A WHO’S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN (L)

A WHO’S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN: L

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her very out-of-date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 LAKE
see MARY RYTHER

ALICE LAKYN (d.1533) (maiden name unknown)
Alice was married twice, both times to members of the Mercers' Company. Her first husband was Richard Lakyn (d.1510). By 1495, Lakyn had a shop on the front of the Broad Seld on Cheapside and owned lands in Canterbury and Dartford, Kent and in Middlesex, and a London house in Milk Street. He and Alice had a son who predeceased him and two daughters, Elizabeth (d. by 1525) and Margaret (d.1510+). In his will, Lakyn left Alice his dwelling house and all other properties except those in Canterbury, which went to Elizabeth and her husband, William Browne (d.1525). Alice's second husband was John Barnard (d.1537), by whom she had a son, James (d.1540). In 1528, they owned three messuages, six cottages, and over a hundred acres of land in Chelsea, plus property in Kent. They continued to occupy the house in Milk Street until Alice's death on Midsummer Eve, 1533. Three days later, members of the Mercer's Company repossessed it from the her widower.

ELIZABETH LAMBERT (c. 1450-c.1527)

Elizabeth Lambert was the daughter of John Lambert (d.1487), Warden of the Mercer’s Company of London, and Amy Marshall. She is better known to history as “Jane Shore.” How did Elizabeth end up as Jane? Probably because early records of her give no first name, referring to her only as “Mistress Shore,” the name she acquired by her first marriage. Later, writers needed a first name for their fictionalized histories and settled on Jane. However it came about, this young woman was from a good family and taught to read and write. She was married to William Shore, a goldsmith, but the marriage was annulled in 1476 on grounds of his impotence. At about that time, she caught the eye of King Edward IV and became the king’s mistress. Unlike many others who enjoyed Edward’s favors, he kept her until his death in 1483. During that time, her intercession on behalf of Eton College, which Edward wanted to close, earned her that institution’s gratitude. It is due to historians there that we know what little we do of her life. After Edward died, Elizabeth reportedly shared her favors with two noblemen, Thomas Grey, 1^st marquess of Dorest and William Hastings, 1^st baron Hastings. Neither of them were able to protect her when Richard III declared himself king in his nephew’s stead. Both were accused of treason and “Mistress Shore” faced similar charges. She was charged with sorcery and with conspiring with Edward’s queen, Elizabeth Woodville, to kill King Edward. The accusations were groundless and probably made to coerce her into giving evidence against others. They were reduced to a charge of harlotry and she was made to do penance at Paul’s Cross, after which she was imprisoned in Ludgate. While she was there, the king’s solicitor, Thomas Lynom, fell in love with her and married her, much against the advice of King Richard. Richard, however, eventually pardoned the new Mistress Lynom and the marriage lasted some thirty years during which they had at least one child, a daughter. Most stories say “Jane Shore” died in poverty. This is probably an exaggeration, extrapolated from the account Sir Thomas More left of meeting her during the reign of Henry VIII. She was buried in Hinxworth Church, Hertfordshire. Portrait: her figure appears on her parents’ memorial brass in Hinxworth Church.

JANE LAMBERT (d.1598+)
Jane Lambert was the daughter of William Lambert of Hide Street, Winchester. She was the long-time mistress of William Paulet, 3rd marquis of Winchester (1535-November 1598) and the mother of his four illegitimate sons, Sir William (d. March 3, 1628/9), Sir John, Sir Hercules (b.1574), and Hector (b.1578). Some genealogies also list a daughter, Susanna. They went by the surname Pawlett/Powlett/Poulet. In 1594, Ashmore Manor was put in trust for Jane and her children and she received other property as well. After her lover died, Jane married a young man of eighteen, Gerrard Fleetwood of Crawley, Hampshire (d.1647+)

ANNE LANE
see ANNE LUDDINGTON

MAUD LANE
see MAUD PARR

JOAN LANGEFORD (d.1612+)
Joan Langeford went into service in the household of Christopher Mountjoy in about 1604. In 1612, she testified in court about the betrothal of Mountjoy’s daughter and the role Mountjoy’s lodger, William Shakespeare played in it. By then she was Joan Johnson, having married Thomas Johnson, a basket maker, at St. Olave’s on September 8, 1605. By 1612, they were living in Ealing, Middlesex.

ISABEL LANGLEY (d. December 3, 1587)
Isabel Langley was the daughter of Richard Langley of Owsthorpe, Yorkshire (x. December 1, 1586) and Agnes Hansby. She was already married to William Foster of Earswick and pregnant with their child when her father’s house of Owsthorpe (sometimes called Grimthrope) was raided by priest catchers and he was arrested and charged with harboring. Isabel was also present but she escaped during the raid. While her father was in prison in York Castle she visited him there and, seeing the wretched conditions under which recusants were kept, continued to visit even after his execution. She was then arrested herself for giving aid to Catholics and she and the child died as a result of the conditions of her imprisonment.

JANE LANGLEY
see JANE ASHLEY

URSULA LANGLEY
see URSULA TILSWORTH

ESTHER LANGLOIS

see ESTHER INGLIS

AGNES LANGSTROTH
see AGNES OF ELTHAM

ELIZABETH LANGTON (d.1506+) (maiden name unknown)
Elizabeth Langton was a silkwoman of London. A Jane Langton, called a silkwoman in her will of 1475, mentions her son John (d.1502) and his second wife Elizabeth. A Thomas Langton supplied silk to the king in 1498-9. Elizabeth Langton is listed as the king's silkwoman in 1502-3, 1504-5, and 1505-6. In 1503, she supplied quantities of silk and other goods to the royal family to the value of Ł101 17s. 5˝ d. She also traded regularly with two merchants of Genoa. All this led Maria Hayward, in Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII, to suggest that Elizabeth was the widow of Thomas. It is possible there were two Elizabeth Langtons, both silkwomen, but more likely that Thomas is a mistake for John. Another Thomas Langton of London, a wealthy skinner, died in 1551. Doubtless the families were connected. Hayward further suggests that Elizabeth may have remarried and is therefore the Elizabeth Worship who was the king's silkwoman in 1510-11, 1516-17, 1517-18, 1520-21, and 1523-25. She further theorizes that Catherine, John, and Lettice Worship, who later figure in the royal accounts, were Elizabeth's children.

MARY LANGTON

see MARY MATHEWS

EMILIA LANIER

see EMILIA BASSANO

JOAN LARKE (d.1529+)
Joan Larke was the daughter of Peter Larke of Huntingdonshire. Larke and his wife had three sons—Thomas (d.1530), Peter, and William—and supposedly died in Ireland. Joan lived in a "noncanonical marriage" with Thomas Wolsey (1471-1530), later Cardinal Wolsey, in the house in Bridewell granted to him on January 10, 1510. It had twelve gardens and an orchard. Wolsey is also said to have had a mistress who was the sister of John Winter or Wynter of Bristol (d.1554). It seems likely this was a different woman. Or else Joan had a sister who married Winter. In any case, Joan Larke is generally accepted to have been the mother of Wolsey’s two children, Dorothy (1512-c.1553), who was adopted by John Clansey or Clasey and later became a nun at Shaftesbury, and Thomas (1513-c.1553), who went by the name Thomas Wynter and was archdeacon of Cornwall from 1537-1543. Alternate life dates given for Thomas Wynter are c.1510-c.1543. Eventually, Wolsey's advancement in the church made Joan an embarrassment to him. He arranged her marriage to George Legh of Adlington, Cheshire (1497-1529), providing her dowry. Later he helped the Leghs in a property dispute with Sir John Stanley, natural son of the Bishop of Ely, by imprisoning Stanley until he gave up the contested lease. By Legh, Joan had a son named Thomas (1527-1548) and daughters named Isabel or Elizabeth (c.1525-1583), Margaret, and Mary. After Legh's death, Joan married George Paulet, brother of the marquis of Winchester.

