A WHO’S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN (O)

A WHO’S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN: O

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her very out-of-date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

ROSE O’BYRNE
see ROSE O’TOOLE

MARY O’CONNOR
see MARY FITZGERALD

ODELL
see WOODHULL

EDITH ODINGSILLS
see EDITH WILLIAMS

FIONNUALA O’DONNELL
see FIONNUALA MACDONNELL

OLD CHATTOX
see ANNE WHITTLE

OLD DEMDIKE
see ELIZABETH BLACKBURN

GRACE O’MALLEY (1530-c.1603)

Grace or Grania O’Malley, legendary female pirate, was the daughter of Owen Dubhdara O’Malley and Margaret, daughter of Conchobhar O’Malley. Grace married first Donal O’Flaherty and second Richard Burke (d.1583). Her second husband became chief of the Burkes of Mayo in 1582. Grace had two sons, Owen O’Flaherty (d.1586) and Theobald Burke (d.1629) and a daughter, Margaret. Her activities harried the English authorities in Ireland for decades. In the 1570s she kidnapped young Christopher St. Lawrence, Lord Howth’s heir. A painting at Howth Castle depicts the incident. In 1576/7, she greatly impressed the young Philip Sidney, whose father was Lord Deputy, when he visited Galway. She spent two years in prison in 1578-9 and was tried for plundering Aran Island in 1586 and was almost executed. In 1593, Sir Richard Bingham, who had tried her in 1586, called her “a notable traitress and nurse to all rebellions in the province for forty years,” but Sir John Perrot secured a pardon for her from Queen Elizabeth. In 1595, she petitioned Lord Burghley for the return of her jointure lands. Although it was long said that she did not speak English and never visited England, recent biographers assert that she did go to the court of Elizabeth I in 1593 and again in 1595. By tradition, she is said to have died in great poverty and been buried on Clare Island. Biographies: Anne Chambers, Granuale: The Life and Times of Grace O’Malley; sections of Joan Druett’s She Captains; Barbara Sjoholm’s The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O’Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea, and Jo Stanley, ed., Bold in her Breeches; Oxford DNB entry under "O'Malley, Grainne [Grace]."

ELIZABETH ONLEY
see ELIZABETH ROLLESTON

CORDELL ONSLOW (d.1604+)
Cordell Onslow, also found spelled Cordwell Anslow, was probably the eldest daughter of Sir Edward Onslow of Knoll, Surrey (d.1615) and Isabel Shirley (d. August 6, 1630), although she is not found in lists of their children online. Cordell was a maid of honor to Queen Elizabeth from 1600 until the end of the reign in 1603 and then went on to serve Anne of Denmark as a Lady of the Bedchamber.

JANE or JOAN ORMOND (d.1540/1)
Jane Ormond was the daughter of John Ormond of Alfreton, Derbyshire (d. October 5, 1503), an illegitimate son of the 6th earl of Ormond, and Joan Chaworth (d. August 29, 1507). Her first husband was Sir Thomas Dynham or Dinham of Ashridge, Hertfordshire and Eyethorpe, Buckinghamshire (d.1519), by whom she John, George, Oliver, Edward, Roger, Thomas, Charles, Eleanor, Catherine, Anne, Mary, and Elizabeth. In his will, written September 18, 1519 and proved February 13, 1519/20, he left her 1000 marks and all his movables. She then married Sir Edward Greville of Milcote, Warwickshire and Drayton, Oxfordshire (d. June 22, 1528). Her third husband, married c.1529, was Sir William Fitzwilliam of Milton and Gains Park, Essex (1460-August 9, 1534), as his third wife. In his will of May 28, 1534, proved September 5, 1534, he leaves "my right dear and well beloved wife, Dame Jane Fitzwilliam, for term of her life, the manors Henninalles, Maydelles, Marshalles, Arnewayes, in the county of Essex . . . a cross of diamonds which I gave to her" and other bequests, including his messuage in the parish of St. Thomas the Apostle in London, where they were then living. Jane made her will on January 17, 1540/1 and it was proved October 25, 1542. She asked to be buried in the church of St. Thomas the Apostle. In addition to leaving bequests to her surviving children and other relatives, her will names her maid, Agnes Jenys, and her chaplain, John Fox.

