Tag Archives: Anne Green

Family of Queen Katherine Parr: Sir Thomas Green, Lord of Greens Norton

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Sir Thomas Green V (c.1461 – 9 November 1506)[2] was Lord of Greens Norton and Boughton, Northamptonshire, England.[1] He was the son of Sir Thomas Green (IV), Lord of Greens Norton, and Maud Throckmorton. Sir Thomas was the grandson of Sir Thomas Greene (d. 18 January 1462) and Philippa de Ferrers, the daughter of Robert de Ferrers, 4th Baron Ferrers of Chartley (d.1413), and Margaret le Despenser, daughter of Edward le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer (see bottom of article for genealogy chart). He is best known for being the father of Lady Maud Parr and grandfather to queen consort Katherine Parr.

The Lords of Greens Norton came from Northamptonshire, England. The heirs to each generation were continually named either Thomas or Henry. One of the earliest ancestors recorded is Thomas de Green (b. 1292), son of Sir Thomas de Green, Lord of Boughton. He married to Lucy le Zouche, daughter of Eudo le Zouche. Thus Lord Green would be the fifth heir to be named Thomas. This branch of Lord Nortons were descendants of the Norwich branch of Greens. Thomas’ ancestor, Sir Henry de Green, Lord of Greens Norton and Lord Chief Justice of England, is credited to have bought the village of Greens Norton, a village in Northamptonshire for a price of 20 shillings. Sir Henry married Katherine Drayton (ancestress to the pioneer settler Anne Hutchinson, born Anne Marbury)[3]

Sir Thomas Green (IV) tomb at St. Bartholomew's in Greens Norton with wife Lady Matilda (Throckmorton).

Sir Thomas Green (IV) tomb at St. Bartholomew’s in Greens Norton with wife Lady Matilda (Throckmorton).

He received Boughton, Greens Norton, and large monetary grants through his inheritance upon the death of his father in 1462.

Sir Thomas’ traits were that of any man of the time. He was conservative in religion, quarrelsome, “conniving”, and was one to take the law into his own hands. Sir Thomas was sent to the Tower of London due to trumped up charges of treason and died there in 1506. The last of his line, Thomas left two fatherless daughters.[3]

On 6 and 17 November 1505, inquisitions post mortem were taken concerning his lands in which the jurors found that he was 43 years of age at that date, and that his father, Sir Thomas Greene the elder, had died 9 September 1462 seised in fee of certain manors, and that his mother, Maud Greene, had ‘entered and intruded into the premises and received all the issues thereof’ from the date of his father’s death until Michaelmas (29 September) 1482, ‘immediately after which feast the said Thomas Grene, the son, entered and intruded without ever suing or obtaining licence from Edward IV or the present king or livery out of the king’s hands, and has received the issues thereof ever since’.[7]

He was sent to the Tower of London about that time on a trumped up charge of treason, and died there on 9 November 1506.[7] The circumstances of the treason charge are set forth in Hardying’s Chronicle:[8]

Also shortly after the departing of [the earl] Philip, George Neville, Lord of Bergavenny, and Sir Thomas Grene, knight, were suspected to be guilty of the treason that Edmund Pole had wrought, and so cast in prison, but shortly after, when they had purged themselves of that suspicion and crime, they were delivered, albeit this knight, Sir Thomas Grene, died in prison. The other lord, for his soberness of living & true heart that he bare to his prince, was had in greater estimation than ever he was before.

In connection with the treason charge, Green was mentioned in a deposition by an unnamed person who had been urged to enter Edmund de la Pole’s service, but who had determined to consult with ‘astronomers’ as to what would be Pole’s ‘likely fortune’ before doing so.[9]

An inquisition post mortem taken on 13 March 1507 found that Green had died seised of the keepership of Whittlewood Forest and the manors of Norton Davy, Boughton, Little Brampton, Pysford, Great Houghton and Great Doddington, and 30 messuages, 600 acres of land, 300 acres of meadow, 1000 acres of pasture, £20 rent and 200 acres of wood in Norton Davy, Boughton, Little Brampton, Pysford, Great Houghton, Great Doddington, Sewell, Potcote, Higham Parva alias Cold Higham, and Middleton, and that his heirs were his two daughters, Anne Greene, aged 17 years and more, and Maud Green, aged 13 years and more.[7]

The White Tower, The Tower of London.

