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The Queen’s Mother: Lady Maud Parr

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Maria de Salines (Bea Segura), Lady Maud Parr (Natalie Grady), and Katherine of Aragon (Paola Bontempi) in Secrets of the Six Wives (2016)

By Meg Mcgath, 22 March 2023 *be kind and if you find info here…leave breadcrumbs. Thanks!*

Lady Maud Parr, (6 April 1492 – 1 December 1531) was the wife of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal, Knt. She was the daughter and substantial coheiress of Sir Thomas Green of Greens Norton, Northamptonshire. The Greens had inhabited Greens Norton since the fourteenth century. Green was the last male heir, having had two daughters. Her mother is named as Joan or Jane Fogge. However, I haven’t been able to prove her parentage. According to Linda Porter, Katherine Parr is a great-granddaughter of Sir John Fogge. When asked for a source, Porter said it came from Dr Susan James. In her biography on Katherine, Susan James states, “he [Green] had made an advantageous with the granddaughter of Sir John Fogge, treasurer of the Royal household under Edward IV”. Fogge was married to Alice Haute (or Hawte), a lady and cousin to Edward’s queen, Elizabeth. By her father, Maud descended from King Edward I of England multiple times. Her sister, Anne, would marry Sir Nicholas Vaux (later Baron). Vaux married firstly to Maud’s would be mother-in-law, the widowed Lady Elizabeth Parr, by whom he had three daughters including Lady Katherine Throckmorton, wife to Sir George of Coughton. Her father spent his last days in the Tower and died in 1506 trumped up on charges of treason.

Coat of arms of Queen Katherine’s parents; Sir Thomas Parr and Maud Green from The Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace which features the royal pedigrees of the six wives from Edward I of England.

Ten months after the death of her father, the fifteen year old Maud became a ward of Thomas Parr of Kendal (c.1471/1478 (see notes)-1517) a man nearly twice her age. Around 1508, Maud married to Thomas, son of Sir William Parr of Kendal (1434-1483) and Elizabeth FitzHugh (1455/65-1508), later Lady Vaux. At the time, he was thirty seven while she was about sixteen. He would become Sheriff of Northamptonshire, master of the wards and comptroller to King Henry VIII. He would become a Vice chamberlain of Katherine of Aragon’s household. When Princess Mary was christened, he was one of the four men to hold the canopy over her. He would become a coheir to the Barony of FitzHugh in 1512 and received half the lands of his cousin, George, 7th Baron (d.1512). Had he lived, he most likely would have received the actual title as a favored courtier. The barony is still in abeyance.

Maud became a lady to Queen Katherine of Aragon along with Lady Elizabeth Boleyn, mother of the future Queen Anne. It seems as though the Parrs and Boleyns were indeed in the same circle around the king—something rarely noted! Both Thomas Boleyn and Thomas Parr were knighted in 1509 at the coronation of King Henry VIII and Queen Katherine of Aragon.

Maud’s relationship with the Queen was a relationship that went much deeper than “giddy pleasure”. Both knew what it was like to lose a child in stillbirths and in infancy. It was Katherine Parr’s mother, Maud, who shared in the horrible miscarriages and deaths in which Queen Katherine would endure from 1511 to 1518. The two bonded over the issue and became close because of it. Lady Parr became pregnant shortly after her marriage to Sir Thomas Parr. Most people think that Katherine Parr, the future queen and last wife of Henry, was the first to be born to the Parrs; not so. In or about 1509, a boy was born to Maud and Thomas. The happiness of delivering an heir to the Parr family was short lived as the baby died shortly after — no name was ever recorded. It would be another four years before Maud is recorded as becoming pregnant again. In 1512, Maud finally gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She was christened Katherine, after the queen, and speculations are that Queen Katherine was her godmother. In about 1513, Maud would finally give birth to a healthy baby boy who was named William. Then again in 1515, Maud would give birth to another daughter named Anne, possibly after Maud’s sister.