MARY LASSELLS or LASCELLES (d.1542+)

Mary Lassells was a nurse to the children of Lord William Howard and his first wife, Katherine Broughton. When Lady Howard died on April 23, 1535, Mary entered the service of Lord William’s mother (Agnes, dowager duchess of Norfolk) as a chamberer. Catherine Howard, the duchess’s step-granddaughter, was also part of that household and Mary was in a position to observe the behavior of Catherine and the other young women living there. She became alarmed by the attention paid Catherine by a music tutor named Henry Manox and took it upon herself to warn Manox that Catherine’s relatives would “undo” him if they found out. Manox told her to mind her own business and boasted that Catherine had promised him her maidenhead. Mary was still in the duchess’s household when Catherine grew tired of Manox and entered into an affair with another man, Francis Dereham. Catherine ordered Mary to steal the key to the maidens’ chamber so that she could let him in. Another of the duchess’s servants, Alice Wilkes, told Mary that Dereham spent his nights in Catherine’s bed. By the time Catherine married King Henry VIII, Mary had wed a man named Hall and was living in Sussex. When her brother, John Lassells, suggested that she use her old acquaintance with Catherine to obtain a post at court. Mary refused, telling him that Catherine was “light, both in living and conditions.” When she provided further details, Lassells, a dedicated reformer, felt compelled to repeat what she had said to Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Cranmer shared the information with Lord Audley and Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford. The earl of Southampton was sent to Sussex to collect Mary’s testimony, with the end result that Queen Catherine was arrested, charged with adultery, and eventually executed. Unlike others who knew about Catherine’s past, Mary Lassells did not spend any time in prison. Because she had brought the matter to light, the king intervened directly to prevent her arrest. Her brother, however, fared less well. Five years later his zeal for reform led to his execution. He was burnt at the stake for heresy.

EDITH LATIMER (c.1450-1518)
Edith Latimer was the daughter of Sir Nicholas Latimer of Buckland Manor, Duntish, Dorset (c.1430-1505) and Joanna Hody. Her first husband was John Greene of Stotfold, Bedfordshire (d. before 1483), by whom she had two daughters, Cecily (d. before 1522) and Elizabeth (d. before 1512). She next married Sir John Mordaunt of Turvey, Bedfordshire (December 30, 1465-September 11, 1504) and was the mother of John, 1st baron Mordaunt (1490-August 18, 1562), Robert, William, and Joan. After his death, she married Sir John Carew. Portrait: effigy in All Saints Church, Turvey, Bedfordshire.

KATHERINE LATIMER

see KATHERINE PARR

ANNE LAUNCELYN (d.1538)
Anne Launcelyn was the daughter of John Launcelyn of Oxenbridge, Bedfordshire (d.1435) and his wife Margaret. Anne married first Godfrey Oxenbrigge, later bailiff of Winchelsea. In 1491, she was appointed wet nurse to the infant Henry Tudor (later Henry VIII). To qualify, she must recently have had a child of her own, since her job was to breastfeed the royal baby. She lived primarily at Eltham, where the royal nursery was located, but the downside of her job, as detailed by Mary Louise Bruce in The Making of Henry VIII was that she was required to abstain from sex and was held responsible for any ill-health the baby suffered. If he had colic, she was purged. If her milk supply was inadequate, she would have to eat stewed udders of goats or sheep or powdered earthworms, since those cures were supposed to produce more milk. Bruce further lists the qualities believed by physicians of the time to be necessary in a wet nurse: "rosy cheeks, a white skin, thick reddish hair, a fleshy body and a hopeful, brave, amorous disposition . . . a thick neck, broad breasts and be aged about twenty-five, be of a respectable status if not actually a gentlewoman, and without vice." It is unknown if Anne exhibited all of these qualities. Bruce suggests that she remained in the household until Henry was seven and she may also have been one of Catherine of Aragon's chamberwomen. Her second husband was Walter Luke (d.1544), Justice of Common Pleas, by whom she had a son, Nicholas (1505-1563). On July 3, 1515, Anne received two annuities of Ł20.

ANNE LAUNDER
see ANNE CONSTABLE

ALICE LAWRENCE (d.1493+)
Alice Lawrence was prioress of Kingston St. Michael, Wiltshire. The house was controlled by the Bishops of Salisbury, which did not please the nuns. In 1490, Alice hired a Franciscan to forge a papal bull. It was addressed to the Abbot of Glastonbury and transferred rights to the priory to him. When the forgery was exposed, Alice was forced to resign. She remained at Kingston St. Michael, however, and was one of the nine nuns there in 1493 under her successor, Katharine Moleyns (d.1506). Katharine had been a nun at Shaftesbury before her appointment as prioress.

AGNES LAWSON (c.1493-1567)

Agnes Lawson was the daughter of William Lawson (c.1480-June 19, 1518) and a daughter of Sir Richard Horsley of Thernham. She was one of four sisters, two of whom became Benedictine nuns. Joan Lawson (d.c.1557) was prioress of Neasham Abbey. Agnes was appointed prioress of St. Bartholomew’s, Newcastle-upon-Tyne c.1523, on the death of the previous prioress, Joan Baxster. The appointment was declared invalid by the Bishop of Durham because it infringed upon his rights, but she was reinstated by a new and “proper” election “in consequence of her personal worth” and in spite of the fact that she was not quite thirty, the age that was the usual minimum for a position of leadership. St. Bartholomew’s was preserved in 1537 but suppressed on January 3, 1540. She received a relatively small pension, only Ł6, but she must have had other income because she was able to keep a large house in Gateshead, Newcastle together with flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. She had her own chaplain, too. She died at Gateshead and was buried in the parish church. Her will is dated March 14, 1567 (another source says March 11, 1565).

DOROTHY LAWSON
see DOROTHY CONSTABLE

MARGARET LAYTON
see MARGARET BROWNE

ALICE LEAKE
see ALICE BROMFIELD

ELIZABETH LEAKE (1499-c.1570)
Elizabeth Leake was the daughter of Thomas Leake of Hasland (1458-1523) and Margaret Fox. She married John Hardwick (d. January 29, 1528) and by him had Mary, Jane, James (1526-1581), Elizabeth (1527-February 13, 1608), and Alice. Eighteen months after her husband’s death, the Court of Wards took his estate, which included Hardwick Hall, and left the family with no financial support. They were not wealthy enough to buy back their home. Elizabeth married Ralph Leche of Chatsworth (d.1550), by whom she had three more daughters, Elizabeth (d. January 1601), Jane, and Margaret. Her second husband was imprisoned in the Fleet for debt from 1538-44 and during that time the family lived at Hardwick Hall, possibly renting it from the Court of Wards. It was left to Elizabeth’s daughter, Elizabeth Hardwick, to restore the family’s fortunes.

MARCELLA LEAKE (d.1570+)
Marcella Leake was the daughter of Thomas Leake of Hasland (1458-1523) and Margaret Fox. She married a man named Linacre (Linaker/Lenecker/Lynacre). She lived with her niece, Bess of Hardwick from the mid-1540s into the 1570s, acting as companion and housekeeper. Maud Stepney Rawson's Bess of Harwick and her Circle says "Aunt Lenecker" lived with Bess after her first widowhood.

ELIZABETH LECHE
see ELIZABETH LEAKE

ELIZABETH LECHE (d. January 1601)

Elizabeth Leche was the daughter of Ralph Leche or Leech of Chatsworth. Derbyshire (d.1550) and Elizabeth Leake (1499-c.1570). Elizabeth was the half sister of Bess of Hardwick and was living with her in London in 1558, before she married Anthony Wingfield of Sibton, Suffolk (c.1520-April 3, 1593), a gentleman usher to Queen Elizabeth. He had three daughters by his first wife (Katherine Blennerhassett, who d.1558), Ursula (1550-1628), Margaret, and Elizabeth. He does not seem to have had any children with Elizabeth Leche. Elizabeth's letters to her half sister with news of court, when she was a gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber, date from 1568-85, although she may have been there as early as 1559, immediately following her marriage to Wingfield. Letters from her husband to her, written in 1575, when she was absent from court, are also extant. In 1598-1600, and possibly earlier, Mistress Wingfield was mother of maids. Her second husband was George Pollard of Tetbury, Gloucestershire. “Mrs. Wingfield, wife of Pollard” was buried January 6, 1601 in St. James, Clerkenwell (London).