The White Tower, The Tower of London.

Family and issue

Joan Fogge, Lady Green’s tomb in Greens Norton with her husband.

Sir Thomas married Joan “Jane” Fogge (born c. 1466), the daughter of Sir John of Ashford Fogge.[4]

Sir Thomas Green and Joan Fogge had two children, both daughters:

The arms of Parr and Green from the Pedigree window of Katherine Parr in the great hall of Hampton Court Palace, London.

The arms of Parr and Green from the Pedigree window of Katherine Parr in the great hall of Hampton Court Palace, London.

  • Maud Green, Lady Parr (6 April 1492 – 1 December 1531)[5], married Sir Thomas Parr, son of William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Kendal and Hon. Elizabeth FitzHugh.
  • Anne Green, Lady Vaux of Harrowden (c.1489-before 14 May 1523), who would go on to marry the second husband of the before mentioned, Hon. Elizabeth FitzHugh, Nicholas Vaux, 1st Baron Vaux of Harrowden. Their eldest son, Thomas, would succeed as the 2nd Baron. By her daughter Maud, she was an ancestress to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, mother of Queen Elizabeth II.

This line of Green’s was buried at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Greens Norton, Northamptonshire, England. The family lived at Greens Norton from the fourteenth century up until the death of Sir Thomas in 1506. His estates passed through his daughters marriages in to the Parr and Vaux families. This line of Greens is not for obvious reasons the Greens who immigrated into the United States.

Ancestry

Sir_Thomas_Green_ancestry

Lord Green descended directly from many noble and royal lines. Interestingly enough, Parr’s maternal line was very involved in the royal courts. Most people, who know nothing of Parr’s ancestry, dismiss Maud [Green] Parr as having no connections and of being of no stature. Her mother’s link the Fogge family no doubt helped her establish herself at court. And of course, Maud would become a lady to Queen Katherine of Aragon; serving her until her own death in 1531.

Too name a few of the ancestors of Lord Green..

  • Edward I and Eleanor of Castile three times by his daughters Princess Joan of Acre [by her daughters Lady Margaret, Countess of Gloucester and Lady Eleanor, Lady Despenser, wife of Hugh “the Younger”] and Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan [by her daughter Lady Eleanor or Alianore, Countess of Ormonde].
  • John I of England [three times via Joan of Wales]
  • Henry II of England [twice illegitimately and legit by Eleanor of England]
  • Henry I [ten times by Robert of Caen, 1st Earl of Gloucester, twice by Maud of Normandy, Duchess of Brittany and once by Henry of Narberth]
  • Blanche de Brienne, granddaughter of Berenguela of Leon, Empress of Constantinople, herself the daughter of Alfonso IX, King of Leon and Berengaria of Castile [daughter of Eleanor of England, Queen consort of Castile].
  • Alfred ‘the great’, King of Wessex.[3] 
  • David I of Scotland via Dervorguilla, Lady of Galloway, granddaughter of David of Scotland, 9th Earl of Huntingdon, Lady Margaret of Huntingdon, Duchess of Brittany [three times], and Lady Marjory of Huntingdon, Countess of Angus.
  • Llewelyn, Prince of Wales via his daughters.
  • Louis VI [twice by Isabella of Angouleme, Queen of the English by her second husband Hugh X of Lusignan].