In or about 1517, Maud became pregnant again. It was in autumn of that year that her husband, Sir Thomas, died at his home in Blackfriars of the sweating sickness. Maud was left a young widow at 25, with three small children to provide for. It is believed that the stress from his death caused the baby to be lost or die shortly after birth. No further record of the child is recorded. In a way Maud might have been relieved. He left a will, dated 7 November, for his wife and children leaving dowry’s and his inheritance to his only son, William, but as he died before any of his children were of age, Maud along with Cuthbert Tunstall, their uncle Sir William Parr, and Dr. Melton were made executors. He left £400 apiece as marriage portions for his two daughters. He provided for another son and if the baby was “any more daughters”, he stated “she [Maud] shall marry them at her own cost”. In his will, Parr mentions a signet ring given to him by the King which illustrates how close he was to him. He was buried in St. Anne’s Church, Blackfriars, beneath an elaborate tomb. His tomb read, “Pray for the soul of Sir Thomas Parr, knight of the king’s body, Henry the eigth, master of his wards…and…Sheriff…who deceased the 11th day of November in the 9th year of the reign of our sovereign Lord at London, in the Black Friars..” Maud chose not to remarry for fear of jeopardizing the huge inheritance she held in trust for her children. She carefully supervised the education of her children and studiously arranged their marriages.

In October 1519, Maud was given her own quarters at court. From 7 to 24 June 1520, Maud attended the queen at The Field of the Cloth of Gold, the meeting between King Henry VIII and King Francis I of France. Her sister, Anne, now Lady Vaux, and her husband, Nicholas, along with her other in laws, Lord Parr of Horton and his wife, were also present.

According to this article, which states no sources,

“In 1522, Maud was assessed for a “loan” to the King for the French Wars, of 1,000 marks, a very substantial sum, the same as the amount provided by Lord Clifford. She appears in the various household accounts of Henry VIII and Katharine of Aragon as entitled to breakfast at Crown expense and to suits of livery for her servants, as well as lodgings, which were very hard to come by.

In 1523, Maud started writing letters to find a suitable husband for her daughter, Katherine. Henry le Scrope (c.1511-25 March 1525), son and heir to Sir Henry le Scrope, 7th Baron Scrope of Bolton by his wife Mabel Dacre, was a cousin. The negotiations lead to nothing. By 1529, Maud found a match for her daughter in Sir Edward Borough, son of Sir Thomas.

When regulations for the Royal household were drawn up at Eltham, in 1526, Lady Parr, Lady Willoughby and Jane, Lady Guildford were assigned lodgings on “the queen’s side” of the palace. If an emergency arose, yeoman were sent with letters from the queen “warning the ladies to come to the court”. Maud was still listed, along with only five other ladies, which included the King’s sister, as having the privilege of having permanent suites in 1526. Maud was friendly with the King as well—her husband had been a favored courtier—and gifted him a coat of Kendal cloth in 1530. She was gifted miniatures of the King and Queen from the Queen herself.

In the summer of 1530, Maud visited her daughter, now Lady Katherine Borough, in Lincolnshire. She stayed at her own manor in Maltby, which was eighteen miles from Old Gainsborough Hall. It is thought that her presence there influenced Sir Thomas Borough to give his son, Edward, a property in Kirton-in-Lindsey. This gave Katherine an opportunity to manage a household of her own.

Maud continued her position at court as one of Katherine of Aragon’s principal ladies and stayed close to the Queen even when her relationship with the king started to decline. Henry’s infatuation with Anne Boleyn, one of the Queen’s ladies, became apparent and inevitably the ladies began to take sides. In these times, Queen Katherine never lost the loyalty and affection of women like Maud Parr, Gertrude Courtenay, and Elizabeth Boleyn, who had been with the Queen since the first years of her reign. At the time of her death, Maud was still attending Queen Katherine.

Maud died on 1 December 1531 at age thirty nine and is buried in St. Ann’s Church, Blackfriars Church, London, England beside her husband.

