A WHO’S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN (Wi-Z)

A WHO’S WHO OF TUDOR WOMEN: Wi-Z

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her very out-of-date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

ELIZABETH WIDDRINGTON
see ELIZABETH TREVANION

AGNES WIDMERPOLE (d. before 1553)
Agnes Widmerpole was the first wife of Sir John Godsalve (c.1505-November 20, 1556) and the mother of his sons William (c.1530-1561) and Thomas (d.1587). In 1536, Agnes and John had their portraits painted by Hans Holbein the Younger. Although little is known about Agnes, this likeness survives. Godsalve's second wife, to whom he was married by 1553, was Elizabeth White, daughter of Henry White, a lawyer. Elizabeth's second husband was Henry Fane (d. June 11, 1580), by whom she had a son, also named Henry (c.1560-1596).

WINEFRID WIGMORE (1585-1657)

Winefrid Wigmore was the daughter of Sir William Wigmore of Lucton, Herefordshire, and Anne Throckmorton. She was one of five women who joined Mary Ward in founding what was to become the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, an order dedicated to the education of women. When the institute spread into Flanders and Italy, Winefrid was appointed superior in Naples in 1624. After Mary Ward’s death in 1645, Winefrid and Mary Poyntz wrote her first biography and chose the subjects for a series of fifty oil paintings to depict her life. Biography: M. Philip, Companions of Mary Ward (1939); Oxford DNB entry under “Wigmore, Winefrid.” Portraits: one from the early 1600s.

JOAN WILCOCK (d.1512)
Joan Wilcock came from Rotheram, Yorkshire. She married Thomas Locke or Lok (d. 1507) and was the mother of William (c.1486-August 24, 1550), John (d. 1519), and Thomas (d.1552+). As a silkwoman, she supplied goods to the great wardrobe for Lady Catherine Gordon and to Queen Elizabeth of York in 1502-3. According to Maria Hayward in Dress at the Court of King Henry VIII, she was Elizabeth of York's preferred supplier of headwear, providing a bonnet on May 25, 1502 and frontlets, bonnets and other items in January 1503. On January 31, 1503, she was paid Ł20 on a bill that totaled Ł60 6s 5d.

CECILY WILFORD (1536-February 12, 1610/11)
Cecily Wilford was the daughter of Sir Thomas Wilford of Hartridge in Cranbrooke, Kent and his second wife, Rose Whetenhall. On February 19, 1558/9, shortly after his return from exile on the Continent, she married Edwin Sandys (1519-August 8, 1588), who became Bishop of Worcester on December 21, 1559, Bishop of London on July 13, 1570, and Archbishop of York in 1575. Sandys is credited with coining the name "Bloody Mary" for Mary Tudor. His first wife and son died in exile. His children with Cecily were Sir Samuel (December 28, 1560-August 18, 1623), Sir Edwin (December 9, 1561-October 1629), Miles (1563-1644), William (d.yng), Margaret, Thomas, Anne, Henry, and George (March 2, 1577/8-March 1644). Sir John Bourne, an outspoken critic of "priests’ whores," was still sufficiently impressed by Cecily to describe her as "faier, well nurtured, sober and demure." During her long widowhood, Cecily lived at Edwins Hall, Woodham Ferrers, Essex, where she shared her house with her son, Miles, and was looked after by a granddaughter, Bridget. In her will, she left a Geneva Bible to each of her daughters and set aside Ł200 for her funeral and a monument in which she appears in widow’s weeds in a bower of roses. Portrait: with her husband, c. 1571; effigy in Woodman Ferrers; effigy on her husband's tomb in Southwell Minster.

ELIZABETH WILFORD
see ELIZABETH GALE

JOAN WILFORD
see JOAN FERMOR

ALICE WILKES (1547-October 26,1613)

Alice Wilkes was the daughter of Thomas Wilkes, an Islington innkeeper, and his first wife. She married three times. Her first husband, to whom she was married in 1570, was Henry Robinson (1543-1585), a brewer, by whom she had six sons (John, William, Henry, John, Thomas, and Henry) and five daughters (Margaret, Susan, Anne, Anne, and Alice). She was pregnant with her eleventh child, Henry, when her husband died. She quickly married William Elkin (d.1593), a mercer, by whom she had a daughter, Ursula (c.1587-1622+). During this marriage, Alice’s eldest daughter, Margaret, then twelve years old, was abducted by one John Skinner, who hoped to marry her. Legal action followed but before anything was resolved, Skinner vanished. Margaret was promptly married off to someone else. Alice’s third husband was Thomas Owen (d. December 21,1598), a judge. They were married c. 1595 and his son Roger (1573-May 29,1617) was married to her daughter Ursula. Dame Alice Owen’s fame, however, is due to her actions during her third widowhood. On June 5, 1608, she purchased eleven acres in Islington, including the spot where she had nearly been killed by an arrow as a child, and there erected a school for thirty boys, a hospital for ten widows, a free chapel, and almshouses. She also left bequests to Christ’s Hospital and to Oxford and Cambridge Universities. She was buried at St. Mary, Islington. Portraits: a small figure from the almshouses; 1840 copy of a 1610 portrait (original destroyed in World War II); 1897 statue based on fragments from Alice’s tomb (original effigy lost when the church was rebuilt in 1751). Biographies: Clive Rose’s Alice Owen: The Life, Marriages and Times of A Tudor Lady.

KATHERINE WILKINS
see KATHERINE FOWLER

JOAN WILKINSON
see JOAN NORTH

EDITH WILLIAMS (c.1535-July 1599)
Edith Williams was the daughter of Reginald Williams of Burghfield, Berkshire and Elizabeth Fox and the niece of John, 1st baron Williams. She married Edmund Odingsells and had a son, also named Edmund. It isn't clear when Edith's first husband died, but she was a widow in 1560 when she was one of the tenants at Cumnor Place, Berkshire, which was owned by William Owen and leased to Anthony Forster, husband of Edith's sister Anne. Forster was one of Sir Robert Dudley's retainers and Dudley's wife, Amye, also lived at Cumnor Place (see AMYE ROBSART). On September 8, 1560, Amye Dudley died in a fall down a flight of stairs. The circumstances of her death were suspicious. Earlier that day, a Sunday, she had sent her servants to the fair at Abingdon and tried to get all the other residents of Cumnor Place to leave, too. Mrs. Odingsells refused, as did Mrs. Owen (see ANNE RAWLEY), another resident of the house, but neither of them witnessed Amye's death. Edith married, as her second husband, Nicholas, known as Deodatus, Staverton of Eversley, Hampshire (c.1526-June 1590), by whom she had a son named Deodatus. This husband's will is dated April 8, 1590. Edith was buried in Cumnor Church, where her brass memorial is extant.

ELIZABETH WILLIAMS
see ELIZABETH BLEDLOW

FRANCES WILLIAMS (d.1594+)

Frances Williams was the sister of Sarah (below) and possibly the “Fid” employed in Sir George Peckham's household. While she was a prisoner in the Marshalsea for recusancy, she married a fellow prisoner, William Harrington (x. February 1594). When she became pregnant, their priest, Father Blackman, told her to say that the father had gone overseas. At that point, Frances went to the Privy Council and testified concerning her knowledge of a spy named Stoughton and gave information as to the whereabouts of another Williams sister, Alice. Frances and her husband were then released and went to live with Frances’s father, but soon after that William Harrington was rearrested, this time on the charge of being a priest himself. While in prison awaiting trial, Harrington denied that he and Frances had ever been married. After his execution, Frances married Ralph Dallidown. She had received threats from several priests—Sherwood, Gerard, Blackman and Greene—and then the servant of a Master Roper, who was living at Southampton House, threatened to shoot her for betraying her sister’s whereabouts. When Dallidown killed his man, the death was ruled manslaughter rather than murder.

JOAN WILLIAMS
see JOAN CROMWELL

JOANE WILLIAMS (c.1543-1633)
Joane Williams was the daughter of Thomas Williams of Stowford, Devon (1513/14-July 1, 1566) and Emmeline Crewes (Crwys/Crues). She married twice, first to Philip Cole of Slade, Devon (February 11, 1538/9-January 30, 1595/6) and second to Richard Connock of Lyllesdon, Somerset. She had at least three children, Richard Cole (1567-April 19, 1614) and two daughters. Her husband’s first wife was probably the mother of his daughter Elizabeth. Joane asked to be buried with her first husband in Cornwood, Devon. The figure behind her is believed to be her mother-in-law, Elizabeth Champernowne (c.1521-c.1574), wife of William Cole (d. April 23, 1547) and remarried to a man named Pollard. Like Joane, Elizabeth asked to be buried with her first husband. Portrait: effigy.

MARGARET WILLIAMS
see MARGARET WENTWORTH

MARGERY or MARJORIE WILLIAMS (d. December 1599)

Marjorie Williams was the younger daughter and coheir of John Williams, 1^st baron Williams of Thame (1500-October 14,1559) and Elizabeth Bledlow (c.1504-October 25, 1556). She was betrothed to Henry Norris or Norreys, later of Rycote (1525-June 27,1601) by December of 1542 and had married him by August 26, 1544. Their children were William (d.December 1579), John (1547-September 1597), Edward (d.1603), Henry (1554-1599), Thomas (1556-1599), Katherine (d. 1601/2), and Maximilian (d. 1593). She's said to have first met the future Queen Elizabeth when Elizabeth was lodged at Rycote, Oxfordshire on her way to Woodstock during the reign of Mary Tudor. The two women became close friends, although Marjorie never held an official position at court. Elizabeth called Marjorie her "crow" because of her dark coloring. Henry Norris was knighted in 1566 and sent to France as ambassador. Although some sources say his wife remained at Rycote, the Oxford DNB says he lived with his family outside Paris from January 1567 to March 1571. He requested his wife and sons be allowed to return in early 1569, but he was not relieved of his post until December 1570. Norris was created Baron Norris in 1571. All of the Norris sons were soldiers and five of them died in foreign posts. The queen visited Rycote in 1566 and again in 1592. Portraits: life-sized effigy in St. Andrew’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey.