JANE ORWELL (d.1596+)
Jane Orwell was the daughter of Sir Lewis Orwell of Ashwell, Hertfordshire and Elizabeth Ludlow. She was the longtime mistress of Edward Grey, 3rd baron Powis or Powys (1503-July 12, 1551) and bore him six or seven children, the first three of whom are mentioned in the will he made on July 11, 1544. They were Edward (c.1543-1624), Anne, Jane, Walter, Andrew, Cecily, and (possibly) Thomas. Jane was expecting her fourth child at the time the will was made and Powis lived for another seven years. Powis was married at the time he made his will, but had separated from his wife (see ANNE BRANDON), who had a lover of her own. The will leaves his holdings to any legitimate heirs, but "in default of issue of my body lawfully begotten" leaves everything to Edward, his son by Jane. Provision is made for succeeding sons to inherit if Edward dies childless and for his daughters by Jane to inherit should the male line fail. To Jane herself, he left the castle and manor of Charlton and the manor of Pontysbury for life. At an undetermined date, possibly shortly before Powis died, Jane married John Herbert of London and Montgomery Castle (c.1515-1596+). He had three sons and a daughter, but they may have been the children of his first wife, Elizabeth Derwas. Through his marriage to Jane, Herbert acquired Buildwas, Salop, which was part of the estate that passed to young Edward Grey. On his behalf, Herbert contested claims made by Thomas Vernon to the barony of Powis. In 1568, Herbert was styled as "of Red [Powis] Castle" Jane, meanwhile, took to calling herself Lady Powys. Perhaps she had all along. A record of 1580 refers to "Jane called Jane Herbert, widow; otherwise Jane Kemp, otherwise Jane Orwell, called Lady Powys." I am not sure where the Kemp comes from, nor is the "widow" clear, since Herbert was still living. He was thought to have died "not long after 1583" but in fact was still alive on April 8, 1596 when he and Jane both signed a letter to Edward Kynaston. She signed herself "Jane Powys."

ANNE OSBORNE

see ANNE HEWETT

LUCY OSBORNE
see LUCY HYDE

MARGARET OSBORNE
see MARGARET PRATT

ROSE O’TOOLE (d. 1597+)
Rose O’Toole was the daughter of Turlough O’Toole, who was assassinated in the 1540s. She married Feagh MacHugh O’Byrne (c.1544-1597) as his second wife. O’Byrne, known as the “firebrand of the mountains” was a rebel leader. In 1580, Rose was captured and questioned about her husband’s activities. she blamed the earl of Kildare for involving O’Byrne in treason. Eventually, a truce was reached. The O’Byrnes were noted for their hospitality at their home at Ballincor, but even during peaceful times they were plotting against the English. In January 1591, they contrived the escape of Red Hugh O’Donnell from Dublin Castle and arranged for him to be sheltered by Rose’s brother, Phelim O’Toole, at Castlekevin. In 1594, the truce expired and the Nine Years War (1594-1603), also known as the Rising of the Northern Chiefs, the last great Irish rebellion against the government of Queen Elizabeth, began. In January of 1595, Ballincor was attacked. O’Byrne was almost taken prisoner and Rose was wounded in the breast. The family retreated to Dromceat. O’Byrne’s death did not keep Rose from working for the rebel cause. She acted as a go-between and Sir Thomas Lee believed that she was the mistress of Thomas Butler, 10^th earl of Ormond (1532-November 22, 1614). She did take messages from him to the rebel earl of Tyrone. For this crime, she was arrested and sentenced to be burnt as a traitor but was pardoned by Queen Elizabeth in return for her promise to work against her stepson, Turlough O’Byrne. Rose did not keep her word and a second pardon became necessary at a later date.