Drawing of the Parr tomb at St. Anne’s, Blackfriars, London which was destroyed. Dressed in heraldic robes, Thomas and Maud kneel with their children on the tomb. The presence of the Nevill arms with three labels [children of the 5th Earl, eldest son and heir, and Countess of Salisbury, sole heiress] is stressed several times. Also notice the addition of another son kneeling by Thomas. Maud had had a son before the birth of Catherine [b.1512]; he died before the birth of Catherine. © Susan James, biographer of Queen Catherine.

“My body to be buried in the church of the Blackfriars, London. Whereas I have indebted myself for the preferment of my son and heir, William Parr, as well to the king for the marriage of my said son. As to my lord of Essex for the marriage of my lady Bourchier, daughter and heir apparent to the said Earl. Anne, my daughter, Sir William Parr, Knt., my brother, Katherine Borough, my daughter, Thomas Pickering, Esq., my cousin and steward of my house.”

In her will, dated 20 May 1529, Maud designated that she wanted to be buried Blackfriars where her husband lies if she dies in London, or within twenty miles. Otherwise, she could be buried where her executors think most convenient. Maud left her daughter, Katherine, a jeweled cipher pendant in the shape of an ‘M’. Maud also left Katherine a cross of diamonds with a pendant pearl, a cache of loose pearls, and, ironically, a jeweled portrait of Henry VIII. To her daughter, Anne, she left 400 marks in plate and a third share of her jewels. The whole fortune, Lady Parr had directed, was to be securely chested up ‘in coffers locked with divers locks, whereof every one of them my executors and my … daughter Anne to have every of them a key’. ‘And there’, Lady Parr’s will continued, ‘it to remain till it ought to be delivered unto her’ on her marriage. She also provided 400 marks for the founding of schools and “the marrying of maidens and especial my poor kinswomen”. Cuthbert Tunstall, who was the principal executor of Maud’s will, she left to “my goode Lorde Cuthberd Tunstall, Bisshop of London…a ring with a ruby”. Tunstall had been an executor of her late husband’s will as well. An illegitimate son of Sir Thomas of Thurland Castle, he was a great-nephew of Alice Tunstall, paternal grandmother to Sir Thomas Parr. To her daughter-in-law, Anne, she left substantial amounts of jewelry, “to my lady Bourchier when she lieth with my son” as a bribe to get the marriage consummated. Maud also left a bracelet set with red jacinth to her son, William. She begs him “to wear it for my sake”. Maud was also stated in her will, “I have endetted myself in divers summes for the preferment of my sonne and heire William Parr as well”. For her cousin, Alice Cruse, and Thomas Parr’s niece, Elizabeth Woodhull or Odell, Maud left “at the lest oon hundrythe li”. She wills her “apparrell [to] be made in vestments and other ornaments of the churche” for distribution to three different parish churches which lay close to lands that she controlled. She bequeathed money to the Friars of Northampton. For centuries, historians have confused the first husband of her daughter, Katherine, with his elder grandfather, Edward, the 2nd Baron Borough or Burgh of Gainsborough (d.August 1528). He was declared insane and was never called to Parliament as the 2nd Baron Borough. Some sources mistakenly state she was just a child at the time of her wedding in 1526. Katherine’s actual husband, Sir Edward Borough (d.1533), was the eldest son and heir of the 2nd Baron’s eldest son and heir, Sir Thomas Borough, who would become the 1st Baron Borough under a new writ in December 1529. Katherine and Edward were married in 1529. At the time, Thomas Borough was still only a knight. Maud mentions in her will, Sir Thomas, father of the younger Edward, saying ‘I am indebted to Sir Thomas Borough, knight, for the marriage of my daughter‘. Edward was the eldest son and heir to his father, Sir Thomas, Baron Borough. He would die in 1533. Maud’s will was proved 14 December 1531.

Maud and Thomas had three children to survive infancy.

The children who survived…William, Katherine, and Anne.