JANE LECHE (c.1533-1604+)
Jane Leche was the daughter of Ralph Leche or Leech of Chatsworth. Derbyshire (d.1550) and Elizabeth Leake (1499-c.1570) and half sister of Bess of Hardwick, with whom she was very close. In 1538-44, her father was in Fleet prison for debt. In 1548, after Bess married Sir William Cavendish, Jane joined her household (paid Ł3 a year) and remained one of Bess's waiting gentlewomen into the next century. Jane was the one left in charge of the Cavendish children at Northaw (Hertfordshire) in 1549 when Bess and Sir William returned to London. At some point before 1552, she married Thomas Kniveton of Mercaston, Derbyshire (d.1591), by whom she had Mary, Elizabeth, George, St. Loe, William, Margaret, and Anne. In November of 1552, Lady Cavendish wrote from London to admonish her servants at Chatsworth, where Jane had again been left in charge of the Cavendish children, for their behavior toward Jane. They had denied her unspecified things that were "needful." The letter reads, in part: "I wolde be lothe to have any stranger so yoused yn my howse and then assure your selfe I cane not lyke ytt to have my syster so yousede." Mary S. Lovell, in her biography of Bess, suggests that Jane may have just given birth, since there is mention of a midwife and Bess also refers to Jane "in the case as she has been." According to another of Bess's biographers, David N. Durant, it was Jane who ran the estate at Chatsworth during Bess's third marriage, to Sir William St. Loe, whenever Bess was at court. Jane's son George had joined Bess's household by 1595 (by which time Bess was countess of Shrewsbury). A letter exists written by Jane's son William to his mother at Hardwick in the summer of 1604, the latest mention I’ve so far found of her.

JOAN LECHE or LEECH (1465-April 1530)

Joan Leche was the daughter of Dennis Leech of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire and his wife, Elizabeth. She married twice, first to a tailor (sometimes identified as a grocer), Thomas Bodley of Exeter and London (1460-1492), by whom she had four children, including James (1488-before 1530), Elizabeth (1490-before 1530) and Denise (1492-September 10,1561). Joan’s second husband, married in 1493, was Thomas Bradbury of Braughing, Hertfordshire (1450-January 1510), a mercer who was Lord Mayor of London in 1509. After his death, she spent twenty years as a widow, during which time she purchased a great deal of real estate and and became very wealthy. She established a perpetual chantry for both her husbands and herself in St. Stephen’s, Coleman Street, where she also had a house. In 1511, she offered her house as a temporary location for Mercers' Company assemblies. Their annual election supper was held there for the next two years. The house was later given to the Mercers. Joan endowed a school in Saffron Walden, where her brother was vicar from 1489-1521 and made many other charitable gifts. Her will was dated March 2, 1530 and proved April 26, 1530. More details of her life can be found in Anne F. Sutton’s “Lady Joan Bradbury (d.1530),” in Medieval London Widows, 1300-1500 (edited by Caroline M. Barron and Anne F. Sutton) and in Anne F. Sutton, The Mercery of London.

ANNE LEE
see ANNE HASSALL; ANNE PAGET

ELIZABETH LEE
see ELIZABETH PEPPARD: ELIZABETH ROLLESTON

JOYCE LEE
see JOYCE SUTTON

LETTICE LEE

see LETTICE PENYSTON

MARGARET LEE

see MARGARET WYATT

MARY LEECHE
see MARY DARCY

ELIZABETH LEGGE (1580-1685)
Elizabeth Legge was the daughter of Edward Legge (b.1554) and Mary Walsh and the granddaughter of William Legge, who died at age 93. She knew Latin, Spanish, Irish, and French and had a gift for poetry. She never married. She spent much of her life in Ireland. Late in life, she lost her sight. Her entire family was exceptionally long-lived and Elizabeth lived to be 105.

CECILY LEGH (d.1542+)
Cecily Legh was the daughter of Piers or Peter Legh of Lyme, Cheshire (d. December 4, 1541) and Jane Gerard (d. May 5, 1510). In 1508, she married Sir Thomas Butler of Warrington, Lancashire (c.1494-September 15, 1550) and was the mother of Thomas (1513/14-1579), John, Margaret, Elizabeth, Jane, and Dorothy. By 1534, according to the History of Parliament entry for her son, the marriage had been dissolved and Butler had taken a new wife. Other sources say by 1542. None say why, but the marriage had been contracted to make peace between the two families and failed to do so. One account says that, in 1542, Thomas Butler and his tenants in Burtonwood took action against Sir Peter Legh, Cecily's grandfather, for obstructing his way from Bradley Acre to the church. This Sir Peter was probably Cecily's brother (d.1589), since her grandfather died in 1527.

DOROTHY LEGH

see DOROTHY EGERTON

ISABEL LEGH (before 1510-February 16, 1573)

Isabel Legh, sometimes called Isabel Howard, was the daughter of Ralph Legh (c.1470-c. February 1510) and Joyce Culpepper (c.1480-1527+) and thus a half sister of Queen Catherine Howard. She married, on January 18, 1531, Edward Baynton (1480-November 27, 1544) and had by him three children, Henry (b.1536), Francis (b.1537) and Anne (d.yng). The History of Parliament, however, identifies her as the daughter of Sir John Legh of Stockwell, Surrey, Ralph's brother. After Baynton's death and that of Isabel's stepdaughter, Bridget, in 1545, she married Sir James Stumpe of Malmesbury, Wiltshire (d. April 29, 1563), Bridget's widower. As his widow, she received rents of Ł100 for her jointure and an interest in Bromham, Wiltshire and Edington, plus the household stuff at Edington, 1000 sheep, and all Stumpe's plate, jewels, corn, and cattle. Isabel later married one Thomas Stafford, about whom nothing is known. Her first husband, Sir Edward Baynton, was vice chamberlain to several of Henry VIII's queens and his wife was at court at least during the tenure of her half sister. Isabel accompanied Queen Catherine to Syon House and the Tower when she was arrested. Isabel is also identified as being part of Queen Mary's household in 1554-7 by Charlotte Merton in The Women who served Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. The History of Parliament suggests she served Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour. In addition, Sir Edward's entry says that by March 14, 1539, the Bayntons had replaced Lady Kingston in supervising the joint household of Mary and Elizabeth Tudor and, further, that when Queen Catherine Howard went to Syon in the autumn of 1541, she was allowed to choose her own female attendants, on the condition that Isabel was one of them. Isabel was a lady of the household extraordinary to Kathryn Parr.

JOAN LEGH

see JOAN LARKE

JOYCE LEGH
see JOYCE CULPEPPER

MARY LEGH

see MARY GROSVENOR

AGNES LEIGH
see AGNES HACKETT

ALICE LEIGH
see ALICE BARKER

ALICE LEIGH (1579-January 22, 1669)
Alice Leigh was the daughter of Sir Thomas Leigh of Stoneleigh, Warwickshire (d.1625) and Catherine Spencer. She married Sir Robert Dudley (August 7, 1574-September 6, 1649), as his second wife, and had seven daughters by him, five of whom lived to adulthood. They were Alicia (September 1597-1649), Frances (d.1663), Anne (d.1663), Catherine (d.1675), and Douglas (d.1635+). In July 1605, Alice’s husband deserted her to elope with his cousin, Elizabeth Southwell. There were numerous disputes over his right to property of his natural father, Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, as well as over Alice’s rights. In general, the Crown sympathized with Alice’s situation. A private act of Parliament in 1621 gave her the right to act as a femme sole. On May 23, 1644, Charles I created Alice Duchess Dudley for life. She lived at Dudley House in St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Westminster and was buried at Stoneleigh. Portrait: possibly still at Trentham Hall.

ANNE LEIGH
see ANNE CAREW

ANNE LEIGH (d.1557)
Anne Leigh was the daughter of Sir John Leigh (d.1522) and Agnes Hackett. Either she of her half sister, Joan Fry, was a lady-in-waiting to Henry VII's mother, Margaret Beaufort. In 1512, Anne married Sir James Worsley of Appuldurcombe (d.1538), who had started his court career as a page to Prince Arthur. They had two sons, Richard (d.1565) and John (d.1580). In 1539, Henry VIII paid a visit to the Worsleys at Appuldurcombe Manor, Isle of Wight. Anne turned the chapel her father had founded at Gadshill into a free school and bought land worth twenty marks to fund it. Portrait: effigy in All Saint's Church, Godshill, Isle of Wight.

