMPFIELD

ALICE HARCOURT (c.1450-c.1526)
Alice Harcourt was the daughter of Sir Richard Harcourt of Wytham, Berkshire (1416-October 1, 1486) and Edith St. Clare (d. before November 8, 1472). She married William Beselles or Bessiles of Besils Leigh, Berkshire and after his death took a vow of chastity. They had one daughter, Elizabeth. In 1520-21 and again in 1523-26, Alice and two servants lived at the nunnery of Syon, where her granddaughter, Susan Fettiplace, was also a vowess and two other granddaughters, Eleanor Fettiplace and Dorothy Coddington or Goddrington (née Fettiplace), were nuns. In her will, she made alternate burial provisions depending upon whether she was at Syon or Besselsleigh at the time of her death.

JANE HARCOURT
see JANE STAPLETON

ELIZABETH HARDING (1589-1628+)

Elizabeth Harding or Harden was the daughter of a court musician named James Harding. In February 1606 she became the third wife of artist Isaac Oliver (d.1617). Elizabeth’s sister, Anne (1593-1672), married Oliver’s son by his first marriage, Peter Oliver (1589-1647). Peter’s mother, possibly another Elizabeth, died in 1599. Oliver’s second wife, Sara Gheeraerts, is discussed in a separate entry. With Elizabeth, Oliver had six more children. After his death, Elizabeth married Pierce Morgan, a mercer. She died sometime before 1640. Portraits: in addition to the one below, dated c.1615 because of the clothing, Oliver painted his wife a second time. That portrait, in which she wears a ruff, is now lost.

ELIZABETH HARDWICK
see ELIZABETH LEAKE

ELIZABETH HARDWICK (1527-February 13,1608)

Elizabeth Hardwick, better known as Bess of Hardwick, was the daughter of John Hardwick (1495-January 29, 1528) and Elizabeth Leake (1499-c.1570). She married four times, first to Robert Barlow (1529-December 24, 1544) in 1543, second to Sir William Cavendish (c.1505-October 25,1557) in 1547, third to Sir William St.Loe (1518-February 1565) in 1559, and fourth to George Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury (1528-November 18,1590) on February 9,1568. She had eight children, all born of her second marriage, Frances (June 18,1548-1632), Temperance (June 10,1549-1550), Henry (December 17,1550-1616), William (December 27,1551-1625), Charles (November 1553-1617), Elizabeth (March 31,1555-January 21,1582), Mary (January 1556-April 1632), and Lucrece (1557-1557). She is best known as the builder of Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire, but she had a long and eventful career at court, as well, and was for many years, with her fourth husband, responsible for keeping Mary, Queen of Scots prisoner in England. She raised her granddaughter, Arbella Stuart, who had a claim to the throne. She was also said to be the richest woman in England. This entry is short because there are several biographies available, the most recent Bess of Hardwick, Empire Builder by Mary S. Lovell. Others are by David Durant, Maud Stepney Rawson, and Ethel Carleton Williams; Oxford DNB entry under "Talbot [née Hardwick], Elizabeth." Portraits: three at Hardwick Hall, one c.1550-55, one c.1580, and one c.1590 and attributed to Rowland Lockey; British Library; effigy in Derby Cathedral.

ANNE HARDY (d.1608+)
Anne Dighton, alias Hardy, a young gentlewoman, was the wife of Thomas Dighton, a man of "uncivil and rude disposition." Among other things, Anne's husband threatened to chain her to his bed. While the couple was staying at the earl of Lincoln's house in Chelsea in 1608, Anne fled her own bedchamber for that of Mary Morrant, age 36, who had apparently played the role of matchmaker in bringing Anne and Thomas together. Anne's face was "awashed with tears" and she claimed she could not endure living with her husband any longer. Mary attempted to help, but when she sent her maidservant for night clothes for the refugee, Thomas threatened the maid and demanded his wife back. For some reason, Anne returned with the servant. Thomas promptly took both of them prisoner and beat Anne for her effrontery. He refused to let either woman leave his chamber. After repeated efforts to reason with Thomas, Henry Clinton, 2nd earl of Lincoln, became involved and he and Thomas fought. Following this incident, Anne took Thomas to court on charges of cruelty. I have not been able to discover the final outcome of the case, but numerous depositions were taken in the period from May 28, 1608 through February 9, 1608/9. The witnesses included Mary Morrant, her husband Thomas, John Beverly, a servant of the earl of Lincoln, and Anne Hill, age 24, of Harefield, a servant of the countess of Derby. The identities of Anne and Thomas Dighton are not entirely clear, either, but the use of "alias” in connection with a female name usually indicated that it was a previous surname, in this case probably Anne's maiden name. As for Thomas Dighton, the most logical candidate with that name to have been a guest in the earl of Lincoln’s house is Thomas Dighton of Stourton Parva, Lincolnshire, father of Mary Dighton, who was married to the earl’s younger son, Sir Edward Clinton, in c.1596. This Thomas Dighton (b.c.1556) was married in August 1569 to Margaret Jermyn, but legal actions in 1606 indicate that she was probably dead by then. Anne Hardy, therefore, could well have been this same Thomas's second, much younger wife.

ANNE HARINGTON
see ANNE KEILWAY

ETHELREDA HARINGTON

see ETHELREDA MALTE

ISABEL HARINGTON

see ISABEL MARKHAM

LUCY HARINGTON (January 1581-May 26, 1627)

Lucy Harington was the daughter of John Harington, 1^st baron Harington of Exton (1539/40-August 23,1613) and Anne Kelway (c.1554-May 25,1620). She married Edward Russell, 3^rd earl of Bedford (December 20,1572-May 3, 1627) on December 12, 1594, at the age of thirteen. They had two children, Francis (1602-1602) and a daughter who lived only a few hours in 1610. As her husband was an invalid, Lucy had considerable independence. She was a patron of the arts, supporting John Donne, Ben Jonson, and Inigo Jones, among others. She was also a subscriber to the Virginia Company, a poet, and a possible conspirator in the Essex Rebellion of 1601. She was restored to royal favor as a lady of the bedchamber to Queen Anne from 1603 until 1620 and was a frequent participant in masques at court, including Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones's Hymenaei on January 5, 1606. In 1608, she bought Twickenham Park and made it her principal residence, possibly hiring architect Robert Smythson to design a new house and gardens. In 1617, she and her husband moved to Moor Park in Hertfordshire. They are said to have died, within a few days of each other, having spent their entire fortune. As early as 1619, Lucy was reportedly £50,000 in debt. Biography: Margaret Byard’s “The Trade of Courtiership,” History Today 1979; Oxford DNB entry under "Russell [née Harington], Lucy." Portraits: There are many, some certain and others speculative, including those by John de Critz (1606, in masque costume), Isaac Oliver (c.1615), and William Larkin (c.1615).

MARGARET HARINGTON or HARRINGTON (d. 1601)
Margaret Harington was the daughter of Sir James Harington of Exton, Rutland (1511-January 1592) and Lucy Sidney (c.1520-c.1591). In July 1559, she was one of six attendant gentlewomen who accompanied her cousin, Jane Dormer, countess of Feria, when Jane left England for the Low Countries. Margaret followed Jane to Spain and remained in her household there until her marriage in 1588 to Don Benito de Cisneros. Jane, by then duchess of Feria, gave Margaret a dowry of 20,000 ducats. In the summer of 1593, Jane wrote in a letter that Margaret was “out of her wits all these days with grief” because her daughter had been seriously injured in a fall. At the time of the letter, the child was expected to recover, but both of Margaret’s children, as well as her husband, predeceased her. Shortly before her death, Margaret founded a monastery in Zafra for Franciscan nuns. Her tomb is in the Convento de Santa Maria.