SARAH WILLIAMS (1570-1594+)

Sarah Williams was the daughter of protestant parents. At age fifteen, she went to work in the household of Sir George Peckham of Denham, Buckinghamshire, a secret Catholic. A priest in that household, Robert Dibdale (x. October 8, 1586) decided that Sarah was possessed and must be exorcised. Subsequently, she was forced to drink “holy” potions and inhale brimstone fumes to induce “visions.” Together with other girls in the household, including Sarah’s sister “Fid,” Sarah was abused and exploited, first by Dibdale and then by other priests. She later said that Dibdale had promised to send her abroad so that she could become a nun. Instead she was prevented from returning to her parents for four years. After the residents of Denham scattered to avoid arrest, Sarah was taken for recusancy in Oxford and sent to prison for five months for her failure to attend church for four years. Eventually, she denounced those who had exploited her and went on to marry and have five children.. Her ordeal was described in Samuel Harsnet’s A Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures (1603). Biography: Kathleen R. Sands’s Demon Possession in Elizabethan England, Chapter Seven (“Sarah Williams”).

ANNE WILLISTON (November 1, 1548- October 29, 1566)
Anne Williston was the daughter of Richard Williston of Sugwas, Herefordshire (d.1574) and Anne Elton. She was the first wife of Alexander Denton (1542-1576) and died in childbirth at the age of eighteen. Her monument in Hereford Cathedral shows her with her baby and her husband, although he also has another monument, with his second wife, Mary Martyn, in Hillesden, Buckinghamshire.

ANNE WILLOUGHBY

see ANNE GREY

ANNE WILLOUGHBY (c.1516-December 24, 1582)
Anne Willoughby was the daughter of Robert, 2nd baron Willoughby de Broke (1472-November 10, 1521) and Dorothy Grey (c.1480-1553). She married Charles Blount, later 5th baron Mountjoy (June 28, 1516-October 10, 1544), the son of her mother's second husband, by whom she had James, 6th baron (c.1533-1581), John, Francis (1538-1593+), William (c.1539-1574), and a daughter. Her second husband was Richard Broke of Westbury (d. by January 5, 1549), by whom she also had children. By 1551, she had married John Bonham of Hazelbury, Wiltshire (d. January 10, 1555), by whom she had a son, John (b.1552), and a daughter, Mary. She brought her third husband property in Dorset and the manor of Brook near Westbury. She received a grant of 20 marks, shared with her son James Blount, and the wardship of her son, John Bonham. Her third husband's brother, Edward Bonham, claimed that his brother had left a will, but Anne denied this, and in August 1556, she was granted administration of his goods.

BRIDGET WILLOUGHBY (1566-July 16, 1629)
Bridget Willoughby was the daughter of Sir Francis Willoughby of Wollaton, Nottinghamshire (1546/7-November 16, 1596) and Elizabeth Littleton (1546-June 4, 1595). Her parents were living apart by 1579 and after her only brother died in 1580, her father arranged her marriage to a cousin, Percival Willoughby of Bore Place, Kent (c.1560-August 22, 1643). The wedding took place in 1583. Her dowry was 2000 marks, plus six manors, and as the eldest of six surviving daughters, Bridget stood to inherit the bulk of the estate. She and Percival had four children, Theodosia (c.1583-November 7, 1630), Bridget, Francis, and Thomas. In 1594, Sir Francis was heavily in debt and in return for paying his creditors Ł3000, Percival received the Willoughby ironworks. The following year, however, Sir Francis made further demands, including Ł25,000 in dowries for Bridget's sisters and an annuity of Ł1100. A short time later, Bridget's mother died and when Percival balked at meeting his father-in-law's demands, Sir Francis found himself a new wife and planned to disinherit all his daughters by siring a son. When he died, his bride was pregnant, but the child was a girl. Even so, litigation tied up the estate for years and greatly reduced its value. Portrait: artist and date unknown.

CATHERINE WILLOUGHBY (March 22, 1520-September 19,1580)

Catherine Willoughby was the daughter of William Willoughby, 10^th baron Willoughby d’Eresby (d.1526) and Maria de Salinas (c.1490-October 19,1539). After her father’s death she became the ward of Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk (1485-August 22,1545) and was raised with his children. She was to have married his son, Henry, earl of Lincoln (March 11,1516-1534), but after the death of Brandon’s wife in 1533, he married Catherine himself, on September 7, 1534. She was 14. He was 49. She had two sons by Brandon, Henry (September 18,1535-July 14,1551) and Charles (March 10,1538-July 15,1551) and during the last part of the reign of Henry VIII was much at court. She was inclined toward religious views that would later be called Puritan and tended to be outspoken. In spite of that, there were rumors in 1546 that King Henry was tired of his sixth wife and meant to divorce her and marry the widowed duchess of Suffolk. In 1548, when the Queen Dowager died after giving birth to a baby girl, the child was placed in Catherine’s care. Catherine lost both of her sons to an epidemic of “the sweat” in 1551, when they died within hours of each other. In 1553, Catherine took as her second husband the man who had been her first husband’s steward (some sources say gentleman usher). Richard Bertie (December 25,1517-April 9,1582) shared Catherine’s religious views. In 1554, their daughter Susan (d.1596+) was born. By that time Mary Tudor was queen and had restored Catholicism to England. Richard Bertie went into exile first and on New Year’s Day 1555, Catherine and Susan followed him. A son named Peregrine (October 12,1555-June 25,1601) was born during their travels abroad. They ended up in Poland, where King Sigismund offered them the governorship of Lithuania. They remained there until after Mary Tudor’s death, returning to England in the late spring of 1559. Under Elizabeth Tudor, the Berties were not significant figures at court, but Catherine was entrusted with the keeping of Lady Mary Grey for a time after that young lady’s elopement. Mary was in her step-grandmother's household from August 7, 1567 until June 1569. Catherine spent most of her time after her return to England at Grimsthorpe in Lincolnshire but she also had a house in the Minories in London. Biographies: Lady Cecilie Goff’s A Woman of the Tudor Age, Evelyn Read’s My Lady Suffolk, and Melissa Franklin Harkrider's Women, Reform and Community in Early Modern England: Katherine Willoughby, duchess of Suffolk, and Lincolnshire's Godly Aristocracy 1519-1580; Oxford DNB entry under "Bertie [née Willoughby; other married name Brandon], Katherine." Portraits: a sketch by Holbein; a miniature after Holbein; a full length portrait c.1548; tomb in Spilsby Church.

DOROTHY WILLOUGHBY
see DOROTHY COLBY; DOROTHY GREY

ELIZABETH WILLOUGHBY (d. c.1510)
Elizabeth Willoughby was the daughter of Robert Willoughby (d. August 23, 1502) and Blanche Champernowne. Her first husband was Robert Dynham (c.1436-January 28, 1500/1). She married him in 1488. After his death, she became the first wife of William Fitzalan, Lord Maltravers (1483-January 23, 1544) and was the Lady Maltravers to whom King Henry VIII sent a messenger in June 1509, probably to summon her to court and into the service of Catherine of Aragon.

ELIZABETH WILLOUGHBY (April 28, 1510-November 15, 1562)
Elizabeth Willoughby was one of the three daughters of Edward Willoughby (c.1486-1517) and Margaret Neville (March 9, 1494/5-October 23, 1532) and de jure suo jure baroness Willoughby de Broke. Her guardian, Sir Edward Greville of Milcote, Warwickshire, planned to marry her to his eldest son, John. Instead, at her request, she had by April 1526 wed his second son, Fulke Greville of Beauchamp's Court, Alcester, Warwickshire (1491-November 10, 1559). They had seven sons and eight daughters, including Fulke (1536-November 15, 1606), William, Mary, Robert (d.1612/13), Helen or Eleanor (c.1539-1580+), Sir Edward, Catherine (d.1611), and Blanche. In 1526, she inherited a third part of four manors in Somerset, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire. On the death of her sister Anne in 1528, her share increased to half and she acquired the remaining portion by 1543, after the death of her sister Blanche, childless wife of Sir Francis Dawtrey. There were numerous disputes over the Willoughby inheritance. Although Greville died in debt, his daughters had dowries of 400 marks to which their mother added Ł500. The value of the estate when she died was over Ł370.

ELIZABETH WILLOUGHBY

see ELIZABETH LITTLETON

JANE WILLOUGHBY (c.1525-1571+)
Jane Willoughby was the daughter of Sir Edward Willoughby of Wollaton, Nottinghamshire (1467-1541) and Anne Fillol. She married Richard Topcliffe of Somersby, Lincolnshire (November 14, 1531-1604), later to become notorious for the use of torture in interrogating recusants and Catholic priests. They had four sons and two daughters, including John (d. yng), Charles, Susannah, and Margaret (or Frances) (d.1613/14). According to All the Queen's Women: The Changing Place and Perception of Aristocratic Women in Elizabethan England 1558-1620 (1987) by Joan Barbara Greenbaum Goldsmith, Jane separated from her husband at some point during the 1570s, which would be before he made a career out of interrogating those who did not conform to the Church of England. The History of Parliament places Topcliffe in a house in Westminster in 1571 and states that at some point (no dates given), his personal life was "clouded" by his "alleged failure to pay his wife adequate maintenance." She was not mentioned in his will and probably predeceased him.