Katherine or “Kateryn” (1512-1548), later Queen of England and Ireland, would marry four times. In 1529, Katherine married Sir Edward Borough. He died in 1533. In 1534, Katherine became “Lady Latimer” as the wife to a cousin of the family, Sir John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer (of Snape Castle). He was dead by March 1543. A few months later, on 12 July, Katherine married King Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace. The king died in January 1547. In May of that year, Katherine secretly wed Sir Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour (d.1549) of Sudeley Castle, a previous suitor from 1543. Their love letters still survive. By Seymour, Katherine had a daughter, Mary. Katherine died 5 September 1548. Seymour would be executed 20 March 1549 for countless treasonous acts against the crown (his nephew was King Edward VI).

William (1514-1571) married on 9 February 1527, at the chapel of the manor of Stanstead in Essex, to Anne Bourchier, suo jure 7th Baroness Bourchier (d. 26 January 1571), only child and heiress of Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex (d.1540). In 1542, she eloped from him, stating that “she would live as she lusted”. On 17 April 1543 their marriage was annulled by an Act of Parliament and any of her children “born during esposels between Lord and Lady Parr” (there were none) were declared bastards. On 31 March 1551, a private bill was passed in Parliament annulling Parr’s marriage to Anne. She predeceased Parr by a few months. William married Elisabeth Brooke (1526-1565), a daughter of George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham of Cobham Hall in Kent, by his wife Anne Bray. A commission ruled in favour of his divorce shortly after he married Elizabeth Brooke in 1547, but Somerset punished Parr for his marriage by removing him from the Privy Council and ordering him to leave Elizabeth. The divorce was finally granted in 1551, and his marriage to Elizabeth was made legal. On 31 Mar 1552, a bill passed in Parliament declaring the marriage of Anne Bourchier and Parr null and void. Their marriage was declared invalid in 1553 under Queen Mary and valid again in 1558 under Queen Elizabeth who adored William. Each change of monarch, and religion, changed Elizabeth’s status. She died in 1565. William married Helena Snakenborg in May 1571 in Elizabeth’s presence in the queen’s closet at Whitehall Palace with pomp and circumstance. Parr would die 28 October 1571.

Anne (1515-1552) who married Sir William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke in 1538. They had three children: Henry, Edward, and Anne. They are ancestors to the current Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, Earl of Carnarvon, Earl of Powis, Marquess of Abergavenny, and other nobility.

Notes

Porter, James, and Mueller state Thomas Parr was born in 1478. However, in James’s biography of Katherine, she states he was 37 at the time of his marriage to Maud Green in 1508. So that would be about 1471, right?

References

Susan James. “Catherine Parr: Henry VIII’s Last Love”, 2010. Google eBook (preview)

Susan James. Women’s Voices in Tudor Wills, 1485–1603: Authority, Influence and Material Culture, 2016. Google eBook (preview)

Meg McGath. “Childbearing: Queen Katherine of Aragon and Lady Maud Parr”, 2012.

Katherine Parr: Complete Works and Correspondence, ed. Janel Mueller, 2011. Google eBook (preview)

Sir Nicholas Nicolas. Testamenta Vetusta: being illustrations from wills, of manners, customs, … as well as of the descents and possessions of many distinguished families. From the Reign of Henry II. to the accession of Queen Elizabeth, Volume 2, 1826. Google eBook

Elizabeth Norton. “Catherine Parr
Wife, Widow, Mother, Survivor, the Story of the Last Queen of Henry VIII”, 2010. Google eBook (preview)

Linda Porter. Katherine the Queen: The Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr, the Last Wife of Henry VIII (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin Publishing, 2010)

Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, 2011. Google eBook (preview)

Gareth Russell. Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII, 2017. Pg 215. Google eBook (preview)

Agnes Strickland. Lives of the Queens of England, from the Norman Conquest With Anecdotes of Their Courts, Volumes 4-5, 1860. Pg 16. Google eBook

Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty, ed. Aidan Norrie, Carolyn Harris, Danna R. Messer, Elena Woodacre, J. L. Laynesmith, 2022. Google eBook (preview)