MARY HARINGTON

see MARY ROGERS

SARAH HARINGTON or HARRINGTON (1566-September 1629)
Sarah Harington or Harrington was the daughter of Sir James Harington of Exton, Rutland (d. January 1592) and Lucy Sidney (c.1520-c.1591). She married four men, the last when she was sixty. Her first husband, wed before 1586, was Francis, Lord Hastings (d.1596). All of her children were from this marriage. They were Henry, 5^th earl of Huntingdon (April 24, 1586-November 14, 1643), Sir George (d. July 5, 1611), Edward (d.c.1617), Catherine (d. August 28, 1636), Theodosia, and Francis. Sarah’s second husband was Sir George Kingsmill (c.1539-April 1606), a judge. In October 1611, she married Edward de la Zouche, 11^th baron Zouche (June 6, 1556-August 18, 1625) and on September 11, 1626 wed for the last time, taking diplomat Sir Thomas Edmondes (1563-September 20, 1639) as her husband. According to Charlotte Merton's PhD dissertation The Women who served Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth: Ladies, Gentlewomen and Maids of the Privy Chamber, Sarah Harington Holles lost £500 in one night of gambling at court but afterward "polished up her skill at cheating" and won it all back. Although Merton's work deals with the sixteenth century, this story actually belongs to another, later Sarah Harington. She married a nephew of Sir Gervase Holles, although his surname was Freschville. This second Sarah wasn’t even born until 1607. She was a maid of honor, but to Queen Henrietta Maria in the seventeenth century. The sixteenth century Sarah was buried October 3, 1629. Portrait: by Cornelius Johnson, 1628.

THEODOSIA HARINGTON or HARRINGTON (c.1560-January 1649/50)
Theodosia Harington was the daughter of James Harington of Exton (1511-January 1592) and Lucy Sidney (c.1520-c.1591). On June 12, 1581 at St. Benet Fink, London, she married Edward Sutton, 5th baron Dudley (September 1567-June 23, 1643). Their children were Anne (1582-December 8, 1615), Theodosia (b.1584 d.yng.), Mary (October 2, 1586-May 24, 1645), Ferdinando (September 4, 1588-November 22, 1621), and Margaret (1597-December 13, 1621+). In 1597, Theodosia brought charges against her husband with the Privy Council. They had separated and he'd promised support money but had not honored the agreement. He was ordered to pay Theodosia £66 to cover the period since May 1st (twenty-two weeks) and to pay the bills for boarding and educating his children. In addition, he was told to pay £100 per annum for his wife's maintenance, for life, "unless it shall please God to put their minds to cohabit together." Ferdinand, Mary, and Anne would receive £10 per annum and Margaret, an infant, £10. He was also to repay a loan to Sir John Harington and appear before the council again in November. He neither honored the agreement nor appeared before the council, although he did send his wife £32. Dudley kept a mistress, Elizabeth Tomlinson (d.1629), by whom he had an additional eleven children. Theodosia was buried in St. Margaret's Westminster on January 12, 1649/50. She wrote her will on September 11, 1649 and it was proved on February 3, 1651.

JOAN HARKEY (d.1550)

Joan Harkey’s background is unknown but she was the prioress of Ellerton in Swaledale, Yorkshire, a Cistercian convent, which was surrendered to the Crown on August 18, 1536. She was granted a pension of £3 per annum. She lived in nearby Richmond until her death. Her will, made on April 8, 1550 and proved on July 22, mentioned several former Ellerton nuns—Alice Tomson, Cecily Swale (who had given birth to a child while Joan was prioress), Agnes Aslaby, Elizabeth Parker, and Margaret Dowson. Aslaby and Parker had gone to Nun Appleton Priory when Ellerton was dissolved and Swale had transferred to the nunnery at Swine. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under “Harkey, Joan.”

ELIZABETH HARLESTONE (d.1552)

Elizabeth Harlestone was the daughter of Clement Harlestone, Harleston, or Harlesden (1493-October 24,1544) of South Ockendon, Essex and Margaret Tey or Teye and on June 8, 1529 (the Oxford DNB says June 8, 1530 at Windsor Castle, where she had been in service to Anne Boleyn) married Sir John Wallop (1490-July 1551) as his second wife. Wallop was promoted to lieutenant of Calais Castle on June 23, 1530 and was resident ambassador to France from September 11, 1532 until the spring of 1537 and again from February 2, 1540 until March 1541. According to the DNB article on Wallop, "Lady Wallop handled aspects of their finances, including receiving wages from the exchequer." Although his wife continued to be part of the Boleyn faction until at least 1532 (when she was one of Anne Boleyn’s attendants when Anne, as Marquess of Pembroke, visited France with King Henry VIII), Wallop did not support the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. By December 1535, Elizabeth had apparently been won over to his way of thinking because she is described as Catherine's "creature." Elizabeth was often with her husband in France and often traveled back and forth. She was in the funeral procession of Queen Jane Seymour in 1537. The letter she wrote on August 8, 1538 from Farleigh in Hampshire to Lady Lisle in Calais still exists. She was obviously on intimate terms with the whole family and writes of Lady Lisle’s daughter, Anne Bassett, that “there is no doubt but she shall come to some great marriage.” She also refers to the countess of Sussex’s recent miscarriage. Anne Bassett was at that time living in the Sussex household. In March 1541, when Lady Wallop was at their house in Calais, Sir John Wallop was placed under house arrest in England on vague charges stemming from the seizure of Lord Lisle’s papers in Calais the previous year. He was pardoned and released within a few weeks. Sir John had no children by either of his wives. He named Elizabeth his executrix. After his death, she lived at South Ockendon, where she fell ill in March 1552 and died soon after.

MARGARET HARLESTONE (1519-1570)

Margaret Harlestone was the daughter of Robert Harlestone of Mattishall, Norfolk (b.c.1490). She waited seven years to marry Matthew Parker (August 6,1504-May 15,1575) because he was a priest. They lived together from around 1544 and finally wed on June 24, 1547, when such unions became legal. He became Archbishop of Canterbury under Queen Elizabeth and took up residence in Lambeth Palace in Southwark. The queen did not quite approve of married clergy and is reported to have told Margaret that she did not know what to call her, saying “Madam I many not call you, mistress I am ashamed to call you.” Under the name “Thomas Martin,” Parker published a defense of married clergy. Bishop Sandys nicknamed Margaret “Parker’s Abbess” because of her gravity, chastity, discretion, and piety. She had five children, John (May 5,1548-1618), Matthew (d.yng), Matthew (September 1, 1551-December 1574), Joseph (d.yng.), and Martha (b. August 1550). In 1566 a description of her household indicated that it included two daughters-in-law, Joanna Cox and Frances Barlow, both daughters of bishops, along with Parker’s niece, Mrs. Clark, a Mrs. Baker and her daughter, and Parker’s comptroller’s wife. Each of them had a maidservant. At the time of her death, she owned the Bell Inn and Norfolk House, formerly the residence of the dukes of Norfolk, both located just west of the Archbishop's palace in Lambeth.