ELIZABETH OUGHTRED

see ELIZABETH SEYMOUR

ALICE OWEN

see ALICE WILKES

ANNE OWEN
see ANNE DEVEREUX; ANNE RAWLEY

ELIZABETH OWEN (d.1551+)

Elizabeth Owen was the daughter of Sir David Owen (1459-1535) and Anne Devereux (d.c.1548). She married Sir Thomas Borough (d.1542), son of Thomas, 3rd baron Borough (Burgh) of Gainsborough (1483-February 28,1549/50). In 1537, when Elizabeth gave birth to her first child (Margaret), her father-in-law became convinced that she was guilty of adultery and disowned her. Destitute, living in her mother's house, Elizabeth petitioned Thomas Cromwell for an income. In 1543, matters detriorated further when her father-in-law secured an act of Parliament that declared all three of the children born to Elizabeth during his son’s lifetime to be illegitimate. The summary of this act in Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII vol 18, pt. 1 (1543) p. 46 #66 (London: HMSO, 1901) reads: "That whereas Elizabeth Burgh, late wife of Thomas lord Burgh (sic) lived in adultery during her husband's lifetime, and had children Margaret, Humfrey and Arthur by persons other than her husband, as she has partly confessed, these children are to be taken as bastards." Katherine Parr, who was also, briefly, one of Lord Burgh's daughter-in-laws, paid Elizabeth a pension from her own chamber accounts during her tenure as queen (1543-1547). Ironically, in his will, Lord Borough left Elizabeth's daughter, Margaret, a legacy of 700 marks, an indication that he might have changed his mind. The 3rd baron Burgh was, according to Katherine Parr's biographer, Susan James, a tyrant who ruled his family with an iron hand. There was also a strain of madness in the Borough family, a fact from which one may infer whatever they choose about the charges against Elizabeth Owen.

JANE OWEN (d. before 1634)
Jane Owen, according to John Owen the Latin epigrammist (in a verse published in 1607), was his relative, the eldest of six daughters, and a resident of Oxford. He praised her abilities as a Latin poet. Her An Antidote Against Purgatory was published posthumously in 1634 and she was clearly a Roman Catholic, but other information about her remains speculative. It has been suggested that she was the daughter of George Owen of Godstow, Oxfordshire (c.1499-October 18, 1558), who was a royal physician to both Henry VIII and Queen Mary, but if she was related at all, she was more likely his granddaughter.

MARY OWEN

see MARY LONG

ALICE OXENBRIDGE
see ALICE FOGGE

ELIZABETH OXENBRIDGE (c.1519-April 1578)

Elizabeth Oxenbridge was the daughter of Goddard Oxenbridge (1465-February 10, 1531) of Brede and his second wife, Anne Fiennes (1490-May 24, 1531). She was at court in the household of Queen Jane Seymour in 1537 and after the queen's death resided with Mary Arundell, countess of Sussex. She played an active role in attempting to place one of her sisters, Mary Oxenbridge, in the Calais household of Honor Grenville, viscountess Lisle. Mary thwarted the plan by eloping with a gentleman from Kent. Elizabeth was married to Sir Robert Tyrwhitt (c.1504-1572) of Leighton Bromswold, Huntingdonshire by August 4, 1539, when she and several other gentlewomen wrote a letter to King Henry from Portsmouth, where they had gone to view the royal fleet. She signed it "Elizabeth Tyrwhyt." When Catherine Howard became queen, Elizabeth was a gentlewoman of the privy chamber and during Anne Parr Herbert’s absence from court to have a child, temporarily took over her duties as keeper of the queen’s jewels. She was also a lady of the privy chamber to Kathryn Parr and shared the queen’s views on religion. It is probably at this time that her book of prayers was written. Her husband was Kathryn's master of horse. Both she and her husband remained with the queen dowager after Henry VIII’s death and Elizabeth, in testimony before the Privy Council, gave an eyewitness account of the queen dowager’s death on September 5, 1548. Elizabeth’s dislike of Kathryn Parr’s new husband, Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour, comes through clearly in this report. A short time later, Sir Robert and Lady Tyrwhitt were put in charge of Princess Elizabeth at Hatfield, following the removal of the princess’s longtime governess, Kat Astley, on suspicion of plotting to marry her young charge to the widowed Lord Admiral. Upon Lady Tyrwhitt's arrival, the princess locked herself in her room and declared that she did not need a governess. Sir Robert was of the opinion that she needed two and Lady Tyrwhitt stayed on even after Kat Astley’s return to the household. When the princess was in the Tower, Lady Tyrwhitt sent her a copy of the book of prayers later printed as Lady Elizabeth Tyrwhitt’s Morning and Evening Prayers (1574). In 1577, the Puritan printer John Field dedicated his translation of Jean de L'Espine's Excellent treatise of Christian righteousness to Lady Tyrwhitt. Although Sir Robert continued as master of horse under Mary Tudor, Elizabeth seems to have stayed at home. She bore at least three children, two who died young and a daughter, Katherine (1541-1567). Sir Robert's will in 1572 left the bulk of his estate to his "deare and wellbeloved wife." Some genealogies give her a second husband, Roger Fynes. Elizabeth died in her home in St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell. Biography: Susan M. Felch, ed., Elizabeth Tyrwhit's Morning and Evening Prayers (2008); Oxford DNB entry under "Tyrwhit [née Oxenbridge], Elizabeth." Portrait: marble effigy in St. Mary's parish church, Leighton Bromswold.