The Antiquary: A Magazine Devoted to the Study of the Past, volume 24, 1891. Google eBook

The Reliquary, Volume 21, 1881. Google eBook

Family of Queen Katherine: The White Princess

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It took me until the season finale to get to writing about the relations in the series. I won’t deny, I was thinking of not even watching. After The White Queen, I was repulsed. Ok, so there are NO other shows that feature this time period–with such depth. Surprisingly, I fell in love with this series. Why? Actors were better and the clothing of Queen Elizabeth was gorgeous! Big thank you to the costume designers and hair dressers! BRAVO!

So, why am I doing an article on Katherine Parr in relation to those historical figures featured in The White Princess? Because the Parr family was there at court. They were ALWAYS there. Why are they not featured? I honestly have no idea. It’s a pity that these shows don’t weave in connections to the future Queens of England. We know that the Boleyn, Seymour, and Howards were present. The Howards are the easiest to track. The Boleyn family starts to come around with the Howards eventually. And the Seymours? They are also around, somewhere.

The Parr family, however, were courtiers to the Crown since the 1300s.

In the reign of Henry Tudor, the Parrs’ were quite close to the crown on both the side of Henry AND Elizabeth. Sir William Parr had died shortly after the coronation of King Richard III and Queen Anne. His widow, Lady Elizabeth (born FitzHugh), had been a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne as Duchess and Queen. She was part of the coronation and witnessed her niece and cousin being crowned. After the death of her first husband, Lord Parr, Elizabeth would marry again to a very close ally of the Lancastrians/King Henry. His name was Sir Nicholas Vaux. He was the son of Lancastrian sympathizers. His mother was a lady to Queen Margaret of Anjou and was with her in exile. Lady Margaret Beaufort was close to Parr’s step-father, Sir Nicholas Vaux, who had been educated in her household. Parr is also believed to have spent some time in her household and may have been educated there as well. That wouldn’t be completely absurd seeing how close Margaret was to the Vaux family.

Katherine’s father, Sir Thomas Parr, was a close friend of King Henry VIII. Sir Thomas was present at court and was in the circle of Henry VIII which included Sir Thomas Boleyn. Both were knighted in 1509 at Henry’s coronation; Parr was also made a Knight of the Garter and appointed Sheriff of Northamptonshire on that occasion. Parr became Master of the Wards and Comptroller of the household of Henry VIII. Parr’s brother, William [later Baron Parr of Horton], was also a part of the King’s circle. They kept company with the Staffords and their cousins, the Nevilles. They were also friend’s with the Carews and Sir Thomas Boleyn, father of Queen Anne Boleyn. In 1515, Parr was entrusted with escorting Queen Margaret of Scotland [the king’s elder sister] from Newcastle back to London.

As for Elizabeth of York’s connection to Katherine Parr, we have it on both sides. One comes from her father’s royal blood and the other comes from a Woodville connection that connects her mother to one of Elizabeth Woodville’s relatives. Lady Parr’s grandmother, Lady Alice Fogge (Haute) was a lady to Queen Elizabeth Woodville. When Elizabeth became queen to Edward IV, she brought her favorite female relatives to court to serve her. Lady Fogge, was one of five ladies-in-waiting to her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, in the 1460s.

More Info On Queen Katherine’s Ancestry: Here

Family of Queen Katherine: Sir William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Kendal

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Impaled arms of Parr and FitzHugh, Hampton Court Palace Pedigree window of Katherine Parr.

Impaled arms of Parr and FitzHugh, Hampton Court Palace Pedigree window of Katherine Parr.

Sir William Parr, Baron Parr of Kendal (1434-bef. 26 February 1484[2, see notes]/Autumn 1483[1]) KG was a courtier and soldier best known for being the grandfather of Queen Katherine Parr, Lady Anne Herbert, and William, 1st Marquess of Northampton. His granddaughter would become the sixth and final queen of King Henry VIII and his grandson would become one the most powerful men during the reigns of Edward VI (as the king’s “beloved uncle”) and Elizabeth I.