MARGARET HARLESTONE (d. c. 1592)
Margaret Harlestone was the daughter of Clement Harlestone of Okinden, Essex (1493-October 24, 1544) and Margaret Tey or Teye. Her first husband was named Howe but she was a widow by June 1, 1554 when she married Roger Ascham (1514/15-December 1568). According to his Oxford DNB entry, another suitor, referred to only as “J. B.” had attempted to kidnap her and this ended in a court case. Ascham won. Margaret had only a small dowry and her relatives were poverty-stricken, so one presumes it was a love match. They had at least four sons—Giles (1560-April 1600), Sturm (1562-1567), Dudley (1564-1603), and Thomas (1569-1608)—and two daughters, the last child born posthumously. A long, rather preachy letter is extant from Ascham to his wife following the death of their newborn child, but he does frequently refer to her in the text by her first name, indicating a warmer relationship than many sixteenth century couples had. On September 28, 1569, Margaret took Thomas Rampston as her third husband and bore him at least one daughter, Anne. In a 1582 letter to Queen Elizabeth, Margaret says she has seven children to care for. She and her third husband lived at Salisbury Hall. Margaret died at some point between July 30, 1590 and June 26, 1592. There is some debate over whether Roger Ascham had an earlier wife named Alice. In a letter to Lady Jane Grey in 1551, he asks to be remembered to “Alice, my wife.” Leanda de Lisle’s recent biography of Lady Jane Grey and her sisters states that Alice Ascham was in service at Bradgate in the summer of 1550 when Ascham visited there prior to leaving England to take up a post at the court of Charles V. Lawrence V. Ryan’s biography of Ascham, however, argues that the words were meant in jest. The letter to Lady Jane was actually in Latin and says “uxor” not wife, which Ryan says would not refer to an actual wife, although it might mean someone he intended to marry. Ascham had written to his uncle for approval to marry a certain A___ B___, but (again, according to Ryan) no marriage took place, in large part because Ascham needed an exemption from the statute of celibacy in order to wed. He did not ask for this exemption until after 1551. Since the penalty for marrying without an exemption was death, this was not something to take lightly and, had he wed in secret, he would certainly not have been writing of it openly to a member of a family closely connected to the Crown.

KATHERINE HARLEY (1539-February 16, 1623)
Katherine Harley was the daughter of John Harley of Brampton (October 29, 1521-1606) and Maud Warnscombe (1522-1589+). She married twice, first to John Cressit of Upton, by whom she had at least one child, Richard. Her second husband was Thomas Cornwall of Burford, Shropshire (1537-May 21, 1615), by whom she had at least three children, Mary (c.1572-c.1600), Thomas (1573-1634), and Cecily. Portrait: monument in Burford.

ANNE HARLING (d. September 18, 1498)
Anne Harling was the daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Harling or Harlyng of East Harling, Norfolk (d.1435) and Jane Gunville. She married three times. Her first husband was Sir William Chamberlain or Chamberlayne of Gedding, Suffolk (d. April 1462). She then married Sir Robert Wingfield (c.1432-1481; alternate date of death is February 21, 1492/3). Her third husband was John, 5th baron Scrope of Bolton (July 22, 1435-August 17, 1498). He named Anne the executor of his will. Lady Scrope is remembered for having converted a college of priests at Rushworth, Norfolk into a grammar school. This was done to secure perpetual prayers for herself and her three husbands. Rushworth and Harling manors were conveyed to the college to support this foundation. She also left bequests to ten convents in her will and was a lay sister at four of them: Bruisyard, Campsey, Redlingfield, and Syon. She was buried in the church at East Harling with her first husband. Most accounts give her no children, but her will, dated August 28, 1498, lists a daughter, Dame Elizabeth Hengrave. Portraits: matice of the brass of Sir William Chamberlain and Lady Anne from Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, East Harling.

ANNE HARMAN
see ANNE DEVEREUX

ISABELLA HARPER
see ISABELLA BOTT

LUCY HARPER or HARPUR
see LUCY PECKHAM

ALICE HARPUR (c.1474-1546)

Alice Harpur was the daughter of Sir Richard Harpur or Harper of Latten, Essex (d.1492) and Elizabeth Arderne (d.c.1510). Before 1492, Alice married John Middleton (d. 1509), a London mercer. They had two daughters, Alice (c.1501-1563) and Helen (d.c.1510). She became the second wife of Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) in 1511 and as such was painted by Hans Holbein the Younger in 1527. More’s children were all from his first marriage. More and his family lived at Crosby Place in London and, after 1523, in the house he built on land in Chelsea. More’s execution and the confiscation of his property left his widow destitute until, on March 16, 1536/7, she was granted £20 per annum. In 1542, she was leasing a house in Chelsea at 20s/year. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "More [née Harpur; other married name Middleton], Alice." NOTE: the DNB entry gives her date of death as "on or before 25 April 1551." Portraits: Alice is included in the group portrait of the More Family which exists as a sketch by Hans Holbein and a later portrait based on Holbein by Rowland Lockey. Below is a detail from the Lockey painting. Holbein also painted an individual portrait of Dame Alice More.

JANE HARRINGTON (d.1565)
Jane Harrington was the daughter of William Harrington (d.1540/1), a grocer who was Lord Mayor of York in 1536, and his first wife, Katherine (d. before 1528). By 1529, she married Robert Hall of York (by 1497-October 5, 1565), a merchant by whom she had at least three sons and four daughters: John, Robert, Leonard, Mary, Anne, Elizabeth, and Katherine. They lived in Goodramgate Street. Hall was Lord Mayor of York twice. During September 1541, in his first term, King Henry VIII visited York. During the second term, 1557-8, a Russian ambassador who was passing through York on his way to London lodged with the Halls. In his will, made on October 23, 1564 and proved October 8, 1565, Hall left his wife the house in which they lived and other property and made her his executor, but she survived him by less than a month. In her will, she left £100 to rebuild Ouse Bridge.

ALICE HARRIS (d. 1602)
Alice Harris was the daughter of John Harris, Thomas More’s secretary, and Dorothy Colley, Margaret More’s maid. Harris was reemployed by Margaret More to make copies of manuscript letters. These were in Dorothy Colley Harris’s possession in 1588 when she loaned them to Thomas Stapleton, More’s biographer, whose Tres Thomae was published that year at Douai. The entire Harris family went into exile after the death of Mary Tudor and Alice was married at some point before 1571, in Louvain, to John Fowler (1537-February 13, 1578/9), a scholar and printer. With her husband, she moved to Antwerp in 1574, Douai in 1577, Rheims in 1578, and finally Namur, where he died. Alice then opened a boarding house in Douai for English Catholics.

ANNE HARRIS (1574-October 2, 1636)
Anne Harris was the daughter of Sir Thomas Harris (1547-1610) and Elizabeth Pomeroy (d.1634). On June 24, 1594 she married Thomas Southwell of Spixworth, Norfolk (c.1575-1626). Anne was a poet, writing from a staunch protestant viewpoint. She often wrote about prominent people. Her second husband, Captain Henry Sibthorpe (d. 1626+), was her mentor and editor. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under “Southwell [née Harris], Anne.”

ELIZABETH or ISABEL HARRIS (d.c.1554)
Elizabeth Harris was the daughter of Francis Harris of Hayne, Devon (d.1509) and Philippa Grenville (d.1524). In 1528 or 1529, she married Walter Staynings or Steyning of Honycott (Honeycroft; Holnicote), Somerset (c.1500-1537) and had four children under the age of six by June 1534, when he was in prison for debt. One of these children, Honor (c.1530-1601), was named after her mother's sister, Honor Grenville, viscountess Lisle. She wrote to Lady Lisle to ask for help in appealing to the queen. Lord Cromwell had been told by the king to sort the matter out, but he was delaying. At that time, Elizabeth was about to leave London to have another child. Left in poverty and pregnant yet again when her husband died, Elizabeth entered the service of Mary Arundell, countess of Sussex, as a waiting gentlewoman, although she was also offered a home with Lady Lisle in Calais. Lady Sussex was Elizabeth's cousin (the daughter of Katherine Grenville). Another of Elizabeth's children was Philip Steyning (d.1589). Elizabeth remarried at some point after 1538, becoming the second of the three wives of Thomas Gawdy (c.1476-August 4, 1556), although The History of Parliament identifies her as the daughter of John Harris of Radford, Devon. Her daughter Honor later married his son by his first marriage, Thomas. Elizabeth was the mother of two sons by Gawdy, including Anthony (c.1554-1606) and may have died as a result of his birth. She was dead before Gawdy made his will on February 1, 1554.