MARGARET WILLOUGHBY
see MARGARET GARNEYS

MARGARET WILLOUGHBY (c. 1465-1530)
Margaret Willoughby was the daughter of Sir Henry Willoughby of Wollaton, Nottinghamshire (1445-May 11, 1529) and his second wife, Margaret Markham (d. before 1500). She married Sir John Zouche of Codnor (c.1440-1513+) as his second wife and was the mother of George (c.1496-1557), Richard, William, Henry, Elizabeth, and Mary. She made her will on November 21, 1530 and it was proved on March 9, 1530/1. She made several interesting bequests. To her son George, she left "that part of a bed that he claimed for an heyr lome." He also got her wedding ring and a dagger with stones. His wife received crimson laces. Elizabeth Curson, who was probably her waiting gentlewoman, was left the "fedder bed that she lyeth in, a blanket, a pare of mydlyng sheittes, a bolster, and a coverlett." Her daughters were to have a velvet gown. Mary was to choose whether she wanted the gown or the fur that trimmed it and Elizabeth was to have whatever Mary left. She was generous to servants. One got a "bay nagg" and another "a yong colte," while Margaret Lane and Margaret Danport each received a calf.

MARGARET WILLOUGHBY (1544-1578+)

Margaret Willoughby was the daughter of Henry Willoughby of Wollaton, near Nottingham (1510-August 27, 1549), and Anne Grey (1514-January 1548). Upon the death of her father, Margaret and her younger brother Francis (1546-1596) were sent to live in the household of her mother’s half brother, George Medley, at Tilty in Essex and in the Minories, London. A 1553 entry in Margaret's account book, in her own hand, records the purchase of a pair of virginals (26s. 8d.) and payments in May and July to two different music teachers. After Wyatt’s Rebellion in 1554, the house in the Minories was searched and Medley was briefly in prison. Margaret’s uncle, Henry Grey, duke of Suffolk, and her cousin, Lady Jane Grey, were executed at that time. Margaret seems to have joined the household of the widowed duchess of Suffolk (Frances Brandon) and been with her at the court of Queen Mary, although she was only eleven at the time. The duchess was at court from July 1554 until May 1555. At Christmas 1555, still a very young girl to be a maid of honor, Margaret joined the household of Elizabeth Tudor at Hatfield. It was while she was there that John Harington wrote his poem in praise of six of Elizabeth's gentlewomen. He calls Margaret "worthye willobe" and comments upon her "pearcing eye." It is not clear if she stayed on after Elizabeth's household was reorganized by order of Queen Mary in June 1556. At fifteen or sixteen, in 1559 or 1560, Margaret married Matthew Arundell of Wardour (c.1535-December 24, 1598). Their children were Thomas (1560-November 7, 1639), Catherine, and William (d. February 16,1592). On July 16,1565, Margaret supped with her cousin, the Lady Mary Grey, and two other gentlewomen. At nine that evening, Mary married Thomas Keyes without the queen’s permission. Margaret knew about the wedding but remained outside the chamber where it was performed so that she could say she had not actually witnessed the exchange of vows. She resumed her friendship with her cousin after the Lady Mary was released from captivity and was mentioned in Mary’s will in 1578.

MARY WILLOUGHBY

see MARIA de SALINAS

SANCHIA WILLOUGBY (1457-1533)
Sanchia (Sence/Sarah) Willoughby was the daughter of Sir Robert Willoughby of Wollaton (c.1452-1474). Her first husband was John Strelley of Strelley, Notthinghamshire (1448-January 22, 1501/2). They were married in 1477 and their children were John (d. before October 31, 1538), George, Margaret, Elizabeth, Anne (1495-October 12, 1554) and one other daughter. Her second husband was Sir John Digby (1464-May 1533). According to Barbara J. Harris in English Aristocratic Women, 1450-1550, John Strelley made his widow responsible for the dowries of his daughters. Around 1533, Anne Strelley, by then married to Sir John Markham, brought suit in Chancery, contending that Lady Digby had brought "a great substance" of the Strelley estate to her second marriage, including deeds to land and livestock that were supposed to have been her dowry, and that Digby had appropriated this inheritance. Sanchia supposedly died feeling "great remorse" and "with sore lamentation" but Digby still refused to yield either dowry or livestock to Anne. He died soon after his wife, obliging the Markhams to sue two of his sons, who were executors of his will. Simon Digby subsequently claimed that his stepsister (Anne Markham) had received both livestock and dowry years earlier and that, moreover, their mother, on her deathbed, had given her further gifts, a chain and jewels worth far more than the goods and money the Markhams were demanding. In the end, it took an Act of Parliament to settle the matter. The Strelley lands were divided among John Strelley's daughters.

BRIDGET WILTSHIRE (d. by 1536)

Bridget Wiltshire was the daughter and heir of Sir John Wiltshire of Stone Castle, Kent (c.1434-December 1526), comptroller of Calais under Henry VII, and Isabella Clothall. The date of her birth is listed in some accounts as 1477, but this seems too early in light of some of the birthdates of her children, which go as late as 1532. She married first Sir Richard Wingfield of Kimbolton, Huntingdonshire (1469-July 22,1525) as his second wife. He was Lord Deputy of Calais and later ambassador to Spain and died in Toledo. Their children were: Cecily (d.1525), Elizabeth (d.1522), Sir Charles (1513-May 24, 1540), Sir Thomas, James (c.1519-1587+), Lawrence, Jane (b.c.1525), Mary, Margaret, and Catherine. As Lady Wingfield, she was at the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520 and was invited to court by Anne Boleyn in 1530 when Anne was still only Lady Anne Rochford. The text of a letter Anne wrote to her at this time is still extant. Some accounts say Lady Wingfield was at court in 1532 and that she served as Mother of Maids while Anne Boleyn was queen. By 1529, she had remarried. Her second husband was Sir Nicholas Hervey or Harvey of Ickworth, Suffolk (c.1490-August 5, 1532), gentleman of the Privy Chamber and ambassador to Ghent, who was out of England from the end of June 1530 until March 1531. Bridget may have continued to call herself Lady Wingfield but she had five children by Hervey: Henry (b.1526), George (1527-1599), another George (1532-1605), Mabel, and another daughter. She inherited Backenho from Hervey and in 1534 passed it on to her third husband, Sir Robert Tyrwhitt of Mortlake, Surrey and Leighton Bromswold, Huntingdonshire (d. May 10, 1572). She was his first wife and they had no children. According to Retha Warnicke, Anne Boleyn and the king visited Lady Wingfield's house en route to Calais in 1532, before they were married. In 1536, her name came up (as Lady Wingfield) when Anne Boleyn was charged with adultery. It was said that Bridget had made a deathbed confession concerning the queen’s misconduct. Exactly what she’s supposed to have confessed is unknown, although Warnicke concludes that the confession accused Anne of sexual misconduct before her marriage to the king. The date of Lady Wingfield's death is unknown, but she was still alive in January 1534.

ALICE WINCHCOMBE
see ALICE HYDE

ELEANOR WINDSOR (c.1479-March 25, 1531)
Eleanor Windsor was the daughter of Andrew, 1st baron Windsor of Bradenham, Buckinghamshire (1467-March 30, 1543) and Elizabeth Blount (d. before 1543). She married first Sir Ralph Scrope, baron Scrope of Upsall (d. September 17, 1515). They had no children and he was succeeded by his brother. Eleanor was left with a considerable jointure that included the manors of Upsall, Stillton, Kylvyngton, Thorneborught, and Driffelde in Yorkshire, Carelton Scrope in Lincolnshire, Whaghton in Northumberland, Muscham in Nottinghamshire, Harborrow and Bowden in Leicestershire, Neyland in Sussex, Fyvefeld in Esses, and Powlles Cray and Dirwolle in Kent. The spellings are from his will. He also named Eleanor his executor. Her second husband was Sir Edward Neville (1471-x1538). Their children were Edward (d. February 10, 1589), Frances (d.1588), Catherine, and Sir Henry (1520-January 13, 1593)

ELIZABETH WINDSOR
see ELIZABETH COWDRAY

KATHERINE WINDSOR
see KATHERINE de VERE

MARGARET WINDSOR (c.1478-1543+)
Margaret Windsor was the daughter of Thomas Windsor and Elizabeth Andrews and the goddaughter of Margaret Beaufort, countess of Richmond and Derby. She was living at Syon Abbey by 1505 and by March 1507 had become a Bridgettine. She was prioress at Syon from 1513 until 1539. When the abbey was dissolved, Margaret received a pension of 150 marks (the abbess, Agnes Jordan, received Ł200) and some of the nuns afterward lived with her. In his July 31, 1543 will, her brother Lord Windsor left Margaret an annuity of Ł80 6s. 8d. to pray for his soul and the souls of his father and mother.

ANNE WINGFIELD
see ANNE HARLING

BRIDGET WINGFIELD

see BRIDGET WILTSHIRE

DOROTHY WINGFIELD
see DOROTHY FITZHERBERT

ELIZABETH WINGFIELD

see ELIZABETH LECHE; ELIZABETH de VERE

JANE WINGFIELD
see JANE POYNINGS

KATHERINE WINGFIELD
see KATHERINE WOODVILLE

MARY WINGFIELD
see MARY PAULET

SUSAN WINGFIELD

see SUSAN BERTIE

ANNE WINWOOD (c.1505-1571)
The names of Anne Winwood's parents are not known, but she had at least two brothers, Lewis, who was secretary to Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk, and Thomas, a London stockfishmonger. Anne married Rowland Shakerley (Sharkerley/Sharkeley/Shackerley) (d. March 1564/5), a mercer. Their children were Anne, Elizabeth, Katherine (d.1595+), Ralph (1532-before 1564), Alice (b.1538), Mary (1540-1605), and John (1541-before 1564), and one online genealogy also lists a Christine. As Mistress Shakerley, Anne was a silkwoman. She replaced Margery Vaughan as royal silkwoman in 1544. Also in that year, Shakerley purchased the manor of Aynho, Northamptonshire for Ł1060. This became the family seat. Anne was buried there on April 16, 1571.