Written by (c) Meg McGath

  1. ^ Browning, Charles Henry. Americans of royal descent: A collection of genealogies of American families whose lineage is traced to the legimate issue of kings. Porter & Costes, 1891. Pg 259.
  2. ^ The Lineage and Ancestry of H.R.H. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, by Gerald Paget, Vol. I, p. 95.
  3. ^ Fraser, Antonia. The Wives of Henry VIII. Vintage Publishing, 30 November 1993. Chapter: Catherine Parr.
  4. ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Rosemary Horrox, ‘Fogge, Sir John (b. in or before 1417, d. 1490)’, first published 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, 692 words.
  5. No longer using Alison Weir as a source.
  6. ^ ‘Medbourne’, A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 5: Gartree Hundred (1964), pp. 229–248. URL: [1] Date accessed: 17 January 2011.
  7. Evans, D.L., ed. (1955). Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem. III. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
  8. Ellis, Henry, ed. (1812). The Chronicle of John Hardyng. London: London: F.C. and J. Rivington.
  9. Gairdner, James, ed. (1861). Letters and Papers Illustrative of the Reigns of Richard III and Henry VII.

Family of Queen Katherine: Sir Thomas Vaux, 2nd Baron Vaux of Harrowden

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2nd Baron Vaux, sketch by Holbein.

2nd Baron Vaux, sketch by Holbein.

Sir Thomas Vaux, 2nd Baron Vaux of Harrowden K.B. (25 April 1509[1] – October 1556), an English poet, was the eldest son of Sir Nicholas Vaux, 1st Baron Vaux and his second wife, Lady Anne [Green] (born circa 1489), daughter of Sir Thomas Green, Lord of Greens Norton, and Joan Fogge [cousin to Edward IV’s consort Elizabeth], daughter of Sir John of Ashford.[2][3] Vaux was educated at Cambridge University.[4]  Vaux’s mother was the maternal aunt of queen consort Katherine Parr, while his wife, Elizabeth Cheney, was a paternal first cousin through her mother, Anne Parr.

Life

Lord Vaux by Holbein

Lord Vaux by Holbein

In 1527, Vaux accompanied Cardinal Wolsey on his embassy to France.

Vaux privately disapproved of Henry VIII’s divorce from his first queen consort, Katherine of Aragon.[5]

It is interesting to note the family circle that he was in. The Parrs and their extended family stuck by the queen and all had an opinion of Henry’s “Great Matter.” Vaux’s aunt, Lady Maud Parr, was a lady-in-waiting and good friend to Queen Katherine of Aragon. Lady Parr was given her own quarters at court to attend the queen and when she gave birth to a baby girl in 1512, it is thought that she named her after the queen who may have been her godmother. Lady Parr stayed with the queen until her household was divided; Parr died in 1531. Lord Vaux’s sister, Katherine, would marry the staunch Catholic Sir George Throckmorton; the outspoken courtier who dared to speak out against the king.

In 1531, Lord Vaux took his seat in the House of Lords. In 1532, he attended Henry VIII to Calais and Boulogne and was made Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Anne Boleyn on 1 June 1533. He was Lieutenant Governor of Jersey in 1536. Schism from Rome caused him to sell his offices; his position as Governor was sold to Sir Edward Seymour [later Lord Protector and Duke of Somerset]. He did not attend Parliament between 1534 and 1554.[5] Instead, Vaux retired to his country seat until the accession of Mary I, when he returned to London for her coronation.[5] Vaux was a friend of other court poets such as Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey.[5]

Family and issue

Elizabeth_Cheney_Lady_Vaux

Lady Elizabeth Vaux [born Cheney] was cousin to Queen Katherine by her mother, Lady Anne [Parr].