Family

Parr was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Parr and Alice Tunstall, daughter of Sir Thomas Tunstall of Thurland. His paternal grandparents were Sir John Parr of Kendal Castle and the heiress Agnes Crophull of Weobley, widow of Sir Walter Devereux. Her family owned Weobley Castle in Herefordshire which passed to her children by Devereux. By his mother Agnes, Thomas Parr was a half-brother of Walter Devereux Esq. Parr’s grand-nieces and nephews included Sir Walter, 1st Baron Ferrers of Chartley and Lady Elizabeth (Devereux), Countess of Pembroke [wife to William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke] which would give the Parr’s connections to some of the most important nobility at court. Thomas Parr’s other brother, Bryan, became Lord of Parr Manor from which a branch of the Parr family, which still resides in England, descends.  His maternal grandparents were Sir Thomas Tunstall of Thurland Castle and Isabel Harrington, daughter of Sir Nicholas and Isabel English. Sir Thomas Tunstall would go on to marry Hon. Joan Mowbray, daughter of Lord Mowbray and Lady Segrave and thus become the step-father of her children by Sir Thomas Grey which included the 1st Earl of Tankerville.

Kendal Castle was acquired through the marriage of Sir William de Parr to the heiress and only child of Sir John de Ros of Kendal, Elizabeth de Ros in 1383.

Kendal Castle was acquired through the marriage of Sir William de Parr to the heiress and only child of Sir John de Ros of Kendal, Elizabeth de Ros in 1383. Lord Parr was the last to reside at Kendal.

Life

Lancaster_vs_York

The Parr family had been long established in Parr, Lancashire. Parr’s family resided in Kendal. By marriage they inherited Kendal Castle and 1/4 of the Barony of Kendal which would come to be known as the “Marquis Fee.” Parr’s father, Thomas, was part of the War of the Roses and fought on the Yorkist side. He was attained in 1459 with the other Yorkists’, but the attainder was reversed in 1461 as he died in 1464. All of Parr’s siblings married into prominent families. His brother, Sir John, also a Yorkist, was rewarded in 1462 by being made Sheriff of Westmorland for life. Sir John would marry a daughter of Sir John Yonge, Lord Mayor of London. Parr’s other brother, Sir Thomas, was killed at Barnet. His sister, Mabel, married to Sir Humphrey Dacre, Baron Dacre of the North. Another sister, Agnes, would marry to Sir Thomas Strickland of Sizergh Castle. And Margaret married Sir Thomas Radcliffe.

Lord Parr was high in favor and a close friend with King Edward IV and repaid it with great fidelity. In 1469, he was on the side of the Nevilles during the battle of Banbury. In 1470, before the battle of Lose-coat-Fields he was sent by Clarence (the King’s brother) and Warwick (his wife’s uncle) and was entrusted with his answer. In 1471, Parr was one of the commissioners appointed to adjust with James III of Scotland of some alleged violations of the truce, which including a marriage treaty. On the return of King Edward again to contest his right to the crown, with Margaret Anjou supported by Warwick, Parr met him at Northampton with a considerable force and thence inarched to Barnet field where he was decided in favour of his royal master. Also in 1471, Sir Henry Stafford and his wife, Lady Margaret Beaufort (mother of King Henry VII), conveyed to him two parts of the lordships of Grasmere, Loghrigge, Longdon, Casterton, Hamelsett, and Troutbeck with their members, the hamlets of Applethwaite, Undermilbeck, and all lands in them; the close or park of Calgarth, the herbage and pannage of the same, the fishery in and of the water in Windermere, etc. Westmorland.