ELIZABETH WINWOOD
see ELIZABETH BALL

ANNE WISEMAN (d. December 3, 1593)
Anne Wiseman was the daughter of John Wiseman of Felsted and Bradox/Braddocks, Essex (d. January 5, 1568), a wealthy recusant landowner, and Joan Lucas (or Lege) of London. She married first, in 1557, William Fitch of Little Canfield, Essex (c.1496-December 20, 1578), as his second wife. He bought Great Canfield Park from the Wisemans. Anne and William had four sons, including Thomas (1560-November 29, 1588), William (1563-1608), and Francis (1563-October 12, 1608). On May 28, 1579, in London, she married Ralph Pudsey or Pudsaye of Gray's Inn. Anne has the distinction of having two separate brasses in the same church in Little Canfield, Essex.

JANE WISEMAN

see JANE HUDDLESTON; JANE VAUGHAN

MARY WITHAM (1579-May 5, 1662)
Mary Witham was the daughter of William Witham of Ledston or Ledstone Hall, Yorkshire (1546-1593), a gentleman supposedly bewitched to death by one Mary Panell (x.1604), and Eleanor Neale (d.1619). Mary married first Thomas Jobson of Cudworth, Yorkshire (d. November 21, 1606), by whom she had a daughter, Elizabeth, and a son, Thomas (1606-1653). Her second husband was Thomas Bolles of Heath Hall (December 22, 1576-March 19, 1633/4), by whom she had two daughters, Anne and Mary. Mary Witham was apparently created Baronetess of Nova Scotia in her own right by Charles I on October 12, 1634. This was the first time a woman had been granted a baronetcy. No one seems to know why she was so honored. One online genealogy calls her "eccentric but charitable." In her will, written on May 4, 1662, she left various bequests to the parish of Royston. She was buried in Ledsham Church. Entering the area of legend, Mary Bolles is frequently listed as one of Yorkshire’s ghosts. She is said to have left instructions in her will that the room in which she died at Heath Hall be permanently sealed after her death. According to the story, some fifty years later, when it was opened, her ghost was released to haunt the hall. Stone effigies were laid on her tomb in an effort to quiet her spirit, but to no avail. She was seen as late as 1943, by soldiers garrisoned in the house. Heath Hall is now a ruin but what is said to be the door to Mary’s chamber is housed in the Wakefield Museum. Portrait: tomb effigy in Ledsham Church.

MARGERY WITHERICK (d.1538+) (maiden name unknown)
Margery and Philip Witherick (x. March 26, 1538) came to the village of Bildeston, Suffolk from Hadleigh, some five miles southeast of there, in about 1528. By 1537, they were comfortably well off, kept livestock, and were involved in the clothmaking trade, as were most inhabitants of Bildeston. They had two children, Martin, age eleven, and Mate (Matty?), age six. In August of that year a tailor named Ambrose Letyce boarded with them. On December 18, he left the house, saying he was going to work for a carpenter named Elmen for a few hours and would return by noon. Then he disappeared. Philip was suspected of having something to do with his disappearance. Just before Christmas, Margery asked an itinerant cooper, John Thompson, to search for Letyce. On January 8 or 9, the manorial bailiff of Bildeston came to the house when Margery was alone and put pressure on her to give evidence against her husband, promising her that if Philip were convicted, all of her goods, which would be confiscated if he were convicted, would be returned. She refused, and continued to refuse when he sent messengers to her on each of the next two nights. Having failed with Margery, the bailiff approached her children. Young Martin became a key witness and on March 6, Philip was taken away by the bailiff. Margery consulted the local justice of the peace and was advised to go to Philip's uncle, John Witherick, abbot of St. Osyth, for assistance. Margery did so, and stayed there a week. During that time, all of Margery's goods were seized and young Martin was taken away. He told several different stories about seeing his father kill Ambrose Letyce, none of them very believable, but then bones were found in the ashes in the kitchen of the Witherick house and these were taken as proof that Witherick had tried to destroy Letyce's body. Margery still refused to say anything against her husband, even after she was imprisoned in the local constable's house for several days. She became ill while she was a prisoner and was given last rites. On March 25, with Philip, she was taken before the Bury St. Edmunds assizes. Threatened with being charged as an accessory, forced to listen to her son's revised story of seeing a murder, she finally gave in and agreed that her son was telling the truth. She did not have to testify to this in court, but rather was taken back to Bildeston. She was probably turned out of her house once Philip was convicted. Two weeks later, John Thompson brought word that he had found Ambrose Letyce, alive and well and living in Essex. An investigation was launched, revealing that young Martin had been coached as to what to say he saw. It also came out that John Thompson had known Margery twelve years earlier in Hadleigh. Thompson and Margery were both in London in April to appear before the justices investigating the entire matter and dined together but there is no indication that there was anything more to their relationship. For more details and speculation about motives, see Chapter 3 of John Bellamy's Strange, Unnatural Deaths: Murder in Tudor England.

FRANCES WITHIPOLE
see FRANCES CORNWALLIS

ANNE WITHYPOLE
see ANNE CURSONNE

DOROTHY WITHYPOLE

see DOROTHY WENTWORTH

ELIZABETH WITHYPOLL (1510-October 29, 1537)
Elizabeth Withypoll (Wythypole; Wythipool) was the daughter of Paul Withypoll (c.1547), a wealthy merchant and alderman of London and Anne Cursonne or Curzon. She was given an education unusual for a woman of her class and was able to read and write in Latin, Spanish, and Italian as well as English and was also proficient in accounting and arithmetic. She is credited with writing an essay titled "Curious Calligraphy" at the age of fifteen and, according to her memorial, wrote three different hands, could do accounts and algorithms, played viol, lute, and virginals, and created pictures "with pen, frame, or stoole." In 1534, she married Emmanuel Lucar (d. March 28, 1574), a member of the Merchant Taylor's Company of London, by whom she had four children. She was buried in the Church of St.Lawrence Poultney, where her husband erected a monument to her on which were inscribed words of praise for her scholarly and other accomplishments.

ANNE WITTER
see ANNE PHILLIPS

ELEANOR WODEHOUSE or WOODHOUSE (d.1615+) (maiden name unknown)
Eleanor Wodehouse or Woodhouse was the second (or possibly third) wife of Francis Wodehouse of Breccles Hall, Norfolk (d.1605). They had at least one child, a son named John (d.1615+). On August 26, 1578, the queen dined at Breccles Hall, but the family was not in residence. In 1583, Eleanor Wodehouse and Alice Gray of Carbroke were sentenced to a month in prison as recusants by the Norwich assizes. Francis was imprisoned for four years in 1597 and fined Ł20 a month, a ruinous rate that forced him to sell Breccles Hall in 1599. Eleanor was excommunicated in 1602. After Breccles Hall was sold, she resided in nearby Caston, where Francis was buried on March 21, 1604/5.

GRISEL WODEHOUSE
see GRISEL YELVERTON

MARGARET WODEHOUSE

see MARGARET SHELTON

MARY WODEHOUSE or WOODHOUSE
see MARY CORBET

MARGARET WOGON (d.1602+)
Margaret Wogon was the daughter of Morris Wogon of Bloxham, Oxfordshire. By 1559, she was married to Anthony Butler of London, Rycote, Oxfordshire, and Coates, Lincolnshire (d.1570). His London house was in the parish of St. Alphage within Cripplegate. He made his will on August 18, 1570, setting aside Ł200 in case Margaret was again with child. She inherited life interest in the manors of Barnet, Hertfordshire and North Reston, Lincolnshire, along with jewels, plate, and Ł100, and was named one of the executors. A codicil dated August 23, 1570 rescinded this responsibility and provided that she would forfeit the rest of her inheritance if she contested this decision. He did not give a reason for this change or the need for a threat to back it up. The will was proved October 31, 1570. At that time, none of their children—Charles (1560-1602), Anthony (1562-1609), William (1564-1590), John, Henry (1570-1601), and Catherine (1572-1635)—were of age to inherit. Butler's monument was erected in the church at Coates. Margaret later married Charles Dymoke of Howell, Lincolnshire (d.1611). Portrait: effigy in Coates, Lincolnshire.

ALICE WOLFE

see ALICE TANKERFELDE

MARY WOLLACOMBE

see MARY BASSETT

ELIZABETH WOLLEY
see ELIZABETH MORE

MARGERY WOLMAN
see MARGERY SAUNDERS

ELIZABETH WOLSTON (d. August 18, 1548)
Elizabeth Wolston (Wolstan/Welstone) was the daughter of Sir Guy Wolston (d.1501+) and Margaret Tamworth (d.1476). She married first John Stile or Style of St. Nicholas Parish, Ipswich (d.1505) by whom she had several sons and daughters including Florence and Bridget. Elizabeth's second husband was Sir James Yarford (Yarforth/Yerforth) (d. June 1527), a merchant adventurer and stapler and the first Welsh Lord Mayor of London (1519-20). He named his wife executrix of his will and left all of his city lands to her. All except the house in Sithes Lane were to go to the Mercers's Company after her death. Anne F. Sutton reports, in The Mercery of London, that dishes were customarily sent to Elizabeth from the Mercers' annual election banquet in the hope of further generous bequests in her will.

ELIZABETH WOLVENDON (d.1515+) (maiden name unknown)
Elizabeth Wolvendon was the wife of Reginald Wolvendon. She was one of Mary Tudor's ladies and also served Catherine of Aragon. In February 1515, she was granted an annuity of Ł10.