ANNE HART (d.1566)
Anne Hart was the daughter of John Hart of Westmill, Hertfordshire (c.1450-1507) and Elizabeth Peche (1452-July 15, 1544). She married first Edmund Talbot of Bashall and second, in 1510, Sir James Stanley (d.1548+). Her children were Thomas Talbot (c.1508-1558) and George (d. December 8, 1570) and Henry (1515-July 23, 1598) Stanley. She made her will on November 20, 1557, but there is no record of probate and genealogies give her date of death as 1566. She asked to be buried in the church of Blackburn. At that time she had four servants, two men and two women (Margaret Green and Anne Gibson). She named her son Thomas as her executor.

ELIZABETH HART
see ELIZABETH PECHE

JOAN HARTGILL
see JOAN ROSSITER

CAMILLA HARVEY
see CAMILLA GUICCIARDINI

ISABEL HARVEY (d.1543/4)
Isabel Harvey was the daughter of John Harvey or Hervey of Thurleigh (Thirley), Bedfordshire (d. September 23, 1474) and Alice or Agnes Morley. Her mother married second John Isley and third John Paston the Younger. Isabel was married four times. Her first husband was John Leigh of Addington, Surrey (d.1503), by whom she had a son, Nicholas. Her second husband was Roger Fitz of Southwark (d.1504), owner of two houses "in the Stews, on the Bankside" in Ram Alley, the Lion and the Ram. His will specified that both were to be sold to found a chantry in Lewisham. As her third husband, Isabel married William Hatcliffe of London and Lewisham, Kent (d.1518/19) as his second wife. He was under-treasurer of Ireland and organized the 1513 invasion of France. They entertained Cardinal Campeggio at Lewisham in 1518. His will was made November 10, 1518 and proved March 18, 1519. In May 1519, Isabel released all the money (over £25,000) her husband had handled for the king in 1513. Her last husband was John Fleming of Southampton (d.1528). Portrait: floor brass at Addington with her first husband on which his date of death is incorrectly given as 1509.

LUCY HARVEY or HERVEY (1530-1586)
Lucy Harvey or Hervey was the daughter and coheir of Thomas Harvey or Hervey of Elmesthorpe, Leicestershire. By 1544, she married Thomas Cotton of Conington, Huntingdonshire (February 23, 1514/15-October 28, 1574). They had four sons. In his will, made July 28, 1574, Cotton left most of his property to his wife. He specified that £10 was to go to each of his younger sons and left the manor of Wood Walton to his eldest son, Thomas (d. May 30, 1592), provided Thomas left his mother in undisturbed possession of Conington. Later there was a lawsuit over this stipulation.

ANNE HASSALL (d.1549+)
Anne Hassall was the daughter of Richard Hassall of Hassall and Hankelow, Cheshire. She became the mistress of Sir Anthony Lee of Quarrendon, Buckinghamshire (1510/11-1549) while Lee was still married to Margaret Wyatt and bore him two sons, Richard (d. December 22, 1608) and Russell, out of wedlock. After Lady Lee died, they were married. The marriage settlement is dated May 23, 1548. In his will, Lee left Anne a large flock of sheep, plate, and household stuff. If she remarried, the plate and household stuff were to go to her sons. She was buried at Hardwick, Buckinghamshire.

ANNE HASTINGS (c.1471-c.1512)
Anne Hastings was the daughter of William, 1^st baron Hastings (1430-x. June 13, 1483) and Katherine Neville (1442-before November 22, 1503). She married George Talbot, 4^th earl of Shrewsbury (1468-July 26, 1538), by whom she had eleven children: Mary (d. April 16, 1572), Francis (1500-September 25, 1560), Margaret (d. before 1516), Elizabeth (d.1532), Dorothy, Richard, Henry, John (d.yng.), John (d.yng.), William, and Lucy. Anne was at court as one of Catherine of Aragon’s ladies in waiting at the beginning of Henry VIII’s reign and her youngest daughter Lucy was a maid of honor. Portrait: effigy with her husband and his second wife (Anne on Talbot's right). The other wife is Elizabeth Walden (d.July 1567); engraving of the monument.

ANNE HASTINGS

see ANNE STAFFORD

ANNE HASTINGS (c.1485-November 17, 1550)
Anne Hastings was the daughter of Edward, 2^nd baron Hastings (November 25, 1466-November 8, 1506) and Mary Hungerford (c.1468-July 10, 1533). Anne was married to John Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter (1442-1496) as a child. In 1507, she married Thomas Stanley, 2^nd earl of Derby (1485-May 23, 1521) and was the mother of Edward, 3^rd earl (May 10,1508-October 24,1572), John, Anne, Margaret (d. January 1534), Henry (d. June 29, 1528), James, George, Thomas (c.1515-1538), and Jane. Anne was at the court of Catherine of Aragon as the youngest of her ladies in waiting in 1509 and at the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520. In 1542, when her son-in-law, Robert, earl of Sussex, died he gave Anne custody of his daughter, Jane (her mother was Anne's late daughter Margaret) as well as the wardship of young Lord Berkeley, intended as the girl's husband. In 1545, Anne sold Berkeley's wardship to his mother for £1000. In her will, Anne left Jane clothing, furnishings, and the profits of that sale.

CATHERINE HASTINGS
see CATHERINE ASKE

ELIZABETH HASTINGS (c.1450-1507/8)
Elizabeth Hastings was the daughter of Sir Leonard Hastings (c.1397-October 20, 1455) and Alice de Camoys and the sister of William, Lord Hastings. At some point between February 24, 1462 and March 11, 1565, she married Sir John Donne (Don, Dun, Dwnn) of Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire (d. January 1503). They had a number of children, including Anne (c.1471-c.1507), Margaret, Edward (1482?-1552), and Griffith or Gruffudd (1487?-1543). Although Donne was replaced as lieutenant of Calais in 1497, Elizabeth still had a house there after his death. The family also lived for long periods in Wales. She and her husband are buried in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Portrait: c. 1479/80, the artist Hans Memling, created an altarpiece for use in a private chapel, using Sir John and his wife and one of their daughters (the Oxford DNB entry for Donne indicates this daughter was probably Anne) as models for the figures kneeling before the Virgin Mary. The Donne Triptych is now in the National Gallery, London.

ELIZABETH HASTINGS (c. 1496-1504/5)
Elizabeth Hastings was the daughter of Sir John Hastings of Fenwick,Yorkshire (c.1466-July 12,1504) and Katherine Aske (c.1457-February 4, 1506/7). Following her father’s death, she was abducted by Henry Percy, 5^th earl of Northumberland, an action which usurped King Henry VII’s right of prerogative wardship. To make matters worse, Elizabeth died while in Northumberland’s custody, thus permanently depriving the king of a valuable wardship. Northumberland was fined £10,000, although payment was suspended during the king’s pleasure. Eventually Northumberland paid £3000, although part of that may have been for unlawful retaining (keeping too many liveried retainers in his employ).

ELIZABETH HASTINGS (1504+-1588)
Elizabeth Hastings was the daughter of Sir William Hastings (1470-1514) and Jane Sheffield (1474-March 16, 1528). She married John Beaumont of Thringston, Leicestershire (d. c. 1556) as his second wife in around 1540 and they had two sons and two daughters, including Francis (d.April 22, 1598), Henry (d.1585), and Elizabeth (d. August 1562). Beaumont became master of rolls on December 13, 1550, but he abused his position, speculating with the revenues and forging the signature of the late Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk, on a deed to favor Suffolk’s daughter, Anne Brandon, Lady Grey of Powis. He then bought the property from her. Since Henry Grey, the new duke of Suffolk, challenged Anne's right to the property, the forgery was discovered and Beaumont was imprisoned in February 1552. His lands were surrendered, including his family seat at Grace Dieu, which was granted in 1553 to Francis Hastings, earl of Huntingdon, Elizabeth’s cousin. After Beaumont’s death, Elizabeth recovered Grace Dieu from Francis. From 1571, Elizabeth raised her daughter’s four children, Henry (c.1559-1587), Eleanor (c.1560-c.1625), Elizabeth (b.c.1561), and Anne (July 1562-c. 1637) Vaux at Grace Dieu, instilling in them the tenets of Roman Catholicism. She was obviously successful since Eleanor and Anne spent decades providing safe houses for Jesuit missionaries and Elizabeth became a Poor Clare nun.