ELIZABETH OXENBRIDGE (c.1529-January 1590)

Elizabeth Oxenbridge was the daughter of Thomas Oxenbridge (1502-March 28,1540), half brother of Elizabeth Oxenbridge (above), and Elizabeth Puttenham (1507-1529). Around 1540, she also married a man named Robert Tyrwhitt, this one the nephew of the one married to Elizabeth's aunt. Sir Robert Tyrwhitt of Kettleby (1526-November 16, 1581) was also at court. Many accounts confuse these two sets of Robert and Elizabeth Tyrwhitts, or try to combine them into one couple instead of two. The Tyrwhitts of Kettleby, however, have the distinction of having produced twenty-two children, all of whom are pictured on their tomb in Bigby, Lincolnshire. Among them were: William (d.1591), Edward (1551-1577), Margaret (b.1552), Ursula (1553-1618), Marmaduke (d.1589), Goddard (b.1556), John (b.1557), Anne, George (b.c.1562), Mary, Robert (b.1565), Humphrey (1566-1579), Elizabeth, Frances (1572-1601+), and Roger (c.1573-1610). Elizabeth was buried on January 25, 1589/90. Portraits: A set of portraits of "Elizabeth Oxenham(sic), Lady Tyrwit" and her husband by Cornelius Ketel, painted in 1573, are referred to in Roy Strong's The English Icon but not reproduced there. Their location was unknown at the time of that book's publication in 1969; effigy.

MALYN OXENBRIDGE (1475-October 1544)
Malyn Oxenbridge was the daughter of Sir Robert Oxenbridge of Brede Place, Sussex and his wife Anne. She married Sir Richard Carew of Beddington (d. May 18, 1520). Their children were Margaret (b.c.1510), Elizabeth (d. February 4, 1532), Ann, Sir Nicholas (x. March 3, 1539), and Mary. Malyn's inheritance from her husband included lands he had recently purchased in the county of Guisnes. After her son's execution for treason, Lady Carew continued to live in Beddington, possibly in the building later called the Old Post Office. Later in 1539, her grandson, Charles Carew (x.1540), rector of Beddington and the illegitimate son of Sir Nicholas, conspired to rob Malyn of her money, plate, and jewelry. A letter exists from Malyn to Lord Cromwell, thanking him for his kindness and asking for mercy for the offenders. In it she writes "if I had my sight I would have waited on you to thank you," from which I conclude she was blind. Some records give her name as Maude. Some records also say she had another husband before Richard Carew. Two names are suggested but both are unlikely. William Cheyney was actually married to Malyn's niece, Malyn Fincham. Arthur Darcy of Huntingdon will also be found in some records, but a marriage to him is based on Malyn's reference to a "son" by that name. In fact, she is referring to her granddaughter's husband.

ANNE OXENBRIGGE
see ANNE LAUNCELYN

OXENHAM

see OXENBRIDGE

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