MARY WOLVERSTON (1540-before 1617)

The daughter of Philip Wolverston of Wolverston Hall, Suffolk (b.1514), a "gentleman pirate," she married first Thomas Knyvett (d.c.1553), by whom she had a son, Henry, and then Sir John Killigrew of Arwennack, Cornwall (d. March 5, 1584). Her children by Killigrew were John (c.1554-August 12,1605), Thomas (b.c.1556), Simon (b.c.1558), Mary (b.c.1560), and Katherine (c.1562-c.1623?). Lady Killigrew was said to keep open house for the more respectable pirates at Arwennack House and in 1582 was accused of leading a boarding party onto a Hanseatic ship at Falmouth and murdering a factor. In fact, there were two Lady Killigrews at the time (see the entry for Elizabeth Trewinard) and neither actively engaged in piracy or boarding ships, although both did receive stolen goods. Mary’s husband died Ł10,000 in debt because of their lavish lifestyle and her oldest son, John, died in prison. Mary’s grandson, yet another John Killigrew, erected a monument to Sir John Killigrew and his wife (although records I've seen of this give her name as Elizabeth) in 1617.

ANNE WOOD (d.1512)
Anne, also called Helen, Wood was the daughter of John Wood of East Barsham, Norfolk (d.c.1496). She married Thomas Astley of Melton Constable, Norfolk (1469-October 19,1543) as his second wife in about 1505 and was the mother of his son John (c.1507-August 1,1596) and probably of Ann, Elizabeth, and Margaret Astley, who had been born by 1510. The surname is often given as Ashley and Wood is frequently spelled Wode, which is one reason Anne's identity is so often confused. Even the Oxford DNB entry for her son does not connect her to the Anne Wode whose memorial brass survives in Blickling, Norfolk. According to the story preserved in Blickling, Anne died there during a visit her sister, Elizabeth, in 1512, along with twin babies who are pictured with their mother on her memorial brass. Anne appears to have given birth in Blickling and died soon after. Many records of John Astley/Ashley state that he was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth and some further say that his mother and Anne Boleyn's mother were sisters. Anne Wood's sister was Elizabeth, Lady Boleyn, but she was Elizabeth Wood, married to Sir James Boleyn, not Elizabeth Howard, wife of Sir Thomas Boleyn. In the usage of the times, John Astley would indeed have been considered the queen's cousin, but it was because his mother's sister married the brother of Anne Boleyn's father, not anything closer. Portrait: memorial brass in St. Andrew, Blickling

ELIZABETH WOOD (d.1553+)
Elizabeth Wood was the daughter of John Wood or Awodde of East Barsham, Norfolk (d.c.1496). By 1518, when she was one of her brother Roger's co-heiresses, she was married to Sir James Boleyn of Blickling Hall and Salle, Norfolk (1493?-1561). They were probably already married by 1512, when her sister Anne died during a visit to Elizabeth in Blickling. (see entry under ANNE WOOD). Sir James Boleyn is said to have had no issue, which may mean that they had no children or that their children all died young. Elizabeth was probably the Lady Boleyn who was a lady in waiting to Queen Anne Boleyn and attended her in the Tower in 1536, charged to spy on her niece and report to the authorities anything the imprisoned queen said. In 1553, Sir James made provision for the settlement of his lands after his death and that of his wife, so she was still living then, but she seems to have predeceased him. He was buried at Blickling on November 21, 1561.

ELIZABETH WOOD (x. July 26, 1537) (maiden name unknown)
Elizabeth Wood was the wife of Robert Wood of Aylsham, Norfolk. In May 1537, she was overheard to say, among other things, that "we had never good world since this king reigned." One of her listeners, John Dix, reported her to the constables, who referred the matter to the magistrates (Sir James Boleyn and Sir John Heydon) and within two weeks the "lewd and ungracious" Elizabeth Wood was in prison. She was convicted in the King's Bench on July 26 and immediately executed.

ELIZABETH WOODFORD (c.1498-October 25,1573)

Elizabeth Woodford was the daughter of Robert Woodford of Ashby Folvile, Leicestershire and Brightwell, Buckinghamshire and Alice Gate. She should not be confused with the Elizabeth Woodford (d. March 1523), who was a nun at Syon. That Elizabeth was a senior member of the order there in 1518. This Elizabeth did not become a nun until 1519, when she entered Burnham Abbey in Buckinghamshire. She was turned out when the abbey was surrendered on September 19, 1539. Initially, she returned to Brightwell Hall to live with her brother, Thomas, but soon left there for Marshfoot, Essex, where she joined the household of Dr. John Clement and was put in charge of the education of the Clement daughters. She accompanied the family to Flanders when they went into exile in 1549 and once in Louvain she entered St. Ursula’s Augustinian cloister, the first Englishwoman to join the canonesses there. The Clement girls continued their education at St. Ursula’s and the youngest, Margaret Clement, was elected prioress there in 1569. She is said to have credited Elizabeth Woodford with being her inspiration for entering the religious life.

ANNE WOODHOUSE (1541-c.1594)
Anne Woodhouse was the daughter of Sir William Woodhouse (1498-November 22, 1563) and Anne Repps (1513-January 1552). In 1560, she married Sir William Heydon of Baconsthorpe, Nofolk (October 30, 1540-March 19, 1593), by whom she had three sons, Christopher (1561-1623), William, and John. Portrait: effigy in Baconsthorpe.

ELIZABETH WOODHOUSE
see ELIZABETH CALTHORPE

AGNES WOODHULL (1542-March 20, 1576)
Agnes Woodhull was the daughter of Anthony Woodhull (1518-February 4,1542) and Anne Smith (b.1522) and the niece of Mary Woodhull (below). She was born at Warkworth, Northumberland. Her wardship, with a yearly rent of Ł20 for her expenses, was purchased by Sir Anthony Browne. He sold it to Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk, in 1544. He left it in his will (1545) to his son, Charles Brandon. Upon the younger Brandon’s death in 1551, Agnes’s custody passed to his mother, Catherine Willoughby, who in turn made a gift of it to her sons’ former governess, Margaret Blackborne. It is not known if Agnes went into exile during the reign of Mary Tudor, but Catherine Willoughby, her second husband, their children, and Margaret Blackborne did, so it seems probable. Around 1559, Agnes married Richard Chetwode of Worleston, Cheshire (1528-January 20, 1561), who had been a gentleman of the privy chamber to King Edward VI. They had a son, Richard, (c.1560-May 21, 1635). Around 1566, Agnes remarried, taking as her second husband Sir George Calverley or Claveley (c.1540-August 5,1585). Agnes died at Hodiffe, Bedfordshire.

MARY WOODHULL (c.1528-1558+)
Mary Woodhull (often written Odell) was the daughter of Nicholas Woodhull, Woodall, Wodill,Wodil, Woodhall, or Wodhull of Woodhull, Bedfordshire and Thenford Manor, Northamptonshire (c.1495-May 1531) and Elizabeth (or Alice) Parr (c.1499-before 1531). Her grandfather was Lord Parr of Horton, making her a cousin to Queen Katherine Parr, Horton’s niece. She came to court as a chamberer in 1543 when she was about fifteen and had been promoted to gentlewoman of the queen’s chamber at a salary of five shillings by 1547. Although Susan James (Catherine Parr) states that Mary Woodhull had previously served Katherine’s mother, Maud Parr, this is not possible given the date of Maud’s death (1531) and Mary’s probable date of birth. It is Elizabeth Odell who is left Ł40 in Maud's will. Mary remained with the queen dowager, sometimes sharing her bed for warmth, until Katherine’s death in 1548. Mary married David Seymour (d.1557/8), a distant relation of Lord Protector Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset, who had also been in Queen Katherine’s household. They had three children, William, Edward, and Anne. They lived in Fenchurch Street in London.

AGNES WOODVILLE (c.1463-between 1506 and September 22, 1508)
Agnes Woodville was probably the illegitimate daughter of Sir Richard Woodville of Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, later Earl Rivers (x. August 12, 1469) and therefore the half sister of Edward IV's queen, Elizabeth Woodville. In about 1480, she married William Dormer of West Wycombe (d.1506). Their children were Sir Robert (1485-July 12, 1552), Agnes, Joan, Margery, and Bridget.

ANNE WOODVILLE (d. July 30, 1489)
Anne Woodville was the daughter of Sir Richard Woodville of Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, later Earl Rivers (x. August 12, 1469) and Jacquetta de St. Pol (1415-May 20, 1472) and the sister of Edward IV's queen, Elizabeth Woodville. She attended her sister at her coronation on May 26, 1465. She married William, viscount Bourchier (d.1480) in 1466. Their children were Isabel (d.1501), Henry (d. March 13, 1539/40), and Cecily (d.1493). Anne was a lady in waiting to her sister. Although some accounts say that Anne married Sir Edward Wingfield, her second husband, wed on June 26, 1480, was George Grey, later earl of Kent (1452-December 1503), by whom she had a son, Richard (1481-1524). She was present at the marriage of her niece, Elizabeth of York, to Henry VII on January 18, 1486. Anne was buried at Warden, Bedfordshire.

ELEANOR or JOAN WOODVILLE (c.1452-before 1492)
Eleanor (also called Joan) Woodville was the daughter of Sir Richard Woodville of Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, later Earl Rivers (x. August 12, 1469) and Jacquetta de St. Pol (1415-May 20, 1472) and the sister of Edward IV's queen, Elizabeth Woodville. In February 1466, she married Sir Anthony Grey, 4th baron Grey of Ruthin (c.1446-1480). They had no children and she never remarried after his death. One online source gives her date of death as 1512, but since she is not named as surviving her brother Richard, she probably died before 1492.