ELIZABETH HASTINGS (c.1546-August 24, 1621)
Elizabeth Hastings was the daughter of Francis Hastings, 2^nd earl of Huntingdon (1514-June 20, 1561) and Katherine Pole (d. September 23, 1576). She was a maid of honor before she married Edward Somerset, 4^th earl of Worcester (1553-March 3,1628) in December 1571. Queen Elizabeth credited her with converting “a stiff papist into a good subject.” The large number of their children kept them poor. The children were Francis (d.yng.), Katherine (c.1575-October 30, 1624), Anne, Elizabeth, William (d.before January 21, 1598), Henry (d.December 18, 1646), Thomas (1579-1649/50), a second Catherine (d.November 6, 1654), Blanche (c.1583-October 28, 1649), two sons named Charles,Christopher, Edward, Frances, and Mary. Elizabeth died at Worcester House, St. Clement Danes, London and was buried at Raglan. Portraits: c.1600 (black and white below), as reproduced in Roy Strong's The Cult of Elizabeth; the color portrait below is listed as "possibly Elizabeth Hastings, Countess of Worcester" on flickr. There do seem to be similarities between the two.

ELIZABETH HASTINGS

see ELIZABETH STANLEY

FLORENCE HASTINGS (c.1473-1536)
Florence Hastings was the daughter of Ralph Hastings of Harrowdon, Northamptonshire and Kirkby, Leicestershire (1435-1495) and Amy or Anne Tattershall. She married Edmund, 9th baron Grey de Wilton (c.1468-May 5, 1511) and was the mother George, 10th baron (1494-before 1517), Thomas, 11th baron (1497-October 3, 1517), Richard, 12th baron (1505-October 14, 1521), William, 13th baron (1509-December 15, 1562), and Elizabeth (d. December 29, 1559). Grey's will was written May 5, 1511 and proved May 15, 1511. Alison Weir in her biography of Mary Boleyn identifies Florence as the "young dowager Lady Grey de Wilton" and suggests that she, not her daughter, accompanied Mary Tudor to France in 1513. If she did, she was one of those who remained in France after most of Mary's entourage was sent home, but I am not convinced Florence was the one who stayed, since by 1513, she was no longer all that "young." Weir also states that she was widowed in 1505, which is incorrect. Florence remarried, taking as her second husband Richard Brett of Bletchley, Buckinghamshire (d.c.1533). His will was written July 16, 1532 and proved March 20, 1533/4. After his death, she was sued for a debt he owed. Florence's will was written July 28, 1536. In it she mentions her daughters Brydges (Elizabeth) and Bardara (?) and her sister Dyre (Dyer).

JANE HASTINGS
see JANE or JOAN ROMONDBYE

KATHERINE HASTINGS

see KATHERINE DUDLEY; KATHERINE POLE; KATHERINE WOODVILLE

MARY HASTINGS
see MARY HUNGERFORD

MARY HASTINGS (c.1552-1584+)

Mary Hastings was the youngest daughter of Francis Hastings, 2nd earl of Huntingdon (1514-June 20,1561) and Katherine Pole (d. September 23, 1576). In 1562, Mary's brother contracted a marriage for one of his sisters, either Lady Elizabeth or Lady Mary, to Lord Bulbeck, the earl of Oxford's heir. The agreement provided for a dowry of 1000 marks and a jointure of £1000. Edward de Vere was supposed to marry one of the sisters within a month of his eighteenth birthday. Before that date, however, the earl of Oxford died and the new earl became the ward of William Cecil, Lord Bughley. He married Burghley's daughter, Ann Cecil, instead. Lady Mary, still unmarried and in her late twenties, may have been a maid of honor at the court of Queen Elizabeth in 1581 when Dr. Atkins, an English physician living in Muscovy, suggested her name to Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia in reponse to his interest in beginning negotiations for an English bride of royal blood. Mary qualified, being a Plantagenet descendent distantly related to the queen. It is uncertain when she was told of her role in the matter, but if she knew anything about Ivan, she cannot have been enthusiastic. He was at that time married to his seventh wife, a woman he planned to discard if the match with an English "princess" could be arranged. Ivan sent an ambassador,Theodor Andreevich Pissemsky, to England to negotiate the marriage and an alliance against the king of Poland. He was to report on the height, complexion, and measurements of the proposed bride and procure a portrait of her. Ivan was looking for a stately appearance, and would also require that Mary and all her attendants convert to the Orthodox religion. Queen Elizabeth, who wanted exclusive English access to the port of St. Nicholas, deliberately delayed committing herself with the ambassador, who arrived in England in September 1582, at first telling him that Mary Hastings had recently had smallpox and that a face-to-face meeting and a portrait would be intrusive. In May 1583, however, she could put him off no longer. There are two accounts of the meeting, one from the ambassador himself (translated) and one by Sir Jerome Horsey, who was not present. They differ widely in some areas but agree that the meeting was in the Lord Chancellor's garden. The Lord Chancellor was Sir Thomas Bromley, but while the ambassador's account says the garden was at Bromley's country house, Horsey places it in the gardens at York House, near Charing Cross in the city of Westminster. According to the ambassador, he was allowed only an interpreter, Dr. Roberts, and did not actually speak to Lady Mary. There was a party of ladies in the garden and Lady Mary was pointed out to him. She was walking at the head of the group, between the countess of Huntingdon (her brother's wife, born Katherine Dudley) and Lady Bromley (Elizabeth Fortescue). The two groups circled the garden several times, passing each other, so that the ambassador could get a good look. Horsey's version, in which the ambassador throws himself on the ground before the Tsar's betrothed and declares she has the face of an angel, seems unlikely. What the ambassador did say was, “It is enough.” He reported to the Tsar that “The Princess of Hountinski, Mary Hantis is tall, slight, and white-skinned; she has blue eyes, fair hair, a straight nose, and her fingers are long and taper.” Some translations make her eyes grey. The long-awaited portrait was completed in time for him to take it with him when he returned to Russia. He embarked on June 22, 1583 along with England’s new ambassador to Russia, Sir Jerome Bowes. Bowes's instructions were to dissuade the Tsar on grounds of Mary's poor health, scarred complexion, and reluctance to leave her friends. Until Ivan's death on March 18, 1584, Mary (at least according to Horsey) had to put up with being called “the Empress of Muscovia.” Mary herself died, still unwed, before 1589, by which date a bequest in her will was being contested. One source says her death came was shortly after a visit to her brother in Ireland but, so far, I've found no record that any of her brothers were ever sent to that country, let alone were serving there in the 1580s.

MAUD HASTINGS
see MAUD LONGFORD

SARAH HASTINGS
see SARAH HARINGTON

WINIFRED HASTINGS
see WINIFRED POLE

BEATRIX HATCLIFFE (d. April 20, 1505)
Beatrix Hatcliffe was the daughter of James Hatcliffe/Hawcklyfe of Grimthorpe, Yorkshire. She married first, at some point after September 20, 1483, as his second wife, Ralph, 2nd baron Greystock (1408-June 1, 1487). He had fifteen children by his first wife but none by Beatrix. Her second husband was Sir Robert Constable of North Cliffe, Yorkshire (c.1445-November 22, 1501). Their marriage license is dated August 18, 1490. Their children were Agnes (d.c.1520), Marmaduke (c.1491-c.1525), Elizabeth, Robert (d.c.1564/5), Anne, Jane (d.1564+), and William. On April 12, 1502, Beatrix became a vowess by taking a vow of chastity. She made her will on that same day three years later and it was proved on June 5, 1505. At that time she had three underage children. She wished Elizabeth to become a nun, but provided for her marriage if she did not agree to enter into religion at the age of twelve.