CATHERINE LEIGH (d.1625)
Catherine Leigh/Katherine Lee is called the daughter of Edward Leigh of Rushall, Staffordshire in some genealogies and of Sir Peter Leigh of Stoneleigh, Staffordshire in others. In October 1591, Sir Francis Darcy (c.1550-November 29, 1641) was in the Tower because Catherine, a maid of honor, had given birth to his child at court. Darcy claimed they were secretly married, but that failed to mollify the queen. Little else is known of the case, but the couple did have at least one child, a daughter, Lettice.

DOROTHY LEIGH
see DOROTHY KEMPE

ISABEL LEIGH
see ISABEL HARVEY

MARGERY LEIGH
see MARGERY SAUNDERS

ELIZABETH LEIGHTON
see ELIZABETH KNOLLYS

ELIZABETH LEIGHTON (d. January 12, 1633)
Elizabeth Leighton (sometimes spelled Layton) was the daughter of Sir Thomas Leighton of Feckenham, Worcestershire (1535-February 38, 1609/10) and Elizabeth (sometimes called Cecily) Knollys (June 15, 1549-c.1605). She was at court toward the end of the reign of Elizabeth Tudor. She married Sherrington Talbot of Salwarpe, Worchestershire (d.c.1642) and was the mother of Sherrington (c.1611-1677) and Sir Gilbert Talbot. The entry for her father in the Oxford DNB confuses Elizabeth with her sister, Anne (d.1628), who married John St. John, and further confuses the issue by stating that Walter St. John, grandson of Sir Thomas Leighton and son of Elizabeth by John St. John, drowned on the island of Herm in 1597. Anne and John St. John did have a son named Walter, but he lived well into the next century.

ELIZABETH LEIGHTON (1580-1647)
Elizabeth Leighton was the daughter of John Leighton of London. She fell in love with a gentleman, Thomas Lucas of St. John's, Colchester (c.1573-1625) when she was sixteen and he was twenty-four. In 1597, he fought a duel with Sir William Brooke, brother of Lord Cobham, killed Brooke, was outlawed, and had to flee abroad. In the summer of 1597, Elizabeth bore his son, Thomas (d.1649). The boy's father was pardoned by King James in July 1603 and returned to England. He married Elizabeth in August 1604. From that point on they led a conventional and prosperous life. She bore him at least six more children, including John (b. October 23, 1606), Mary, Elizabeth, Charles (b.1613), Anne, Catherine, and Margaret (b.1623).

JOYCE LEIGHTON
see JOYCE SUTTON

MARGARET LENNARD

see MARGARET FIENNES

ELIZABETH LENTON (d.c.1562)
Elizabeth Lenton was probably the daughter of a John Lenton, but nothing further is known of her background. She married John Danet (Dannet/Dannatt/Dannett) in about 1553 and between 1554 and 1562 they were involved in a series of court cases against Richard Mytton in an attempt to claim a grant made to Elizabeth by Queen Mary of the possessions of Lord Thomas Grey, a traitor, at the time of his capture by Mytton. Mytton claimed the right to keep them for himself, since Grey had been captured (in February 1554) in Oswestry in the liberty of the earl of Arundel, whose officer Mytton was. The contested possessions included Ł200, two jeweled rings (one of gold with a ruby worth 53/4), a suit of mail, and at least one horse. No outcome of the case is recorded. Elizabeth and John had no children. It is unclear why Queen Mary granted her Grey's possessions.

ALICE L’ESTRANGE
see ALICE STUBBE

ANNE LESTRANGE
see ANNE VAUX

GRISEL LESTRANGE
see GRISEL YELVERTON

KATHERINE LESTRANGE
see KATHERINE HYDE

DENISE LEVESON
see DENISE BODLEY

ANNE LEWIN
see ANNE GOULDSMITH

JOYCE LEWIS

see JOYCE CURZON

KATHERINE LEWKENOR
see KATHERINE SCALES

JANE LEWKNOR (d.1547)
Jane Lewknor was the daughter of Sir Roger Lewknor of Dedisham and Bodiam, Sussex (1465-1543) and Eleanor Touchet. She was married three times. Her first husband was Christopher Pickering of Killington, Westmorland (d. September 7, 1516), by whom she had a daughter, Anne (1514-1582). Her second was Arthur Pole (c.1502-1535), son of Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury. They had three children, Henry, Mary, and Margaret. The story goes that, after Arthur's death, his mother and brother (Lord Montagu) forced Jane to enter a nunnery so that they would not lose control of her fortune. As a novice, however, she was not bound to remain and after taking advice from her bishop, left the nunnery and married a third time. Her choice was Sir William Barentyne of Little Haseley, Oxfordshire (December 31, 1481-November 17, 1549), by whom she had two sons, Drew and Charles, and a daughter, Margaret. After the Act of the Six Articles was passed, however, she and Barentyne had to procure an Act of Parliament to confirm the legitimacy of their children. The Act of the Six Articles made it a felony for any person who had taken a vow of chastity to marry. The difficulty came from her family. Sir Henry Knyvett, second husband of Jane's daughter Anne, claimed the Barentyne marriage was invalid because of Jane's vows of chastity. In December 1540, a commission declared the marriage void. Knyvett hoped his wife would thus inherit Sir Roger Lewknor's fortune. Lewknor himself had settled his property on Jane and her children by Barentyne. He had then, however, remarried and had three more daughters. The act of Parliament confirmed a decision in Chancery that gave the inheritance to those children and their wardship went to Knyvett, but Jane's marriage to Sir William was also restored on the grounds that Arthur Pole's brother, Lord Montagu, had forced Jane to take her vows. The legal wrangling continued after Jane's death. Her sons were still trying to establish their legitimacy as late as 1563. A separate case, in the Star Chamber, pitted Jane against her daughter, Anne Pickering Knyvett. Anne claimed that her mother was afraid of Barentyne and that she had sent a message to Anne saying she was "very evill kepte" and surrounded by servants who kept "very Dishonest Rule." According to the summary found in the unpublished PhD dissertation Image and Reality: the Lives of Aristocratic Women in Early Tudor England by Jennifer Ann Rowley-Williams, the trouble began when Anne traveled to Bramley, near Shalford in Surrey, to visit her mother. She was accompanied by her son-in-law, Francis Kelway, and a friend, Lady Rogers. Finding the outer door locked, Anne ordered her servant to force it open. Then, according to Anne's account, she went in, saw her mother, asked for her blessing, and then asked her to send for one of her waiting women, Philippa Turke, so that Anne might rebuke her for the "many obprobriouse words" Philippa had used against her (Anne). Kelway found Philippa in hiding and brought her to the other women, whereupon Anne slapped Philippa. Jane's account of the incident differs considerably. She claimed that Anne neglected her. Concerning the visit to Bramley, Jane said that Anne and her party broke down seven doors in succession to get in and then chased Jane and her servants from room to room, terrorizing them. Rather than just slapping Philippa, Anne beat her severely while two servants held her down. Afterward, Jane claimed, Jane and her servants were in fear for their lives. No decision in the case is given.

ELIZABETH LEYBURNE (1536-September 4, 1567)
Elizabeth Leyburne was the daughter of James Leyburne of Cunswick, Westmorland and Helen Preston (d.1567+). She married first, in 1555, Thomas Dacre, 4th baron Dacre of the North (c.1526-July 25, 1566). Their children were Anne (March 1, 1557-April 13, 1630), George (1560-May 17, 1569), Mary (1563-1576), and Elizabeth (1565-1639). After her first husband’s death she was secretly married to Thomas Howard, 4th duke of Norfolk (March 10, 1538-x. June 2, 1572). The wedding took place on January 29, 1567 at her mother’s house in London. She died in childbed the following September and the child died also. In November 1567, Norfolk was granted wardship of her children and her three daughters were betrothed to his three sons. Portrait: possibly the work c.1560, attributed to Hans Eworth and called the Duchess of Norfolk.