ELIZABETH WOODVILLE (c.1437-June 8, 1492)
Elizabeth Woodville was the daughter of Sir Richard Woodville (x. August 12, 1469) and Jacquetta de St. Pol (1415-May 20, 1472). In about 1456, she married Sir John Grey (c.1432-1461), heir to Lord Ferrers of Groby. They had two sons, Thomas, later marquess of Dorset (1451-1501) and Richard. In attempting to claim her jointure rights, Elizabeth had an audience with the king, Edward IV (1442-April 9, 1483). A short time later, sometime in 1464, they married in secret at her father's house of Grafton, Northamtonshire. Edward revealed the marriage in September, when he was being pressured to marry a foreign princess. Elizabeth's coronation took place on May 26, 1465. She bore the king ten children, Elizabeth (February 11, 1465/6-February 11, 1503), Mary (1467-1482), Cecily (March 20, 1469-August 24, 1507), Edward (1471-1483?), Margaret (1472-1472), Richard (d.1483?), Anne (November 2, 1474-November 12, 1511), George (d. before 1479), Katherine (1479-November 15, 1527), and Bridget (1480-1517). After her husband died, Elizabeth fled into sanctuary with her daughters and younger son. After Richard III usurped the throne from her eldest son, she conspired with Margaret Beaufort to replace him with Henry Tudor, Margaret's son and marry Henry to her eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York. She was godmother to Arthur Tudor, first child of Henry and Elizabeth. In 1487, it was suggested that she marry the widowed James III of Scotland but instead she retired to Bermondsey Abbey on a pension of 400 marks (Ł266 13s. 4d.), increased to Ł400 in 1490. She died at Bermondsey and was buried beside her husband the king in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. Portraits: several illuminations, stained glass windows, and oil paintings. Biographies: D. MacGibbon, Elizabeth Woodville (1938); David Baldwin, Elizabeth Woodville: Mother of the Princes in the Tower (2002); Oxford DNB entry under "Elizabeth [née Elizabeth Woodville]."

KATHERINE WOODVILLE (1457/8-May 18, 1497)
Katherine Woodville was the daughter of Sir Richard Woodville (x. August 12, 1469) and Jacquetta de St. Pol (1415-May 20, 1472) and the sister of Edward IV’s queen, Elizabeth Woodville. Although it was once commonly believed that she was born in 1442, making her nearly twenty-four in 1465, when Edward IV married her to ten-year-old Henry Stafford, 2nd duke of Buckingham (1455-1483), more recent research indicates that she was a child of around eight at that time. They had five children: Edward (February 3, 1478-May 17, 1521), Henry (1479-March 6, 1523), Elizabeth (d. May 1532), Anne (c.1483-1544+), and Humphrey (d.yng.). Buckingham initially allied himself with Richard III after Edward IV’s death, but switched allegiance to Henry Tudor, duke of Richmond in 1483 and was executed by Richard for treason. In October of that year, he had taken the precaution of sending his wife and sons to Weobley, Hertfordshire, home of Walter Devereux, Lord Ferrers. Their daughters were left behind at Brecon Castle. Katherine and her younger son remained at Weobley after Buckingham’s death, but her oldest son, Edward (1478-1521), was spirited away for safety when King Richard put a price of Ł1000 on his head. Ł500 was offered for the capture of young Henry. Searching for her sons, the king’s men found Katherine and Henry at Weobley and took them to London as prisoners. In December, she was allowed to bring her daughters and servants from in Wales to London. A few months later, she was granted an annuity of 200 marks. During the first months of Henry VII’s reign, before November 7, 1485, she married the king’s uncle, Jasper Tudor, duke of Bedford (c.1431-December 21, 1495). On her marriage, she received her dower and a jointure of 1000 marks, giving her annual revenue of about Ł2500. In early 1496, she took a third husband, Sir Richard Wingfield of Kimbolton Castle (c.1469-July 22, 1525). As she married without a license from the king, she was fined Ł2000, but the payment was demanded from her son rather than from her new husband. She had no children by Tudor or Wingfield. Biography: included in her husband’s Oxford DNB entry.

MARGARET WOODVILLE (d. before March 6, 1490/1)
Margaret Woodville was the daughter of Sir Richard Woodville of Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, later Earl Rivers (x. August 12, 1469) and Jacquetta de St. Pol (1415-May 20, 1472) and the sister of Edward IV's queen, Elizabeth Woodville. She was a member of the queen's household from 1464 and in that same year was married to Thomas FitzAlan, Lord Maultravers (c.1450-October 25, 1524), who was earl of Arundel from 1487. The king provided her dowry. Their children were William (c.1476-January 23, 1544), Margaert (d.1524+), Edward, and Joan (d. before 1505). Lady Maultravers attended the coronation of Elizabeth Woodville in May 1465, accompanied the king's sister as far as Stratford Langhorne Abbey in June 1468 on her journey to Burgundy, and attended the christening of Princess Bridget in 1480, carrying the child in the procession. She was also present at the marriage of her niece, Elizabeth of York, to Henry VII in January 1486. Margaret was buried at Arundell.

MARGARET WOODVILLE (c.1455-before 1520)
Margaret Woodville was the illegitimate daughter of Anthony Woodville, Lord Rivers (1442-June 25, 1483) by Gwentlian Stradling. In around 1475, she married Sir Robert Poyntz of Iron Acton, Gloucestershire (1450-November 4, 1520) and was the mother of Sir Anthony (1480-1533), Margaret (c.1489-before 1558), John (c.1487-1544), Sir Francis (c.1490-1528), Elizabeth, Nicholas (c.1493-1512), and Anne (c.1479-1547+).

MARTHA WOODVILLE (c.1450-c.1500)
Martha Woodville was not the daughter of Sir Richard Woodville of Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, later Earl Rivers (x. August 12, 1469) and Jacquetta de St. Pol (1415-May 20, 1472). Her name only begins to appear on lists of their children in 1623. It is possible she was Woodville's illegitimate daughter, which would have made her the half sister of Edward IV's queen, Elizabeth Woodville. Whoever she was, in about 1463, Martha married Sir John Bromley of Bartomley and Hextall, Shropshire (d.1488). By his first wife, he had at least one daughter, Isabel, and he is said to have had three daughters in all. Martha was still living in 1500 but had died before 1509.

ELIZABETH WOODWARD
see ELIZABETH HONEYWOOD

JOAN WOODWARD (1571-June 28,1623)
Joan Woodward was the daughter of Henry Woodward (d. December 1578), a dyer, and his wife Agnes (d. April 1617). On February 14, 1579, Agnes married one of her husband’s apprentices, Philip Henslowe (d. January 6,1616), a man some twenty years her junior. Henslowe used his profits as a dyer to purchase the Little Rose in St. Saviour’s parish, Southwark, and opened it as the Rose Playhouse in 1587. On October 22, 1592, Joan married Edward Alleyn (September 1,1566-November 25,1626), a player. In 1593, she was carted through Southwark as a bawd, accused of living on the proceeds of prostitution. According to some sources, both Henslowe and Allyn were brothel-keepers as well as theatrical entrepreneurs. Henslowe kept a diary and other details about the Rose are also available. Joan had no children that we know of. Letters between Joan and her husband are extant, although Joan had to have someone, often her stepfather, write hers for her. One of the letters from Allyn addresses her as "my good sweetheart and loving mouse." Portrait: date unknown.

ANNE WORSLEY
see ANNE LEIGH

HESTER WOTTON
see HESTER PICKERING

MARGARET WOTTON (1487-1541)
Margaret Wotton was the daughter of Sir Robert Wotton of Boughton Malherbe, Kent (1465-1524), and Anne Belknap. She may be the Margaret Wootton in Elizabeth of York's household c.1503. She married first, in 1505, William Medley (1481-February 1509), by whom she had a son, George (d.1562), and second, in 1509, Thomas Grey, 2nd marquis of Dorset (June 22, 1477-October 10, 1530), by whom she had Elizabeth (b.1510), Katherine (1512-1542), Anne (1514-January 1548), Henry, 3rd marquis (January 12, 1517-x. February 23, 1554), John (1523-November 19, 1569), Thomas (1526-x.1554), and a son and daughter who died young. Thomas Grey's body was found intact when his coffin in the collegiate church at Astley, Warwickshire was opened in 1608. He was five foot eight inches tall and had smooth yellow hair. As marchioness of Dorset, Margaret accompanied Mary Tudor to France in 1514 and was one of Elizabeth Tudor's godmothers. When her second husband died, King Henry granted her custody of all of his lands during the minority of her son. This son, Henry had been betrothed to Lady Catherine Fitzalan, daughter of the earl of Arundel, but the two disliked each other and Henry rejected the match. To free him from this obligation, Margaret was obliged by the betrothal contract to pay 4000 marks to Arundel, which she did in yearly installments of 300 marks. On November 19, 1531, she wrote to Thomas Cromwell from Tiltey, Essex, where she lived in lodgings her late husband had paid to have built in the Cistercian monastery there, sending her son, George Medley, with the letter and a Ł40 gift for Cromwell. In the letter, she requested that Cromwell negotiate with Arundel to reduce the amount she owed him by 1000 marks. Her argument was that the contract of marriage between Arundel’s heir and her daughter, Katherine Grey, had only required a penalty of 3000 marks. Perhaps because he incurred this huge debt, Margaret did not get on well with her eldest son. A number of other letters to Cromwell exist, some of them included in Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies. In a letter dated February 8, 1535 from Tiltey, she sent him Ł10 and a cup because she had heard that he had heard a "sinister report" about her, one alleging that she had "hindered or impaired" the monastery at Tiltey. She and her husband had certainly meddled there. In 1530, at the request of the Marquess of Dorset, the abbot had been pensioned off and replaced. Tilty was not a wealthy monastery. There were only five monks in residence besides the abbot. On October 6, 1535, Margaret was granted a lease for sixty years on the grange, manor, and demesne lands at Tilty. After the abbey was dissolved, on February 26, 1536, this had to be confirmed by the state, which was accomplished on November 4, 1538. In the meantime, Margaret continued to live there much of the time. She was staying at the Archbishop of Canterbury’s palace of Croydon, however, in October 1537, when Prince Edward was born. Because there were reports of plague in the village of Croydon, Margaret was banned from his christening, even though she was to have been one of his godparents. A letter she wrote to the king from Croydon, expressing her regret, is still extant. Yet another letter to Lord Cromwell dates from January 26, 1538, when she was staying at Ightham Mote in Kent (she had also visited there in February 1534), in which she asked Cromwell to take her son Thomas into his household. Portraits: a sketch by Holbein at Windsor; portrait by Holbein; miniature.