ISABEL HATCLIFFE
see ISABEL HARVEY

ANNE HATHAWAY (1556-August 8, 1623)

Anne Hathaway was the daughter of Richard Hathaway (d.1581). She married William Shakespeare (April 1564-April 23,1616) on November 30 or December 1,1582 and bore three children, Susanna (May 1583-1649), Hamnet (January 1585-August 1596) and Judith (January 1585-February 1662). From her husand’s departure for London until his death there is no documentary evidence of Anne’s whereabouts or activities. In his will, he left her “the second best bed with the furniture.” The best bed went with the house, which was left to his daughter Susanna and her husband. This was in no way an unusual bequest, as the expectation was that Susanna would take care of her mother, who was then sixty, for the remainder of her life. Anne is said to have wished to be buried with her husband but that the curse on those who disturbed his remains prevented this. Portrait: a tracing of an earlier portrait by Sir Nicholas Curzon, 1608, comes from the Colgate Library copy of the 3rd Folio of 1663. Biography: Germaine Greer, Shakespeare's Wife (2007).

DOROTHY HATTON (c.1536-c.1591)
Dorothy Hatton was the daughter of William Hatton of Holdenby, Norfolk (c.1510-August 29, 1546) and Alice Saunders. She married first John Newport of Hunnington, Warwickshire (d.1565), by whom she had a son, William (d. March 12, 1596). He took the name Hatton in order to inherit from his uncle, Dorothy’s brother Sir Christopher Hatton (1540-1591), who never married. Dorothy’s second husband was William Underhill of Idlicote, Warwickshire (c.1512-May 31 1570) by whom she also had a son, also named William (d.1597). Underhill purchased New Place, the second best house in Stratford-upon-Avon, in 1567. Their son sold it to William Shakespeare in 1597, shortly before he (William Underhill) was poisoned by his son, Fulke Underhill (x.1599). This loose connection led novelist and biographer Daphne du Maurier to speculate in The Winding Stair (1977) that Elizabeth Cecil, Lady Hatton, William Newport Hatton’s second wife, was the dark lady of Shakespeare’s sonnets. This is unlikely.

ELIZABETH HATTON
Elizabeth Hatton was the illegitimate daughter of Sir Christopher Hatton (1540-November 20, 1591). She was seduced by Sir John Perrott (1527-1592), possibly in Ireland, and bore his illegitimate daughter Elizabeth. Her life dates are unknown but it is quite certain that she is not the Elizabeth Hatton murdered on January 26 or 27, 1626, "torn limb from limb" in the courtyard behind the stables at Ely House in Holborn. In fact, there was no such person. The "Legend of Bleeding Heart Yard" has several versions and features a variety of women connected to the Hatton family. None of the versions are true.

ELIZABETH HATTON

see ELIZABETH CECIL

FRANCES HATTON (July 1590-before November 21, 1623)
Frances Hatton was the daughter of William (Newport) Hatton (d. March 12, 1596) and his first wife, Elizabeth Gawdy (1569-1591). Left an orphan, she was raised by her stepmother, Elizabeth Cecil Hatton (1577-1646). Frances’s marriage on February 24, 1605 to Robert Rich, 2^nd earl of Warwick (1587-April 18, 1658) was cause for a major rift between Lady Hatton and her second husband, Sir Edward Coke. Frances and her husband had four sons and three daughters, including Anne (d. February 14, 1642), Robert (1611-1659), Charles (1619-1673), and Essex (a daughter).

BARBARA HAWKE (d.1569+)
All the Queen's Women: The Changing Place and Perception of Aristocratic Women in Elizabethan England 1558-1620 (1987) by Joan Barbara Greenbaum Goldsmith lists Barbara Hawke Bruselles as part of the household of Elizabeth Tudor before 1558 and again from 1558-1569+ but it is in the household of Mary Tudor that I find early mention of Barbara Hawke. She is listed as a gentlewoman of the chamber for the period 1536-47, before Mary became queen, and appears again in 1553-8 as a Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber to Queen Mary. The surname Bruselles does not appear in these early records. Queen Elizabeth gave Barbara russet colored material for gowns in 1565 and again in 1569. Jane Brussells, listed as a chamberer in the household of Queen Elizabeth in 1586, is Barbara's daughter.

MARGARET HAWKINS

see MARGARET VAUGHAN

MIRIAM HAWKINS
see MIRIAM KHAN

ANNE HAWORTH

see ANNE BRANDON

JANE HAWTE (1522-1595+)
Jane Hawte or Haute was the daughter of Sir William Hawte of Bishopsbourne, Kent (1489-1539) and Mary Guildford (b.1487). In 1536 she married Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger of Allington, Kent (1521-x.April 11,1554). Their children were Anna, Frances, Jane, Richard, Charles, Arthur, Henry, Jocosa, Ursula, and George (1554-1624). Five of the children were still living when Wyatt was executed for treason and his property confiscated by the Crown. According to some accounts, Jane was sent for after Wyatt's arrest and promised he would be spared if she could convince him to implicate Elizabeth Tudor in treason. He refused. She appealed directly to the queen, presenting a formal appeal for clemency to Mary as she returned from a session of Parliament. She received a "sharp answer" at first, but then the queen said she would "have mercy on her." Jane's half sister, Mary Kempe Finch, was one of Mary's ladies, but in the end a pardon for Sir Thomas proved out of the question. Until Queen Mary provided Jane with an annuity of £200 in 1555, the family was destitute. Jane was eventually allowed to reclaim her husband’s goods and some of his property, but by the time the family was restored in blood in 1570, George was the only surviving son. Some accounts say that Jane and her husband did not get along and that he had a mistress. While this may be correct, it is more likely a case of confusing Wyatt the Younger with his father. See the entries for ELIZABETH BROOKE and ELIZABETH DARRELL.

ALICE HAYWARD
see ALICE LONZAM

JOAN HAYWARD (1558-March 3,1612)
Joan Hayward was the daughter of Sir Rowland Hayward or Heyward (c.1520-1593), a clothworker who was Lord Mayor of London in 1570, and Joan Tillesworth (d.1580). In February 1576 she married John Thynne (c.1551-November 21,1604). Their children were Thomas, Dorothy, Christian, and John. From 1580 until 1604, Joan was mistress of Longleat House, one of the great mansions of Elizabethan England. After that she lived primarily at Caus Castle in Shropshire. In 1594, at sixteen, Thomas secretly married Maria Touchet at the Bell Inn in Beaconsfield. She was the daughter of Lord Audley, whose politics were opposed to those of the Thynnes and there may have been a long standing feud with her mother’s family, the Mervyns. Joan and her husband attempted to annul the marriage but failed. Some speculate that this was the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Joan was also involved in other legal disputes and was reputed to keep muskets in her bedroom at Caus Castle. As a widow, she managed her own affairs and added a lead mine to her holdings. John Maynard, who was music tutor to Joan’s children, dedicated his The XII Wonders of the World to her in 1611. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under “Thynne [née Hayward], Joan;” Alison D. Wall, Two Elizabethan Women: correspondence of Joan and Maria Thynne. Portrait: by an unknown artist.