ELLEN or HELEN LEYBURNE

see ELLEN or HELEN PRESTON

DIONYSIA LILY (d. 1532+)

Dionysia Lily was one of the fifteen children of William Lily (1468-December 20,1522), Greek scholar, grammarian, and High Master of St. Paul’s School, and his wife, Agnes (d.August 11,1517). She married John Rightwise or Ritwise (d.1532), another grammarian, who succeeded his father-in-law in the mastership of the school. Rightwise is sometimes credited with writing the play “Tragedy of Dido,” which was acted at Greenwich by the boys of St. Paul’s School on November 10, 1527 for Cardinal Wolsey and the King. The suggestion has been made, however, that Dionysia was the true author. In 1531, Rightwise was removed from the High Mastership of St. Paul’s for neglect of duty. After his death, Dionysia wed James Jacob (d.1560), by whom she had a son, Polydore.

MARCELLA LINACRE
see MARCELLA LEAKE

JOAN LINCOLN (d.1524)
Joan, whose maiden name appears, from her will, to have been Lincoln, married Geoffrey Thurescrosse or Threscrosse (d.1522), a merchant who was sheriff of Kingston on Hull in 1517. They had one child, a son named Robert, who predeceased them. Geoffrey made his will on October 14, 1520 and it was proved November 25, 1522. Although this document, reprinted in Testamenta Eboracensia calls his wife "Jenet," her will later in that same volume, written on September 17, 1523 and proved January 22, 1523/4, makes it clear that she was Geoffrey's widow. After his death, Joan became a vowess, taking a vow of chastity. In her will, she left bedding to the Trinity poorhouse in Kingston on Hull, a coverlet and four cushions to her parish church for use at marriage and churching ceremonies, and money to St. James's church in Grimsby and to St. Leonard's nunnery in Grimsby. She also left bequests to numerous godchildren and to her brother's daughter, Margaret Lincoln, to her kinsman, William Lincoln the younger, and to every one of William's children dwelling in Shatow.

ISABEL LINDLEY (c.1499-1550/1)
Isabel Lindley was the daughter and heir of Thomas Lindley of Leathley in Lindley (near Otley), Yorkshire (d.1524). Her first husband was Brian Palmes of Ashwell (c.1496-October 19, 1528), a lawyer in the service of the earl of Northumberland. His will, dated October 2, 1528 and proved April 14, 1529, mentions his daughters Maud (c.1525-1575?) and Jane (d.1550+) and his sons Thomas (d.1550+) and Francis (c.1521-1567), all of whom were minors when he died. Isabel is named one of his executors. In 1529, she married Sir Thomas Johnson (d.c.1545), another Northumberland retainer. The earl granted them the manor of Leathley and an annuity of Ł24, plus an outright gift of Ł200. They were also promised the wardship of young Francis Palmes. Johnson was later appointed steward and master forester of Spofforth for the earl and in 1535 Northumberland granted him the manors of Walton Head and Arrow. He also acquired manors in Somerset. His will, made on September 26, 1542 and proved January 23, 1545/6, left Leathley, Walton Head and Arrow upon the Wolde to Isabel for her life, along with other bequests. He also left bequests to his sons Henry (d.1550+) and Arthur (d.1550+), his daughters Margaret (d.1550+) and Frances (d.1550+), his stepson Francis and his two stepdaughters, who were still unmarried. Once again, Isabel was named as one of the executors. Her own will, made on April 1, 1550 and proved April 15, 1551, indicates that all of her children were still living. She asked that her body be buried at Otley and willed Ł10 to each of her children. The two younger girls were still unmarried. She left the oldest boy, Francis Palmes, "one flower of gold sett with diamondes and a pare of beades of stones and goldsmyth warke, in consideracon of a crosse and other suche jewels as was my late husbandes, Brian Palmes, and his fador, decessed, and put awaye by my late husband Sir Thomas Johnson, deceased."

ANNE LINE

see ANNE HEIGHAM

HONOR LISLE

see HONOR GRENVILLE

JOAN LISLE
see JOAN COURTENAY

MARY LISLE
see MARY KINGSTON

ELIZABETH LISTER
see ELIZABETH STOKE

ISABEL LISTER
see ISABEL SHIRLEY

ISABEL LISTER (d.1555+)
Isabel Lister or Lyster was the daughter of Richard Lister of Rowton, Shropshire (d.1505+) and Agnes Fitzherbert. She married, as his second wife, Thomas Bromley of Eyton-upon-Severn, Wroxeter, and Shrewsbury, Shropshire (d. May 15, 1555), later chief justice of the king’s bench. They had one child, Margaret (1521-August 10, 1598). Portrait: effigy on tomb in Wroxeter, although many accounts give her name as Mabel.

MARGERY LISTER
see MARGERY HORSMAN

MAUD LITTLE
see MAUD STONE

ELIZABETH LITTLETON (1546-June 4,1594)

Elizabeth Littleton was the daughter of Sir John Littleton of Franklen, Worcestershire (c.1523-February 15, 1590) and Bridget Pakington (b.1522). She married Sir Francis Willoughby of Wollaton, Nottinghamshire (1546/7-November 16, 1596) in late 1564. Her father paid a dowry of Ł1500 and the cost of her clothing, plus marriage charges and room and board at his house at Franklen with six persons to attend them for three years. Her jointure was to be one third of the estate, excluding profits from coal mines, but this was renegotiated several times during the marriage. In the 1570s the household at Wollaton consisted of 45-50 men but only a handful of women. In 1572, Elizabeth was attended by two gentlewomen, Elizabeth Mering and Marjory Garner. There were also two nurses for the children, Mary the fool, and two other women. Elizabeth bore twelve children in sixteen years but only six daughters lived to adulthood, Bridget (1566-July 16, 1629), Margaret (c.1570-August 17, 1597), Frances (1572-1665), Dorothy (1574-December 5, 1632), Abigail (1576-October 12, 1654), and Winifred (b.1578). She was almost constantly ill, and made frequent trips to London to consult doctors. Relations between husband and wife were antagonistic, and apparently made worse by the interference of servants. At one point Sir Francis confined Elizabeth to certain rooms in the house and took away all her rights in the care of their children. By December 1579, Elizabeth’s father was writing to her husband to arrange a separate allowance for her. In 1580, their son died at age six. According to the Oxford DNB, Elizabeth wrote to her husband, offering to reconcile in hope of a male heir, but this did not happen. In 1582, the queen formalized the separation and ordered Willoughby to pay Ł200 per annum for Elizabeth’s maintenance. Sir Francis’s complaints against his wife included “her disorderly life,” keeping company he disliked, and “reviling him to his face.” He also suspected her of adultery. This seems unlikely to have been true. Sir Francis, however, did father a son born out of wedlock in 1585. Letters exist from the next several years in which Elizabeth begs her husband to take her back, in spite of his treatment of her. According to the DNB, they were reconciled by the time she died. Biography: Alice T. Friedman’s House and Household in Elizabethan England: Wollaton Hall and the Willoughby Family. Portrait: painting attributed to George Gower, 1573.

MARY LITTLETON (1560-December 17, 1622)
Mary Littleton was the daughter of Sir Edward Littleton of Pillaton Hall, Staffordshire (1523-1574) and Alice Cockaine (1535-1602). Her first husband was Walter Vernon of Houndhill, Staffordshire (1552-1592), by whom she had five sons and four daughters, including Edward (December 14, 1584-1657), Grace, Mary, Elizabeth, Sir Thomas, and Walter. After seven years of widowhood, Mary wed her first husband's cousin, John Vernon of Sudbury, Derbyshire (d.1600). According to the lengthy inscription on her tomb, which was built by her son Edward, she took over her second husband's estates when they were left to her three surviving sons by her first marriage and "by her prudent endeavors" and "with great care and travel and at her proper charges maintained their cause against their adversaries and brought the same to good effect to the great benefit of them all. Such was her charitie and vertuous mind she built a mannor house at Sudbury" and "contributed largely to the maintenance of this church." Portrait: effigy in All Saints, Sudbury, Derbyshire.