For his loyalty and part at Barnet, Parr was rewarded with the office of Comptroller of the Household which he held from 1471 to 1475 and again in 1481 till Edward’s death in 1483.[1][2][3]  Lord Parr was created a knight barrenet and was one of only two courtiers to become a Knight of the Garter in the second reign of Edward IV.  He was MP for Westmoreland in the 6th and 12th Edward IV and served as sheriff of Cumberland in 1473. in 1475, he travelled with the King on his expedition to France. In 1483, he was constituted chief commissioner for exercising the office of constable of England and was made ambassador to treat with the embassy from Alexander, Duke of Albany (son of James II of Scotland and uncle to James IV). Upon the death of King Edward, he was part of the funeral.

Life under Richard III

Richard III with his queen Anne and son, Edward, Prince of Wales.

Richard III with his queen Anne and son, Edward, Prince of Wales.

Neville arms

Arms of the heirs of Sir Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, eldest son of Sir Ralph, 1st Earl of Westmorland by his second wife, Lady Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Swynford.

Sometime after 1475, Parr married secondly to Hon. Elizabeth FitzHugh, daughter of Lord FitzHugh and Lady Alice Neville (sister of Warwick and cousin to Edward IV and Richard III). Lord FitzHugh was the associate of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury (Elizabeth’s grandfather). Lord FitzHugh had been a long-standing supporter of the Neville family; he supported the Earl of Salisbury in his dispute with the Percy family in the 1450s. FitzHugh also served with the earl on the first protectorate council. Lord FitzHugh would go on to become a close ally of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick [“Warwick, the Kingmaker”] during the War of the Roses. In about 1452, FitzHugh would marry into the Neville family, marrying a sister of Warwick, Alice.

Due to the affiliation of Parr’s second wife to the Royal family, Parr was pressured by his mother-in-law, Lady FitzHugh, to follow the rule of her cousin, the Duke of Gloucester (later King Richard III), while he was serving as Lord Protector of the Realm.[1] Parr, however, was not persuaded that Richard’s determination for the throne was justified. The murder of William, Lord Hastings on 13 June 1483 was the tipping point.[1] Hastings had been a close friend and adviser of the late King Edward IV.[1] Parr was no doubt a friend as well as a relation (Hastings was Parr’s uncle by marriage; Hastings was married to Lady Katherine Neville, another sister of Warwick). Parr was loyal to the institution of the monarchy, but deserted the idea of usurpation, however justified it was in political terms.[1] When Richard became King, Lord Parr chose not attend the coronation.[1] Parr had even been given a position in the coronation as canopy bearer.[1] Lady Parr and her mother, however, were present.[1] Both were dressed in fine dresses made by cloth that the new King himself had given them. Elizabeth received seven yards of gold and silk; her mother received material for two gowns, one of blue velvet and crimson satin as well as one of crimson and velvet with white damask. It is not known which gown Elizabeth wore as she rode behind Queen Anne (Neville); but she was one of the seven noble ladies given this honour. After the coronation, Lady Parr was personally appointed by the new Queen and served as lady-in-waiting to her cousin, whom she was close to. Queen Anne was the younger daughter of Lady Parr’s uncle, Lord Warwick.

Tomb of William Parr, Kendal Parish Church.

Tomb of William Parr, Kendal Parish Church.

Lord Parr is thought to be buried in Kendal Parish Church in Kendal, Cumbria, England. The tomb is not majestic and is tucked away behind chairs. His coat of arms can be seen on his tomb. The Church also features the famous “Parr Chapel.”

Marriages and Issue

Before July 1468, Lord Parr was married firstly to Joan Trusbut (d.1475).[2] The marriage produced no known children, however, Joan left a son, John, from her previous marriage to Thomas Colt Esq. of Roydon (d.1467). After Joan’s death, her son’s wardship was granted to Lord Parr. (The Manors of Suffolk) Colt most likely grew up with the children of Parr’s second marriage. Colt would marry and have a daughter, Jane, the first wife of Sir Thomas More.