THOMASIN HEATH
see THOMASIN DERHAM

JANE HECKINGTON (1501-March 10, 1588)
Jane Heckington was the daughter of William Heckington of Bourne, Lincolnshire and Alice or Anne Walcot. Around 1518, she married Richard Cecil of Burleigh, Northamptonshire (d. May 19,1552) and was the mother of William (September 13, 1520-1598), Anne, Margaret, and Elizabeth. Jane took no part in court life, although her husband was yeoman of the wardrobe from 1530. As a widow, Jane was noted for her piety and her good works at Stamford. Late in life she became difficult and demanding, partially because she suffered from poor eyesight. She was said to be careless about her appearance. Portraits: artist unknown; effigy on monument in St. Martin’s Church, Stamford.

ANNE HEIGHAM
see ANNE LUCAS

ANNE HEIGHAM (1567-February 27, 1601)

Anne Heigham was the daughter of Sir William Heigham of Dunmow, Essex and Ann Allen. She and her brother, William, were disowned by their father for converting to Catholicism. On February 3,1583, Anne married Roger Line or Lyne of Ringwood, Hampshire (1567-1594), who had also been disinherited by his family for the same reason. In 1585, Anne’s husband and brother were arrested for their religious activities and banished from the realm in December 1586. Roger went to Douai and lived out the rest of his life in poverty. William went to Spain. Although her husband sent her part of his small pension, Anne was left destitute and had to fend for herself. She lodged for a time with the Wiseman family, then became housekeeper at a refuge in London used by priests. She took a vow of poverty and chastity. She was arrested in 1599 for harboring priests but was let go with a fine.The next time she was caught, however, on February 2,1601, she was sentenced to be hanged at Tyburn. Anne Line was the only woman in the years 1590 to 1603 to be executed in England for harboring priests and the last woman ever to be hanged in England as a felon for that crime. After her death, Anne Dacre, countess of Arundel, loaned her coach to friends bent on retrieving Anne Line's body. After a clandestine funeral the body was buried in secret. It has been suggested that Shakespeare’s poem, “The Phoenix and the Turtle” may have been written to commemorate the lives of Roger and Anne Line. In 1970, Anne Line was canonized. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Line [née Heigham], Anne."

ANNE HENEAGE
see ANNE POYNTZ

CATHERINE HENEAGE
see CATHERINE SKIPWITH

ELIZABETH HENEAGE (July 9, 1556-1633/4)

Elizabeth Heneage was the daughter of Sir Thomas Heneage (d. October 17, 1595) and Anne Poyntz (d. November 19, 1593). She married Sir Moyle Finch of Eastwell, Kent (d. December 14, 1614) in 1572. At her father’s death, she made a settlement on her stepmother, Mary Browne, dowager countess of Southampton, in return for the countess’s agreement to pay all of Heneage’s debts. Elizabeth was at the courts of Elizabeth I and James I as Lady Finch and was in the queen’s funeral procession in 1603. In 1623, she was created viscountess Maidstone, supposedly in remembrance of the good services of her father. In fact, she transferred the family seat, Copt Hall, Essex, to the Lord Treasurer, Sir Lionel Cranfield, to secure the honor. In 1628, she was created countess of Winchelsea. Her children were Sir Heneage (d.1631), Thomas, earl of Winchelsea (c.1575-November 4,1634), Anne (d.1638), and Katherine (d.1639). Portraits: the lifelike effigy created during her lifetime at Eastwell, Kent is now in the Victoria & Albert Museum; two portraits by unknown artists; portrait shown, c.1600, by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger

JANE HENEAGE
see JANE BRUSSELLS

MARY HENEAGE

see MARY BROWNE

ANNE HERBERT (1545-1593)
Anne Herbert was the daughter of William Herbert, 1st earl of Pembroke (c.1506-March 17, 1570) and Anne Parr (c.1515-February 20, 1552). In 1563, she married Francis Talbot (1550-1582), eldest son of the 6th earl of Shrewsbury. He died before his father and they had no children. According to Charlotte Merton's The Women who served Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, Lady Talbot was resident at court when she heard that her brother, the 2nd earl of Pembroke, had asked for money from her father-in-law under terms of her jointure. Pembroke wanted to use the money to invest in one of Sir Walter Raleigh's overseas ventures. Anne was furious. She had been under the impression that the money was to be used for repairs on some houses in which she had an interest. She wrote to her father-in-law to complain. The year is uncertain, but was between 1582 and 1590.

ANNE HERBERT

see ANNE PARR: ANNE TALBOT

BLANCHE HERBERT

see BLANCHE MILBORNE

ELEANOR HERBERT (1578-1595+)
Eleanor Herbert was the daughter of Henry Herbert of Troye (c.1528-1596) and Lucy Somerset (c.1554-January 18, 1603/4). She married William Rawlings. Portrait: 1595.

JANE HERBERT
see JANE ORWELL

MAGDALEN HERBERT

see MAGDALEN NEWPORT

MARY HERBERT

see MARY SIDNEY; MARY TALBOT

SUSAN HERBERT
see SUSAN de VERE

CECILY HERON

see CECILY MORE

BRIDGET HERVEY

see BRIDGET WILTSHIRE

ELIZABETH HERVEY (1448-1524)
Elizabeth Hervey was the daughter of John Hervey of Thurleigh, Bedfordshire (d. c.1475) and Joan Niernuyt or Neyrnuit. She became a nun at Elstow in Bedfordshire in 1463 and was abbess there from November 5, 1501 until her death in 1524. What makes Elizabeth Hervey memorable is a brass showing her in her abbess’s robes with her crosier. This is one of only two such brasses in England. Portrait: brass in the Church of St. Mary and St. Helena, Elstow.

ELIZABETH HERVEY OR HARVEY (d.1542+)

Elizabeth Hervey, known as Bess, is my candidate for the "very handsome young lady of the court" in whom Henry VIII took an interest in during Anne Boleyn’s 1534 pregnancy. This woman's name has not survived, only that Anne attempted to dismiss her and failed to do so and that she was a friend to Princess Mary. In October 1534, Lady Rochford was dismissed from court instead, for conspiring against this mystery woman. David Starkey’s Six Wives recounts that Bess Hervey was in service to Anne Boleyn and on “friendly terms” with Sir Francis Bryan. She was sent away from court in 1536, although she claimed she did not know why. If she was the "handsome young lady," she had lost the king's interest by then. According to Carolly Erickson in Bloody Mary, an Elizabeth Harvey was one of Catherine of Aragon's women in 1536. After Catherine died she asked to be placed in Mary's service and was refused. In 1539, however, she was part of a group of court ladies who visited Portsmouth to tour the king's ships, at Henry VIII's special invitation. She was also among the ladies in Anne of Cleves’s household, as “Elsabeth Harvy.” She was not appointed to Catherine Howard’s household, but during Catherine's tenure as queen, Catherine gave Bess the gift of a gown. Starkey suggests Bess was Thomas Culpepper’s paramour. In March 1541, Bess was granted an annuity of £10/year. I am hoping to find out more about this intriguing person.

ISABEL HERVEY or HARVEY (d. May 8, 1594)

Isabel Hervey was the daughter of Edmund Hervey (b.1492) and Margaret Wentworth (c.1492-1511). Her father was a wealthy London merchant with a house in Cheapside. According to the legend, Isabel and her father were visiting friends in the village of Kensington when the earl of Sussex and his retinue rode past. In her eagerness to see the cavalcade, Isabel leaned too far out a window and dropped her glove. Sir Humphrey Radcliffe (c.1509-August 13,1566), third son of the earl, dipped his lance, impaled the glove, and returned it to its owner. Struck by her beauty, he left his father’s company and offered his services to Hervey to escort him and his daughter back to London. Humphrey represented himself as one of the earl’s men, but did not tell them he was Sussex’s son until, some versions of the tale insist, he and Isabel had been married for some time. This marriage took place before July 1533. They lived at Elstow in Bedfordshire and Edgworth, Lancashire. They were the parents of four daughters and two sons, including Mary (d.1616/17), a maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth, Edward (1552-1643), Martha, Thomas, and Frances (b.1545). Portrait: the Hans Holbein the Younger drawing at Windsor inscribed “The Lady Ratclif” may be Isabel Hervey, although neither the date of her marriage nor the date of the drawing are known. Other likely candidates (Elizabeth Howard, Lady Fitzwalter; Margaret Stanley, countess of Sussex; Mary Arundell, countess of Sussex) would not have been called Lady Radcliffe.