MURIEL LITTLETON
see MURIEL BROMLEY

ANNE LOCKE

see ANNE VAUGHAN

ELIZABETH LOCKE
see ELIZABETH FARTHING

ELIZABETH LOCKE or LOK (August 3, 1535-c.1581)
Elizabeth Locke or Lok was the youngest daughter of William Locke or Lok (1480-August 24, 1550) and Katherine Cook (d. October 14, 1537). Her first husband was Richard Hill (c.1527-1568), a mercer who lived in Milk Street, London. They had thirteen children, including Katherine, Elizabeth, Margaret, Rowland, Otwell, Mary (1562-November 1655), and Anne. According to Mary Prior in "Reviled and crucified marriages: the position of Tudor bishops' wives," in Women in English Society 1500-1800 (edited by Mary Prior), Elizabeth went into exile in Antwerp during the reign of Queen Mary with her sister Rose (see ROSE LOCKE). At the end of 1569 or the beginning of 1570, she took as her second husband Nicholas Bullingham, bishop of Lincoln (1511?-1576). He became bishop of Worcester in 1571. Bullingham already had two sons by his first wife, Margaret Sutton (d.1566) and had a third son, John, with Elizabeth. Some, if not all, of his stepchildren also lived with the family in Worcester from June 1571 until Bellingham died in May 1576.

JOAN LOCKE
see JOAN WILCOCK

MARY LOCKE

see MARY LONG

ROSE LOCKE (December 26, 1526-November 21, 1613)

Rose Locke was the daughter of William Locke or Lok (1480-August 24, 1550) and Katherine Cook (d. October 14, 1537), Locke’s second wife. Rose was part of a large family. Her father was a well-to-do London mercer who also served as an occasional agent for the Crown in France and Flanders. Rose married first, on November 28, 1543, Anthony Hickman (d.1573), by whom she had eight children: Mary (b.1547), William (c.1549-September 25,1625), Henry (b.c.1550), Walter (c.1552-before February 1618), another Mary (b.1554), Anthony (c.1560-December 13, 1597), Eleazar (b.c.1562), and Matthew. During Mary Tudor’s reign, Rose’s husband and her brother Thomas were charged with heresy and imprisoned in the Fleet. When they were set free, Anthony left England for Antwerp. Rose, being pregnant, retired to Oxfordshire to give birth, after which she joined her husband abroad. She gave birth to another child in Antwerp. The Hickmans returned to England when Elizabeth Tudor became queen. After Anthony Hickman’s death, Rose married Simon Throckmorton of Brampton, Huntingdonshire (1526?-March 27, 1585) as his second wife. She had no children by him. In 1610, Rose wrote her autobiography from the year 1534 to Queen Mary’s death in 1558. This still exists in manuscript. Biography: Lady Rose Hickman: Her Life and Family by Sue Allen (companion volume to her 2009 novel about Rose Locke); Oxford DNB entry under “Throckmorton [née Lok; other married name Hickman], Rose.” Portrait: unknown artist or date.

ANNE LODGE
see ANNE LUDDINGTON

ALICE LONDON (1490-March 25, 1558/9)
Alice London was the daughter and coheir of William London. She married three times, first in 1510 to Edmund Rokewood of Euston, Suffolk (1485-August 1524). She was his second wife and the mother of his son Brice (d.1570+). Rokewood left her Euston Hall for life. In 1525, she married Sir Thomas Bedingfield of Oxborough, Norfolk (c.1479-1538), as his second wife. Her third husband was Thomas Borough or Burgh, 3rd baron Burgh (1483- February 28, 1549/50), chamberlain to Queen Anne Boleyn. She was his second wife also. All of his children were born to his first wife. Alice was buried in Lingfield, Surrey.

MARGARET LONDON (d. 1558/9)

Mrs. Margaret Baynham was a stapler who traded in wool, wine, and herring, shipping up to thirty large sacks of wool a year from Calais. She also kept a boarding house there and farmed 100 acres. She was a widow when she married Robert Baynham (d. 1536), who was mayor of Calais in 1535-6. They had a son, Bartholomew, and a daughter, Anne (1523-1559). Letters from Mrs. Baynham to business contacts in England are quoted in Barbara Winchester’s Tudor Family Portrait. In 1545, she was still described as a "fair widow." Mrs. Baynham had a sister, Elizabeth, who was married three times, first to John Bisley or Bysley, second to Henry Planckney (d. 1535), mayor of Calais in 1511, as his second wife, and third, on April 23, 1545, to Adam Copcott. Records show that Planckney's wife was the sister of Dr. John London of Hambledon, Buckinghamshire (c.1486-1543), so it is probable that London was the maiden name of both Elizabeth and Margaret. Margaret left a will, proved January 12, 1558/9.

ELIZABETH LONG (c.1562-June 12, 1611)
Elizabeth Long was the daughter of Henry Long of Shengay, Cambridgeshire (March 31, 1544-April 15, 1573) and Dorothy Clarke or Clerk (d.1618). On February 13, 1585, she married William Russell, 1st baron Russell of Thornhaugh (c.1558-August 9, 1613). Their son was Francis Russell, 4th earl of Bedford (October 19, 1587-May 9, 1651). Portrait: full length at Woburn.

MARGARET LONG
see MARGARET DONNINGTON

MARY LONG or LONGE (c.1518-October 30, 1578)

Mary Long was the daughter of Simon Long of the Isle of Wight and Alice Huglett. She married Thomas Locke or Lok (February 8, 1514-November 9,1556) and by him had six children: William, Rowland, Matthew (c.1553-1599), John, Mary, and Anne. Her sister-in-law, Rose Hickman, chided Mary for keeping her husband in England after he was arrested for heresy and thus contributing to his death. Sometime between 1556 and 1558, Mary wed Dr. George Owen, one of the royal physicians (c.1499-October 18, 1558). Mary Owen may have been the Mrs. Owen living at Cumnor Place at the time of Amy Robsart’s death. She was a widow by that time, and her stepson actually owned the property. Some accounts say that it was William Owen’s wife who was living there, although authorities disagree on that wife’s identity. The DNB gives her name as Anne Rawley. Other sources say that William married Ursula Fettiplace in 1558. At some point after 1558, Mary Long Locke Owen took a third husband, Sir William Allen (b. c.1515) who was Lord Mayor of London in 1572/3. Her son Matthew Locke married his daughter Margaret (1560-August 25, 1624) on July 15, 1577.

LONG MEG
see MARGARET CLEEFE

DOROTHY LONGFORD
see DOROTHY FITZHERBERT

MAUD LONGFORD (d. June 14, 1596)
Maud (Matilda/Magdalen) Longford was the daughter of Sir Ralph Longford of Longford, Derbyshire (d. September 23, 1544) and Dorothy FitzHerbert (d.1557). She married, as his second wife, Sir George Vernon (1508-1567), thus becoming the stepmother of Margaret and Dorothy Vernon. The cruel stepmother of some versions of the story of Dorothy's elopement is questionable. Maud was only a few years older than her stepdaughter and Sir George was more than twice Maud's age. According to her epitaph, Maud made a second match after Sir George's death "by her own choice/Pleasing herself, who others pleased before." Her choice was Sir Francis Hastings (d.1610), a younger son of the 2nd earl of Huntingdon. She married him in 1567, giving up her life interest in Haddon Hall to her stepdaughter. Portrait: her effigy is on the Vernon tomb in All Saints Church, Bakewell, Derbyshire, together with her husband and his first wife, Margaret Talboys.

ALICE LONZAM (d.1539+)
Alice Lonzam came from a Suffolk family. Her first husband was Thomas Hayward of Ipswich, Suffolk (d. January 1534), a merchant. She was one of his executors and inherited the house they lived in, another house occupied by Ralph Goodwin, all movable goods, and all debts owed Hayward, provided his were paid first. She was, however, subsequently sued by the bailiffs of Ipswich, who claimed that of Ł60 they delivered to Hayward for the fee farm of the town for 1532-3, he paid only Ł20 to the Crown and did not pay out the other Ł40, which was supposed to go to Queen Catherine as the widow of Arthur, Prince of Wales. By March 1539, Alice had wed Richard Fulmerson of Ipswich and (later) Thetford, Norfolk (d. February 3, 1567). At the time of their marriage, he was understeward to Mary, duchess of Richmond and steward to Henry Howard, earl of Surrey. Alice had two children by her first husband, Thomas (d.1567+) and Elizabeth, who was left Ł26 13s. 4d. and two tenements in the parish of St. Nicholas by her father, and a daughter by her second husband.