Vaux’s father, Nicholas, had been previously married to Hon. Elizabeth FitzHugh, daughter of Henry FitzHugh, 5th Lord FitzHugh of Ravensworth Castle and Lady Alice Neville, as her second husband.[3] By Elizabeth’s first marriage to Lord William Parr, she was the mother of Anne Parr, the mother of Thomas’ wife, Elizabeth Cheney, as well as Sir Thomas Parr, father to Queen Katherine.[3]

From the marriage of Nicholas Vaux and the dowager Lady Parr, the 2nd Lord Vaux had three older paternal half-sisters; Katherine, Lady Throckmorton; Alice, Lady Sapcote; and Anne, Lady Strange.[3] After the death of Elizabeth in about 1507, the 1st Lord Vaux married secondly, in about 1508, to Anne Green, the older sister of Maud Green, Lady Parr who had married Sir Thomas Parr; thus making the 2nd Lord Vaux a first cousin to queen Katherine. At the time of the marriage, Lord Vaux was aged c.47, she was aged c.18.

Sir Thomas had been contracted to marry Elizabeth Cheney, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Cheney of Irtlingburgh and Anne Parr (aunt to Queen Katherine), since 6 May 1511 [he was aged 2].[3] Thomas married Elizabeth between 25 April 1523 and 10 November 1523.[3] They had three children.

  • Hon. William Vaux, 3rd Baron Vaux of Harrowden (born 1535), married firstly before 1557 to Elizabeth Beaumont, a distant cousin, by whom he had issue. In 1563, Vaux married to his second cousin, once removed, Mary Tresham, great-granddaughter of Sir William Parr, Baron Parr of Horton (uncle to Queen Katherine Parr) and had issue.
William, Lord Vaux of Harrowden (1535-1595), oil on panel 31 x 24½in. (78.8 x 62.2cm.). Inscribed

William, Lord Vaux of Harrowden (1535-1595), oil on panel 31 x 24½in. (78.8 x 62.2cm.). Inscribed “Willm. Lo. Vaux AE. ?de 40. ?ans 1575” 1575; Circle of Cornelius Ketel

  • Hon. Nicholas Vaux
  • Hon. Anne Vaux, married Reginald Bray of Stene, nephew of Edmund Braye, 1st Baron Braye; had issue.

Thomas Vaux died in October 1556.

Descendants

Among the many descendants of Thomas, Lord Vaux and his wife Elizabeth, Lady Vaux are:

  • Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales and thus HRH Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and HRH Prince Henry of Wales.
  • Sarah, Duchess of York [by both parents], who was married to Prince Andrew, Duke of York and is mother to TRH Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
  • HRH Princess Alice [Montagu-Douglas-Scott], Duchess of Gloucester, who married HRH Prince Henry, 1st Duke of Gloucester [son of King George V and Queen Mary]. They were parents to HRH Prince Richard, 2nd Duke of Gloucester (b.1944).
  • Henry George Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood, husband to HRH Princess Mary, Princess Royal [only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary]. They had two sons including the 7th Earl of Harewood.

Art

Sketches of Vaux and his wife by Holbein are at Windsor, and a finished portrait of Lady Vaux is at Hampton Court. Another hangs in Prague. More info: The OTHER Elizabeth Cheney

Elizabeth, Lady Vaux of Harrowden, wife to the 2nd Baron Vaux.

Elizabeth, Lady Vaux of Harrowden, wife to the 2nd Baron Vaux.

Elizabeth, Lady Vaux

Works

Two of his poems were included in the Songes and Sonettes of Surrey (Tottel’s Miscellany, published in 1557 (see 1557 in poetry). They are “The assault of Cupid upon the fort where the lover’s hart lay wounded, and how he was taken,” and the “Dittye … representinge the Image of Deathe,” which the grave-digger in Shakespeare’s Hamlet misquotes.[4]
Thirteen pieces in the Paradise of Dainty Devices, published in 1576 (see 1576 in poetry), are signed by him.[4] These are reprinted in Alexander Grosart’s Miscellanies of the Fuller Worthies Library (vol. iv, 1872).

Lord Vaux wrote during Queen Mary’s reign. The following lines by Vaux were first printed in The Paradise of Devices (1576).