MARY HERVEY

see MARY BROWNE

ELIZABETH HESKETH
see ELIZABETH FLEMING

MARGARETE HETZEL or PREU (c.1511-1576)

According to a story invented by the author of Bishop Cranmer’s Recantacyons (1556), the wife of Thomas Cranmer (July 2,1489-x.March 21,1556), was smuggled into England in a crate. Cranmer, later Archbishop Cranmer, met Margarete in the summer of 1531, when he was in Nuremberg, Germany as Henry VIII’s ambassador to the Emperor. He was visiting a German reformer, Andreas Osiander (1498-1552), Margarete’s uncle. Since Osiander's name is also given as Hosmer, Hosemann, and Heiligmann, Margarete's name was long thought to be Hosmer. Her parents' names seem to be lost to history, but she was the niece of Osiander's wife, Katharina Preu, so her surname was either Preu or Hetzel. Margarete married Cranmer in 1532 as his second wife. His first, Joan, married sometime between 1515 and 1519, had died in childbirth along with their child. In August of 1532, when Archbishop Warham died, Cranmer was appointed to replace him. Unfortunately, wives were not at that time permitted for priests, let alone archbishops, so Cranmer hid his marriage. He was consecrated on March 30, 1533. After her arrival in England, by crate or otherwise, Margarete had at least four children by Cranmer, as Margaret (c.1536-1568) was her third daughter. She also had a son, Thomas (c.1538-1598). Around 1540, Cranmer sent Margarete back to Germany to avoid prosecution, but she was able to return c. 1544. She seems to have left England after her husband's execution and there married publisher and preacher Edward Whitechurch (d.1562). By 1561, they were living in Chamberwell, near Lambeth. After his death, she took possession of the abbey of Kirkstall near Leeds. On November 29, 1564, she married Bartholomew Scott of Chamberwell (d.1600), J.P. for Surrey, but soon realized that he had only married her for her money. She left him, taking refuge with old friends Reyner Wolfe and his wife in London, and lawsuits ensued. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under "Cranmer, Margaret."

ABIGAIL HEVENINGHAM (c.1551-1611+)
Abigail Heveningham was the daughter of Sir Anthony Heveningham of Ketteringham, Norfolk (c.1507-November 22, 1557) and Mary Shelton (1512?-January 1571). Abigail was at court, probably as a maid of the Privy Chamber by March 7, 1567/8, when she received a length of orange and blue striped velvet as a gift. In a letter of May 14, 1571, George Delves reports to Edward, earl of Rutland that Abigail had "tasted the quintessence out of the long-necked bottle." According to Charlotte Merton, in The Women who served Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, the queen was duly informed of Abigail's misbehavior. Instead of dismissing her, Elizabeth made her a gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber instead of a maid. She was replaced in her old post by Elizabeth Fitzgerald, niece of Lady Clinton. In 1578, Abigail married George Digby of Coleshill, Warwickshire (1550-April 1587), who was knighted in 1586, but she continued to serve in the Privy Chamber. Digby's will, made April 1586 and proved May 11, 1587, divided his property between his widow and his eldest son. In 1588, the earl of Leicester tried to obtain provision for Abigail. At least one letter Abigail wrote to her brother, Sir Arthur (d. October 8, 1630), on February 7, 1588/9, is still extant, and she is known to have tried to further his campaign to be re-appointed sheriff of Norfolk in 1600. He had an abrasive personality that interfered with his political ambitions. In her widowhood, Abigail was granted a twenty-one year lease on Coleshill Rectory on December 8, 1587. Another document, dated May 27, 1592 and concerning the wardship of her minor son, Robert (1574-May 24, 1618), indicates that she had married and been widowed a second time between 1587 and 1592. This second husband was Edward Cordell (d. December 9, 1590), a clerk of the queen’s high court of Chancery. This marriage made him wealthy. He made his will December 7, 1590 and it was proved January 20, 1591. Abigail was sole executor and inherited a house in Fleet Street and land in several counties. She erected his monument in St. Dunstan-in-the-West. According to the Oxford DNB entry for John Digby (1580-1653), he was the fourth and youngest son of Sir George Digby. The History of Parliament gives Abigail three sons, including the eldest, Robert, and one daughter, Abigail (d. February 6, 1630/1). Lady Digby was still alive on November 9, 1611, when she received an acknowledgement of the payment of £43 6s. 8d., owed to Thomas, earl of Suffolk.

ANNE HEVENINGHAM
see ANNE YARDE or YERDE

BRIDGET HEVENINGHAM
see BRIDGET PASTON

MARY HEVENINGHAM

see MARY SHELTON

ANNE HEWETT (1543/4-1585)

Anne Hewett was the daughter of William Hewett (1514-January 21,1566/7), Lord Mayor of London in 1559, and Alice Leveson (1523-April 8,1561). She was their only surviving child and heir to Hewett’s country house at Highgate and estates and manors in Essex, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire. According to the legend, a young man named Edward Osborne (c.1530-February 4,1592) was apprenticed to Hewett when Anne was just a baby and when her nurse carelessly let her fall out of a window overlooking the Thames, Osborne dived in and saved her. Paintings depicting this rescue hang in both the Clothworker’s Hall and at Hornby Castle, and the story first broke into print in 1720, but there are those who say that Osborne was never apprenticed to Hewett and that Hewett’s house, far from being on London Bridge, was located in Philpot Lane. Whatever the truth, although Anne was at one time courted by George Talbot, 6^th earl of Shrewsbury, in 1562 she married Edward Osborne, who became Lord Mayor of London in 1583. Their children were Alice (1563-1626), Hewett (1566-1614), Anne (1570-1653), Edward (November 1572-1625), and Jane (November 1578-1601+). Lady Osborne was buried in St. Martin Orgar on July 14, 1585.

AGNES HEYDON
see AGNES CRANE

ANNE HEYDON
see ANNE BOLEYN; ANNE DRURY; ANNE WOODHOUSE

MARIA HEYMAN (d. 1556+)
Maria Heyman was the daughter of Peter Heyman (Hayman/Haymond) of Somerfield House, Sellinge, Kent (c.1502-August 1550), who was steward to Thomas Cranmer and a gentleman of the bedchamber to King Edward VI. One source says her mother was Mary Hawte, the sister of Jane Hawte, Lady Wyatt, but the History of Parliament entry for her father identifies his two wives as Elizabeth Till, mother of six daughters and two sons, and Mary Tyrrell, mother of three daughters. This entry also gives Heyman's date of death as 1553/4, citing his will, made on May 20, 1553 and proved October 12, 1554. As Heyman did not remarry until c.1547, Maria must have been the daughter of Elizabeth Till or Tille. Maria made a controversial marriage in July 1551 to John Ponet, Bishop of Winchester (c.1514-August 1556), not only because the concept of married clergy was still an anathema to many but also because until earlier that same year Ponet had been “married” to another woman. They had both been charged with bigamy when it had come to light that she already had a husband, a Nottingham butcher. Ponet had obtained a formal separation from her in July 1551 but part of the settlement was that he had to make an annual payment to the butcher. Thomas Cranmer, however, attended Maria’s wedding, giving additional respectability to the occasion. When Mary Tudor became queen, Ponet and Maria left England and settled in Strassburg, where Ponet died. Maria probably remarried while still in exile, taking as her second husband a man named John Hill.

JOAN HEYWOOD
see JOAN RASTELL

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