SARA LOPEZ
see SARA AŃES

ELIZABETH LORD or LORDE (d.1551)

Elizabeth Lord was the daughter of Robert Lord of Kendal House, Driffield, East Yorkshire. She became a nun at Wilberfoss, near York. The prioress there was Margaret Easingwold, who held that post from December 6, 1479 until September 28, 1512, nearly thirty-two years. Elizabeth Lord was confirmed as the next prioress of Wilberfoss on October 18, 1518. The convent specialized in educating young gentlewomen and in 1537 even numbered Thomas Cromwell's granddaughter among its students. Possibly for this reason, the convent was not dissolved until August 20, 1539. At that time Elizabeth received a pension of Ł8 per year. Her nine nuns received considerably less. Elizabeth moved in with her sister, Mary Lord (c.1499-1557), by then married to George Gale (1497-1556), a goldsmith and who twice served as Lord Mayor of York. Although she did not attempt to continue in the religious life, she left money in her will, made on January 28, 1551 and proved on February 20, to her former sisters Agnes Barton, Alice Thornton, Joan Andrew, and Margery Browne—6s. 8d. each. The other bequests in her will indicate that she lived a life of considerable luxury. There were numerous gifts of money, most of the of four angels in gold, and various gilt cups and goblets. She left a cousin six silver spoons and another a silver pot and Ł20 towards her marriage. Yet another cousin got silver and coral beads, together with a gold ring with a blue sapphire in it. She disposed of her clothing as well, including gowns, kirtles, kerchiefs, caps, and a silk hat. She even left two shillings apiece to each of the Gale servants. In 1553, Elizabeth's sister and brother-in-law bought the site of Wilberfoss Priory, paying just over Ł615 for the property. Biography: Oxford DNB under "Lorde, Elizabeth."

ROBERDA LORGES (d.1612+)
Roberda, Roberde, or Robarda Lorges, sometimes called Gabrielle, was the third daughter of Gabriel de Lorges, comte de Montgommery (x.1574), a Huguenot general in the French wars of religion. She married one of her father’s English supporters, Sir Gawen Champernowne of Dartington, Devon (1555-1592) in April 1572 in Normandy and returned with him to England. They had eleven children, including Arthur (1578-1650), and Ursula. In 1582, Roberda's husband took her to court in a case for "separation from bed and board," the closest anyone in England could come to divorce at that time. In the deposition given by Hugh Rist, who had been a servant at Dartington since 1566, Roberda was accused of adultery with one John Gatchell. This can be found in Bridget Cusack's Everyday English 1500-1700. Letters from Roberda’s family protesting Sir Gawen's cruelty also survive. Cusack points out, however, that although the case supposedly ended in a separation, five of the couple's eleven children were born after 1582. Roberda remarried, probably in August 1595. Her second husband was Thomas Horner of Cloford, Somerset (c.1547-1612). They had one son, Edward, according to The History of Parliament, which calls her "Lady Montgomery."

MARY LOUGHER
see MARY FITTON

ALICE LOVELL (d. December 23, 1518)
Alice Lovell was the daughter of William Lovell (d.1475) and Eleanora Morley. The Oxford DNB gives her birthdate as 1452 but other sources say 1465. She married first, in 1486, Sir William Parker (d.c.1504). Their children were Henry, later 8th baron Morley (1480/1-November 27, 1556), Alice, Jane, and William. Her second husband, married before January 1506, was Sir Edward Howard (1477-April 25, 1513). They had no children, although Sir Edward did have two illegitimate sons, one of whom he left in the care of the king in his will. The other was to go to his friend, Charles Brandon. The manor of Morley in Norfolk already belonged to Alice for life but, in his will, Howard specified that it should go to her son, Henry, after her death. Alice, together with Charles Brandon, was named executor of this will, which was made in 1512, the same year Howard was named Lord Admiral, and proved on July 18, 1513. He perished during the war with France. Alice's will left Ł3 "to the makyng of a pyx for the Sacrament of the Parish Church of Halyngbury Morley."

ANNE LOVELL

see ANNE ASHBY

ELEANOR LOVELL

see ELEANOR RADCLIFFE

ELIZABETH LOVELL

see ELIZABETH PARIS

JANE LOVELL

see JANE ROPER

MARY LOVELL
see MARY BRYDGES

URSULA LOVELL (1493-1554+)
Ursula Lovell was the daughter of Sir Robert Lovell (1450-1522) and Ela Conyers and one of the nieces of the wealthy, childless Sir Thomas Lovell of East Harling, Norfolk and Elsing by Enfield, Middlesex (d. May 25, 1524). She married Sir William Hussey of Beauvale, Nottinghamshire (c.1492-January 19, 1555/6). The marriage contract was made in 1503 for Ursula or a sister. The settlemen was not made until 1529. Ursula had two daughters, Margaret (1515-1579) and Anne, although the entry in the History of Parliament for Ursula's son-in-law, Richard Disney (d.1578) gives his wife's name as "Neile, daughter of Sir William Hussey of Beauvale" and states that they married by 1537. Hussey left no extant will, but in 1554 he arranged for trustees to hold his propertly at Beauvale to the use of his wife and heirs.

ELIZABETH LOVETT (1516-August 1577)

Elizabeth Lovett was the daughter of Sir Thomas Lovett of Astwell, Northamptonshire (1493-July 19,1523) and Anne Danvers (1494-July 11,1523). In 1537, she married Sir Anthony Cave of Chicheley, Buckinghamshire (1516-September 9, 1558), by whom she had four daughters: Martha (b. February 24,1546), Anne (February 24,1545-December 31,1594), Judith (b. November 15, 1542) and Mary (November 1, 1556-October 16,1593). In 1559, Elizabeth married her second husband, John Newdigate of Harefield, Middlesex (1519-1565). His son John (1541-1592) later married her daughter Martha. On July 7, 1566, Elizabeth married a third time, to Richard Weston of Roxwell, Essex (1510-July 6,1572), a judge, as his third wife. Her daughter Mary married his son Jerome (c.1550-December 31,1603). The story goes that, three times a widow, Elizabeth Lovett erected a monument at Chicheley not to one of her husbands but to the man who had loved her in her youth.

JANE LOWER
see JANE UPTON

ELIZABETH LOWYS (c.1524-x. March 1565) (maiden name unknown)
A law against witchcraft, the first in civil law in England for some time, was passed in 1563. One of the first to be prosecuted under it was Elizabeth Lowys of Great Waltham, Essex, the wife of John Lowys. By 1564, she had five daughters: Anne (b.c.1549), Alice, Phyllis, Joan, and Olive. Elizabeth appeared in ecclesiastical court in June 1564 and before the Colchester Assizes on July 21, 1564. She was charged with three counts of bewitching to death, but other crimes were laid at her door that did not appear in the indictment, everything from laming her husband to bewitching animals. By one report, her mother was a witch, but no name had survived for her. Elizabeth was sentenced to death but when she was found to be pregnant she was kept in jail rather than executed at once. In the spring of 1565, examined again and found to no longer be pregnant, she was hanged immediately following the end of court. Biographies: Alan R. Young, "Elizabeth Lowys: Witch or Social Victim, 1565," History Today, December 1972, pp. 879-85; chapters in Joyce Gibson, Hanged for Witchcraft: Elizabeth Lowys and her Successors.

ELIZABETH LUCAR
see ELIZABETH WITHYPOLL

ANNA LUCAS (d. August 11, 1629)
Anna Lucas was the daughter of Thomas Lucas of St. John's Abbey, Colchester (c.1531-August 24,1611) and Mary Fermor (d.1613). She is said in some records to have been a maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth and to have made a clandestine marriage that angered the queen, but since the letters cited are dated 1593, it seems more logical to think they refer to the marriage in 1591 between Anna's sister-in-law, maid of honor Elizabeth Throckmorton, and Sir Walter Raleigh. Anna Lucas married Sir Arthur Throckmorton (1557-July 1626) on July 4, 1585. They had met in 1583, but Arthur was attracted to other ladies (Frances Hastings, then Mary Darcy) and it was not until he was released from the Marshalsea in June 1585 that he started to court Anna. Their children were Mary (d. April 25, 1658), Anna (August 18, 1594-January 23, 1620), Elizabeth (c.1592-February 1625), and Catherine (c.1594-July 1, 1632) and two others who died young. Biography: Sir Arthur Throckmorton's diaries are still extant. Portraits: two pregnancy portraits dated 1587 and 1588, now lost.