MARY WOTTON (1499-1543+)

Mary Wotton was the daughter of Sir Robert Wotton of Boughton Malherbe, Kent (1465-1524) and Anne Belknap. She may have been the Mistress Wotton who was a chamberer to Mary Tudor, queen of France, in 1513. She married first, as his second wife, Sir Henry Guildford (1489-1532) and was his executrix. She received a release from all her obligations to the king on March 25, 1533 but was still deeply in debt in 1535 when she wrote to Lord Cromwell on the subject. Her second husband was Sir Gavin or Gawen Carew (d.1583), as the second of his three wives. She was at court in 1543 as one of Queen Kathryn Parr's ladies. Portraits: a sketch by Holbein in Basle; portrait by Holbein (1527) in the St. Louis Art Museum; Holbein's sketch of two women at the Tudor court, c.1527, now in the British Museum, may be another preliminary study for this portrait.

MARY WOTTON or WOOTON

see MARY NEVILLE

ELEANOR WRAY
see ELEANOR SMITH

ELIZABETH WRAY
see ELIZABETH NORRIS

FRANCES WRAY
see FRANCES DRURY

ISABEL WRAY (January 27, 1560-February 12, 1622/3)
Isabel Wray was the daughter of Sir Christopher Wray (1524-May 7,1592) and Anne Girlington (d. 1593). Isabel, her sister Frances (d. c. 1634), and their brother William (c.1555-August 13,1617), were all supporters of radical protestants. Isabel and Frances financed the education of puritan minister Richard Bernard (1568-1641), sending him to Christ’s College. Isabel’s first husband was Godfrey Foljambe of Aldwarke, Yorkshire (November 21, 1558-June 14, 1595). During their marriage she had a suspected demoniac named Katherine Wright brought to their house at Walton, near Chesterfield, while various ministers attempted to cure her of possession. John Darrell, later shown to be a charlatan, was given credit for accomplishing this. By 1599, Isabel married Sir William Bowes of Streatlam and Barnard Castle, Durham (d. October 30, 1611). Bowes yielded to Isabel in matters of religion, although most men looked down on a woman’s ability to understand theology. In 1606, she hosted a conference of leading puritans at her house in Coventnry. She supported many ministers who lost their livings for non-conformity. On May 7, 1617, at Walton, Derbyshire, Isabel married a third time, becoming the second of the four wives of John Darcy, baron Darcy of Aston (1579-July 5, 1635). She aquired three stepchildren but does not seem to have had any children of her own. Isabel’s sister Frances, who outlived her, married first Sir George St. Paul of Sharford, Lincolnshire (d. October 28, 1613) and then, on December 21, 1616, Robert Rich, earl of Warwick (1559-1619). Biography: Oxford DNB entry under “Darcy [née Wray; other married names Foljambe, Bowes], Isabel.”

ALICE WRIGHT (1536-1597)
Alice Wright was the daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Wright, known as Mother Red Cap. She gave Alice a dog named Minny. Alice married a man named Goodridge and had a daughter of her own. On April 18, 1596, she was accused by a fourteen-year-old boy, Thomas Darling, of bewitching him and causing him to have fits. Alice, known as the Witch of Stapenhill, was tortured in order to get her to confess that she’d used Minny the dog to help her bewitch the boy. Her husband and daughter were also implicated. Alice was sentenced to twelve months in prison in Derby and died during her imprisonment. Thomas Darling, known as the Burton Boy, was exorcised by John Darrell. Later he confessed that he had faked his fits. Portrait: 1597 woodcut in Lambeth Palace Library.

ELIZABETH WRIOTHESLEY

see ELIZABETH VERNON

JANE WRIOTHESLEY
see JANE CHENEY

MARY WRIOTHESLEY

see MARY BROWNE

MARY WRIOTHESLEY (1572-June 1607)
Mary Wriothesley was the daughter of Henry Wriothesley, 2^nd earl of Southampton (April 1545-October 4,1581) and Mary Browne (July 22,1553-November 4,1607). Her father specified that she was to be brought up by his sister, Katherine Cornwallis of East Horsley, Surrey, or by her great aunt, Mistress Lawrence. Immediately after Southampton’s death, however, Mary’s mother wrote to Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, for assistance in reclaiming her daughter. Mary was returned to her mother on November 28, 1581, two days before her father was buried. Mary was raised as a Catholic and married Thomas Arundell of Wardour (c.1586-November 7,1639), from another recusant family, in 1585. Their children were Anne, Catherine, Thomas (c.1586-May 14,1643), William (d.1653), and (possibly) Elizabeth. Arundell fought in Emperor Rudolph’s war with the Turks and returned to England in February 1596 to face Queen Elizabeth’s wrath because he’d accepted a foreign title. He was not permitted to live with his wife, even though she was ailing.

MARY WROTH

see MARY SIDNEY

ANNE WROUGHTON
see ANNE NORRIS

DOROTHY WROUGHTON (c.1548-1616)
Dorothy Wroughton was the daughter of Sir William Wroughton of Broad Hinton, Wiltshire (1509/10-September 4, 1559) and Eleanor Lewknor. Her father left her Ł200 in his will, made September 10, 1558. In 1566, she married Sir John Thynne of Longleat (1512/13-May 21, 1580) as his second wife. Queen Elizabeth visited them there en route to Bristol in 1575. Dorothy had eight children by Thynne, including Egremont, Henry, Charles, Edward, and William. As a widow, Dorothy was at odds with her eldest stepson, the second John Thynne. According to Raleigh Trevelyan's biography of Sir Walter Raleigh, Dorothy so terrified John's young wife, Joan Hayward, that Joan once fled Longleat in the middle of the night. Dorothy's second husband was Carew Raleigh (c.1550-1625/6), older brother of Sir Walter. He had been her first husband’s gentleman of the horse. The Raleighs settled at Downton, Wiltshire, Their children were Gilbert, Walter (1586-1646), George, and a daughter.

DOROTHY WROUGHTON (1576-July 1634)
Dorothy Wroughton was the daughter of Sir Thomas Wroughton of Broad Hinton, Wiltshire (1547-1597) and Anne Barwick. She married Sir Henry Unton or Umpton of Faringdon, Berkshire (1557-March 23, 1595/6) in 1580. The Untons had no children but were apparently devoted. After Sir Henry’s death, Dorothy went into deep mourning. She commissioned a memorial portrait of his life, which includes scenes of the masque celebrating their wedding, a banquet table over which she presides, and his tomb with her kneeling figure above his effigy. She also raised a tomb at Faringdon to Sir Henry and herself. She inherited Faringdon and Wadley, Berkshire and made Wadley her principal residence, although initially she retired to her family's home at Broad Hinton to mourn. The estate was encumbered by debts said to equal Ł23,000. Since there was no will, Unton's sisters fought over their inheritance in court and the matter was not settled until the next year. In March 1598, before Dorothy would agree to marry her second husband, Sir George Shirley of Staunton Harold, Lincolnshire (1559-April 27, 1622), she had a number of demands, including reserving a living to herself, without his control; a jointure of Ł1000 a year; Ł500 in land to go to her son if there should be one; Ł500 a year out of his living should they fall out to live apart from him; and, most remarkably, should she find fault with her husband’s “unsufficiency,” the right to choose another bedfellow! They were married at the end of 1598 and separated after only two years. Dorothy lived primarily at Faringdon and Astwell and she entertained King James at Wadley in September 1603. After Shirley’s death it was rumored that she might marry diplomat Sir Thomas Edmondes (1563-Septembe 20,1639), who had been secretary to her first husband during his embassy to France in 1591-2, but Edmondes married someone else in 1626. Dorothy was also rumored to be his mistress. This seems unlikely, although he was a beneficiary in Dorothy's will. After his wife's death in 1629, Edmondes lived primarily in Essex. Portrait: memorial portrait; effigy at Faringdon.

ELIZABETH WYATT

see ELIZABETH BROOKE

MARGARET WYATT (c.1506-1561)

Margaret Wyatt was the daughter of Sir Henry Wyatt of Allington, Kent (1460-November 10,1537) and Anne Skinner. Before 1530, she married Sir Anthony Lee of Burston and Quarendon, Buckinghamshire (c.1509-1550). Their children were Sir Henry (1530-February 12,1611), Cromwell (d. 1601), Robert (c.1538-June 1598), and Katherine. Margaret was one of Anne Boleyn’s ladies and said to be her close friend. She accompanied Queen Anne to the scaffold and helped bury her. One source gives Margaret's life dates as c.1490-March 10, 1537 and has her married first to Thomas (or John) Rogers in 1505 and giving birth to Rogers's children John, William, Edward, Eleanor, and Joan. I believe this marriage belongs to Margaret's sister Mary (sometimes called Anne). Alternate birth dates given for Margaret range as late as 1514. Portrait: by Hans Holbein, 1540, in the Metropolitan Museum, New York; effigy on her tomb at Quarendon.

ELIZABETH WYKES (d.1527)
Elizabeth Wykes was the daughter of Henry Wykes of Putney, Surrey, a shearman who later became a gentleman usher to Henry VII. She married first Thomas Williams, a yeoman of the guard, and second, in about 1513, Thomas Cromwell (c.1485-June 28, 1540), who at that time was a merchant and a lawyer. They lived in Austin Friars, London. She was the mother of Anne and Grace, who died young, and Gregory, Lord Cromwell (c.1514-July 4, 1551). Before her death, in Stepney, her husband had attracted the attention of Cardinal Wolsey and was rapidly making a name for himself in court circles. After her death, her mother, by then Mrs. Pryor, lived in Cromwell's house with her second husband for several more years.