OF A CONTENTED MIND
When all is done and said, in the end thus shall you find,
He most of all doth bathe in bliss that hath a quiet mind:
And, clear from worldly cares, to deem can be content
The sweetest time in all his life in thinking to be spent.
The body subject is to fickle Fortune’s power,
And to a million of mishaps is casual every hour:
And Death in time doth change it to a clod of clay:
Whenas the mind, which is divine, runs never to decay.
Companion none is like unto the mind alone; [or none]
For many have been harmed by speech, through thinking, few,
Fear oftentimes restraincth words, but makes not thought cease; [peace]
And he speaks best, that hath the skill when for to hold his
Our wealth leaves us at death; our kinsmen at the grave;
But virtues of the mind unto the heavens with us we have.
Wherefore, for virtue’s sake, I can bo well content,
The sweetest time of all my life to deem in thinking spent.

The introduction of a rhyme at the cesura or pause of the longer line in this measure breaks of its couplets into a four lined stanza. We have example of this by the same poet in what a MS copy describes as, “a dytte or sonet made by Lord Vaux in the time of the noble quene Marye representing the image of Death.” The first, third, and eighth stanzas of this poem, with a line from the last but one transferred to the third, were chosen by Shakespeare for the grave-digger’s song in fifth act of Hamlet; the clown giving, of course, his rudely remembered version of them [see Hamlet, act five].

So Shakespeare’s clown quoted it. This is the poem itself as written in Queen Mary’s reign by Lord Vaux:
THE IMAGE OF DEATH
I loathe that I did love,
In youth that I thought sweet,
As time requires for my behove
Methinks they are not meet.
My lusts they do me leave,
My fancies all arc fled,
And tract of time begins to weave
Grey hairs upon my head.
For Age with stealing steps
Hath clawed me with his crutch,
And lusty Life away she leaps
As there had been none such.
My Muse doth not delight
Me as she did before;
My hand and pen arc not in plight,
As they have been of yore.
For Reason me denies
This youthly idle rhyme;
And day by day to me she cries,
“Leave off these toys in time.”
The wrinkles in my brow,
The furrows in my face,
Say, limping Age will lodge him now.
Where Youth must give him place.
The harbinger of Death,
To mo I see him ride :
The cough, the cold, the gasping breath
Doth bid mo to provide.
A pickaxe and a spade,
And eke a shrouding sheet,
A house of clay for to be made
For such a guest most meet.
Methinks I hear the clerk,
That knolls the careful knell,
And bids mo leave my woeful work,
Ero Nature me compel.
My keepers knit the knot
That Youth did laugh to scorn,
Of me that clean shall be forgot,
As I had not been born.
Thus must I Youth give up,
Whose badge I long did wear;
To them I yield the wanton cup
That better may it bear.
Lo, here the bared skull,
By whose bald sign I know,
That stooping Age away shall pull
Which youthful years did sow.
For Beauty with her band
These crooked cares hath wrought,
And shipped me into the land
From whence I first was brought.
And ye that bide behind,
Have ye none other trust :
As ye of clay were cast by kind,
So shall ye waste to dust.
From: Cassell’s library of English Literature, selected, ed. and arranged by H. Morley
By Cassell, ltd.

References

  1. George Edward Cokayne. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, Vol. XII/2, p. 219-221.
  2. Unknown author, David Faris. Plantagenet Ancestry of 17th Century Colonists, p. 39.
  3. Douglas Richardson, Plantagenet Ancestry, pg 326, 561-562, 566.
  4. Dominic Head. The Cambridge Guide To Literature In English, Cambridge University Press, Jan 26, 2006. pg 1151.
  5. John Saward, John Morrill, Michael Tomko. Firmly I Believe and Truly: The Spiritual Tradition of Catholic England, Oxford University Press, Nov 15, 2011. pg 92.
Researched and written by Meg McGath

© 26 March 2012