ANNE LUCAS (c.1541-April 13, 1604)
Anne Lucas was probably the daughter of Sir John Lucas of Little Saxham and Bury St. Edmunds (c.1491-September 25, 1556) and Elizabeth Christmasse, although the History of Parliament says her father was Thomas Lucas of Little Saxham and Horsecroft, Horningsheath, Suffolk. By 1570, she married Richard Jocelyn/Josselyn of Hyde Hall, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire and High Roding, Essex (c.1526-September 1575) as his second wife. Their children were Richard (1572-1625), another son, Joan or Jane and Mary (twins), and Winifred. Her second husband was Henry Heigham, who moved into Hyde Hall after the marriage. They had a daughter, Martha, who was still a baby when Queen Elizabeth stayed overnight at Hyde Hall on September 16-17, 1578. It is unknown if the family was in residence or moved out to accommodate the queen.

ELIZABETH LUCAS
see ELIZABETH LEIGHTON

MARY LUCAS
see MARY ROYDON

CONSTANCE LUCY
see CONSTANCE KINGSMILL

JOYCE LUCY
see JOYCE ACTON

ANNE LUDDINGTON (1528-1579)
Anne Luddington was the daughter Henry Luddington (d.1531), grocer of London and gentleman of Gainsborough, Yorkshire, and Joan Kirkeby (d. August 1576). Her mother’s second husabnd was Sir William Laxton (d.1556), another grocer and Lord Mayor of London in 1544. Anne married twice. Her first husband was another grocer, William Lane. Her second was Sir Thomas Lodge (1509/10-February 1585), Lord Mayor of London in 1562/3, as his third wife. Anne’s mother, upon her second husband’s death, became one of the wealthiest inhabitants of London. As Lady Laxton, Jane Kirkeby purchased substantial amounts of real estate. Her children, Nicholas, Joan, and Anne, were also provided for in their stepfather’s will. Anne’s children by Sir Thomas Lodge were William, Thomas (1558-1625), Nicholas, Henry, Benedict, and Joanna. Edward White dedicated the Mirror of Modestie (1579) to Anne, Lady Lodge after her death. Her son Thomas wrote her elegy.

ELIZABETH LUDLOW
see ELIZABETH DUDLEY

ANNE LUKE
see ANNE LAUNCELYN

JEANNE LULLIER (d.1584+)
Jeanne Lullier was the daughter of Nicholas, seigneur de Raucourt and de Guyotte d'Orchamps and the wife of Simon Renard (c.1513-August 8, 1573), Imperial Ambassador to England during the reign of Mary Tudor. There was a delay in arranging her safe conduct for the trip to England and as a result the ship in which she crossed the English Channel was nearly captured by French warships. Jeanne was in England for a year, from October 1553 to October 1554. They had seven children: Françoise (b.1544), Jeanne (b.1545), Eleanor (b.1547), Marie (b.1549), Frederic (b.1552), Philippe (b.1554), and Charles (b.1556/60). Portrait: by Antonio Mor, 1557.

JANE LUMLEY

see JANE FITZALAN

JANE LUMNER
see JANE YELVERTON

ELIZABETH LUTTON (c.1498-before February 1553)

Elizabeth Lutton was the daughter of Stephen Lutton (d.c.1526) of Knapton. At fourteen, she was veiled as a Benedictine nun at Yedlingham Priory in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The prioress at that time was Elizabeth White (d.c.1526). She was succeeded by Agnes Brayerdricke or Braydericke. Upon learning that Elizabeth Lutton was pregnant, the new prioress sent her to live in a house outside the cloister until the baby was born. The fate of the child is unknown, as is its father’s name, but Elizabeth was permitted to return to the convent. Nearly five years passed without incident. Then, in an attempt to nullify the will of Elizabeth’s grandfather, which left everything to his younger son, Elizabeth’s uncle, and take control of his considerable landholdings, Elizabeth was either abducted or ran away from the convent and married a man named Thomas Scaseby. She claimed she was not a nun, but a judicial inquiry held at Yedlingham on April 30, 1532 found against her. The marriage was annulled and Elizabeth once again returned to Yedlingham as a nun. Her story is included in Runaway Religious in Medieval England c.1240-1540 by F. Donald Logan. When the house was dissolved in August 1539, “Elizabeth Sutton” received a pension of 26s. 8d. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under “Lutton, Elizabeth.”

CATHERINE LUTTRELL (1537-1603+)
Catherine Luttrell was the daughter of Sir John Luttrell of Dunster Castle, Somerset (1519-July 10, 1551) and Mary Griffith (1519-March 31, 1588), daughter of Sir Griffith Rhys. At the time of Luttrell's death of the sweating sickness, he had been attempting to divorce his wife on grounds of adultery, but others apparently did not believe the charges. She received a legacy in his mother's will and was buried with the Luttrells in East Quantockshead. She did, however, remarry, taking James Godolphin of Gwinear, Cornwall as her second husband in 1552. Catherine and her sisters, Dorothy and Mary, were wards of the Crown and the earl of Arundell became Catherine's guardian. Through his influence, she became a member of Queen Mary's Privy Chamber. Her grandmother, Catherine St. John, Lady Edgecumbe, left Catherine a chain of gold with a flower set with two diamonds and a ruby in December 1553. In July 1558, she married Sir Thomas Copley of Gatton, Surrey (1532-September 25, 1584), who later claimed to have chosen her for her beauty. In doing so, he alienated Lord William Howard, who wanted him to marry one of his daughters. The wedding took place at Nonsuch Palace, which at that time belonged to the earl of Arundel. In November 1558, Mistress Copley attended Queen Mary's funeral as a gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber. Queen Elizabeth was godmother to her eldest son, Henry, in 1561. In 1563, however, Sir Thomas refused to conform in religion. He was fined and imprisoned in 1568. In 1570, he went abroad without license, taking his family with him. The Crown promptly seized his property. Although Catherine was allowed to return to England for a visit, her husband remained in exile until his death in Antwerp. They seem to have lived comfortably abroad, where he received a knighthood and title from the French king. After his death, however, Catherine returned to England for good. Her eldest surviving son, William (1565-1643) remained abroad. They'd had four sons and four daughters in all. Part of her jointure included the right to nominate the two MPs for Gatton. In regard to this, she was described as simple, unfit to meddle in politics, and bigoted. Late in the reign of Elizabeth, Catherine was imprisoned at least once for recusancy.

MARY LUTTRELL
see MARY GRIFFITH

JANE LYFIELD (1546-January 23, 1611)
Jane Lyfield was the daughter of Thomas Lyfield (d.1596) and Frances Bray (c.1522-May 27, 1592). Her mother was the sixth daughter of Edmund, Lord Bray and co-heiress in 1557 to her brother John, 2nd Lord Bray. Before 1575, Jane married Sir Thomas Vincent (1543-1613) and became the mother of Francis, Bray, and Jane. Portrait: 1602 (inscribed "Jane Lyfield co-heiress of Lord Bray/wife of Sir Tho' Vincent, Knight").

DOROTHY LYTCOTT (c.1545-1603+)
Dorothy Lytcott (Litcott/Lidcott) was the daughter of Christopher Lytcott (c.1519-December 6, 1554) and Catherine Cheney. She married Sir Christopher Edmondes of Lewknor, Oxfordshire. She was at the court of Elizabeth from 1567-1603 and had considerable influence there. In 1585, she was granted the lease to Molesley, Surrey for twenty-one years for her service as a gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber. In January 1595/6, Lady Edmondes was asked to obtain a pardon from a man named Booth, who had been sued by Lady Gresham over a forgery, jailed, fined, and sentenced to lose his ears. She negotiated a price and, when she was successful, collected a fee of Ł200, half at once and the rest due within six months. Sir Christopher and Dorothy entertained Queen Elizabeth at Molesley in August 1600. Dorothy does not appear to have had any children. Her heir was Sir John Lytcott (b.1575), her nephew.

ELIZABETH LYTTON
see ELIZABETH MUNDEN

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