ELIZABETH WYMBISH
see ELIZABETH TALBOYS

ELEANOR WYNDHAM
see ELEANOR WASHBOURNE

ELIZABETH WYNDHAM
see ELIZABETH WENTWORTH

FLORENCE WYNDHAM

see FLORENCE WADHAM

JOAN WYNDHAM
see JOAN PORTMAN

KATHERINE WYNDOUT
see KATHERINE NORLOND

KATHERINE WYNN

see KATHERINE TUDOR

DOROTHY WYNTER (1512-c.1553)
Dorothy Wynter was the natural daughter of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (1471-1530) by his mistress, Joan Larke (d.1529+). Born at Michaelmas, 1512, she was adopted by one John Clansey or Clasey and entered the nunnery at Shaftesbury, Dorset as a young girl. She was one of the fifty-five nuns pensioned off, under the name Dorothy Clansey, when Shaftesbury was dissolved in 1539.

JULIAN or JULIANA WYNTER (d.1518+)
Juliana Wynter, Joan Wynter, and Elizabeth Wynter were all nuns at Littlemore Priory in Oxfordshire prior to the Visitation of 1517, when it was revealed that Juliana had been sneaking into nearby Oxford to meet a married lover, John Wikisley and had given birth to his child c.1516. Together with Joan, Elizabeth, and Anna Willye, Juliana had also fled from Littlemore and stayed away two or three weeks in protest over the actions of the prioress, Katherine Wells, who was notorious for her harsh punishments of the nuns in her charge. The only other nun at Littlemore c. 1517 was Juliana Bechampe (Beauchamp?). The Wynter/Winter family was prominent in neighboring Worcestershire and the three Wynter nuns were undoubtedly related to the Wynters of Wyche and Huddington Court. Littlemore Priory was dissolved in February 1525.

ANNE WYSE
see ANNE CALTHORPE

ANNE YARDE or YERDE (d.1507)
Anne Yarde or Yerde was the daughter of Thomas Yarde or Yerde of Denton Court, Kent and Joan Scot of Scot's Hall (d.1492+). Anne's mother's second husband was Henry Grey of Ketteringham (d.1492). He left that property to his widow, with reversion to her daughter. Anne was also the heiress of Sir William Appleyard, who seems to have been the father of Grey's first wife, Emma. By 1478, Anne had married Thomas Heveningham (d. January 31, 1499/1500), by whom she had ten children, including Sir John, Robert, Audrey, and Anne. Portrait: memorial brass.

ELIZABETH YARFORD
see ELIZABETH WOLSTON

ELIZABETH YATE (d.1581+)
Elizabeth Yate was the daughter of James Yate of Buckland, Berkshire (d.1544+) and Mary Fettiplace. She was a nun at Syon until Syon was dissolved in 1539, at which point Elizabeth returned to Buckland to live, bringing several of the other nuns with her. By 1556, Elizabeth and six other former nuns were living at Lyford Grange, the home of her kinsman, Thomas Yate, and his wife Anne (or Agnes). As a widow, Anne Yate (d.1580) joined the Brigittine order herself. After Queen Elizabeth restored the New Religion to England in 1558, Syon Abbey was refounded in Mechlin. The nuns emigrated to Belgium, but Elizabeth Yate and seven others, including Catherine Kingsmill, Juliana Harman, Joan Lowe, and Elizabeth Sanders, eventually returned to Lyford Grange. On July 17, 1581, the Jesuit priest Edmund Campion was arrested at Lyford Grange, along with several other men. Some accounts say two nuns, Catherine Kingsmill and Juliana Harman, had been arrested and taken away the previous day. Other accounts indicate that none of the women were charged.

FRANCES YATE

see FRANCES WHITE

JANE YATE
see JANE TICHBORNE

GRISEL YELVERTON (c.1567-August 4, 1635)
Grisel Yelverton was the daughter of William Yelverton of Rougham, Norfolk (d. August 19, 1586) and Jane Cocket. Her first husband was Thomas LeStrange of Hunstanton, who, according to Augustus Jessopp in One Generation of a Norfolk House, died at eighteen on February 1, 1582. According to a document dated 15 August 27 Elizabeth (1585), she received the manors of East Lexham and West Lexham, Durham, for life in arbitration per articles of agreement dated 19 March 25 Elizabeth (1583). In 1586, she married Philip Wodehouse or Woodhouse of Kimberley, Norfolk (1562-October 30, 1623). Their children were Sir Thomas (d.1658), Roger (d.1634), Philip, Elizabeth, John, a second John, Margaret, and Miles (d.1604). In about 1588, when Grisel was near death after childbirth, her husband, who "dearly loved his wife," was persuaded to allow her to receive extreme unction from a Catholic priest. Her immediate recovery led Philip Wodehouse, temporarily, to convert to Catholicism, but he later "fell back into heresy" and persuaded Grisel to conform also. In 1601, Charles Yelverton wrote that his aunt, Jane Lumner, was still a devout Catholic but that his father's other sister, wife of Sir Philip Wodehouse, "on account of the madness of her husband, which very frequently broke out against her, has lately fallen from the Church."

JANE YELVERTON (d.1615+)
Jane Yelverton was the daughter of William Yelverton of Rougham, Norfolk (d. August 19, 1586) and Jane Cocket. On July 5, 1569 a license was issued for her marriage to Edward Lumner of Mannington, Norfolk (April 10, 1555-1588). In her petition to the court of Chancery in 1597 she refers to herself as "being very well descended, and having also received a good portion in marriage." They had two daughters, Mary (b. February 2, 1579) and Elizabeth (b. December 21, 1582, apparently in Guernsey), but when Lumner died, in debt, he had already spent Jane's dowry. She was obliged to make her home with her widowed brother, Edward, serving as his housekeeper. At that time, she did not sympathize with what Augustus Jessopp in One Generation of a Norfolk House calls "his enthusiasm for the Roman doctrine and ritual." In his notes, however, Jessopp calls her "an obstinate Recusant" and states that her name is found in the lists of recusants for some twenty years, until 1615. During that time she changed her residence several times, sinking deeper and deeper into poverty, in large part because of the fines she was obliged to pay. In 1615, she was living with her two daughters at Haynford. One online genealogy gives her another husband named John Dodge but provides no further details.

ANNE YORKE
see ANNE SMYTH

ANNE ZOUCHE

see ANNE GAINSFORD

DOROTHY ZOUCHE (1538-1572)
Dorothy Zouche was the illegitimate daughter of Richard, 9th baron Zouche (c.1510-July 22, 1552). In 1560, she married Arthur, 14th baron Grey de Wilton (1536-October 14, 1593) and was the mother of Elizabeth Grey (b.1561). She entertained Queen Elizabeth at Whadden, her husband’s country house, in 1568.

ELIZABETH ZOUCHE (c.1480-1551+)
Elizabeth Zouche was the daughter of John Zouche of Codnor (c.1440-1513+) and Eleanor St. John. She was abbess of Shaftesbury in Dorset, the richest nunnery in England, from February 1528/9 until 1539. Shaftesbury was the last abbey to surrender, on March 23, 1539/40. Elizabeth did, however, come away with one of the largest pensions, a yearly stipend of Ł133 6s. 8d. The prioress received Ł20, the subprioress Ł7, and the sisters varying amounts between 56s. 8d. and Ł6 13s. 4d. Elizabeth had made a valiant effort to save her house, even going so far as to offer a bribe of 500 marks to the king and Ł100 to Thomas Cromwell. Legend has it that she hid the abbey’s treasures in a secret underground vault that has never been found. She was still living in 1551, when John Zouche (c.1515-1585) was granted a life annuity of 200 marks to take effect from the date of her death. He surrendered this grant in 1555 in return for a life annuity of Ł100, which may mean that Elizabeth was still alive then, too.

ELIZABETH ZOUCHE (February 1579-April 1617)
Elizabeth Zouche was the co-heiress of Edward, 11th baron Zouche of Harringworth (June 6, 1556-August 18, 1625) and Eleanor Zouche of Codnor (d. before 1611). On December 27, 1597, Elizabeth married Sir William Tate of De la Pré Abbey, Northamptonshire (1558-October 1617). They had two children, Elizabeth (b.c.1599) and Zouche (c.1606-1650). Portrait: possibly Elizabeth Zouche (definitely not Queen Elizabeth).

MARGARET ZOUCHE

see MARGARET BOURCHIER; MARGARET WILLOUGHBY

MARY ZOUCHE (c.1512-1542+)

Mary Zouche was the daughter of John Zouche, 8th baron Zouche of Harringworth (c.1486-August 10, 1550) and his first wife, Dorothy Capell. In about 1527, she wrote to her cousin, Sir John Arundell of Lanherne (Mary's grandmother was Margaret Arundell, Sir John's aunt), asking to be taken into royal service because her new stepmother (Susan Welby) was cruel to her. The letter was probably written before 1529. It is dated only "at Notwell, the 8th day of October." She was at court as a maid of honor, possibly first to Catherine of Aragon, but certainly to Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour. She is the "Mrs. Souche" who was given jewelled borders by Queen Jane and attended Jane's funeral in 1537. In 1537, she was granted an annuity of Ł10 for her services to the late queen that was to continue until she married. She was still receiving it in 1542. A number of accounts say Mary never wed, but some genealogies give her a husband named Richard Burbagge. Portrait: Although the "M" in "M. Souch" could be an abbreviation for "Mistress" rather than "Mary," or indicate that the likeness is of Margaret Cheney, second wife of Richard, 9th baron Zouche, it is far more likely that Mary Zouche is the subject of the Holbein sketch at Windsor.

SARAH ZOUCHE
see SARAH HARINGTON

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