After Joan’s death in 1475, Lord Parr married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry FitzHugh, 5th Baron FitzHugh of Ravensworth and his wife Lady Alice Neville by whom he had three sons and two daughters. After Parr’s death, his widow would remarry to Sir Nicholas Vaux (later 1st Baron) and by him she had further issue. (Plantagenet Ancestry)

  1. Anne Parr, Lady Cheney (AFT 1475–4 November 1513), who married Sir Thomas Cheney of Irthlingborough. Their daughter Elizabeth, would go on to marry the son of Nicholas Vaux, 1st Baron Vaux of Harrowden (Elizabeth FitzHugh’s second husband) by his second marriage to Anne Green; maternal aunt to Katherine Parr. When Elizabeth Cheney married Lord Vaux, she was age 18 and he was age 14. While there were no blood relations,  Lord Vaux’s father had issue by his marriage to his first wife (see below); thus making Hon. Katherine, Hon. Alice, and Hon. Anne Vaux her maternal aunts. Through these relations, Elizabeth Cheney and her husband, the 2nd Lord Vaux, would have Throckmorton cousins in common.[2]

    Elizabeth_Cheney_Lady_Vaux

    Elizabeth Cheney (or Cheyne), Lady Vaux of Harrowden; daughter of Anne Parr and Sir Thomas Cheney. Sketch by Holbein.

  2. Sir Thomas Parr, Lord of Kendal (AFT 1475–11 November 1517), who was the eldest son, was knighted and was sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1509; he was master of the wards and comptroller to Henry VIII. He was rich, owing to his succeeding, in 1512, to half the estates of his cousin, Lord FitzHugh, and also to his marriage with Maud Green, daughter and coheiress of Sir Thomas Green of Boughton and Greens Norton in Northamptonshire. He died on 12 November 1518, and was buried in Blackfriars Church, London. His widow died on 1 September 1532, and was buried beside him. They were parents to Queen Katherine Parr, William Parr [1st Marquess of Northampton], and Anne Parr [Countess of Pembroke].[2]
  3. Sir William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Horton (BEF 1483–10 September 1547), the second son, was knighted on 25 December 1513, was sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1518 and 1522, and after his niece’s Katherine Parr’s promotion became her chamberlain. On 23 December 1543 he was created Baron Parr of Horton, Northamptonshire. He died on 10 September 1547, and was buried at Horton (for his tomb, see Bridges, Northamptonshire, i. 370). By Mary, daughter of Sir William Salisbury, he left four daughters.[2]
  4. John Parr, Esq. (BEF 1483–8 September 1508), married Constance, daughter of Sir Henry Vere of Addington, Surrey. They had no issue.[2]
  5. Alice, died young (b. before 1483).[2]

After her husband Sir William Parr died in 1483, Elizabeth, who was twenty three at the time, was left with four small children. A familiar situation which Queen Katherine’s own mother would find herself in when her husband died in 1517, leaving her with three small children. Instead of choosing not to re-marry, like Maud Parr, Lady Parr made a dubious second marriage with a protege of Lady Margaret Beaufort [mother of the new King], Sir Nicholas Vaux, the future 1st Baron Vaux of Harrowden, which saved the family fortunes.[3]

References

  1. Linda Porter. “Katherine, the queen,” Macmillan, 2010.
  2. Douglas Richardson. “Plantagenet Ancestry,” Genealogical Publishing Com, 2011. pg 662.
  3. James, Susan. Catherine Parr: Henry VIII’s Last Love. (2009), pg 15, 81.
  • Sir Leslie Stephen. “Dictionary of National Biography,” Vol 43, Smith, Elder, 1895. pg 366. Google eBook

Family of Queen Katherine: Fogge of Kent

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Sir John Fogge is know for being the great-grandfather of Queen Katherine Parr and other prominent Tudor courtiers.

Sir John Fogge (c.1417-1490) was Lord of the manor of Repton. His family was one of the first families in Kent, England. It was this John Fogge of Ashford who built and endowed the noble Church and the College at Ashford, Kent circa 1450, where he is also buried.

There is some uncertainty over the parents of Fogge. The most well-known source, “The Family Chronicle of Richard Fogge” shows John as the son of Sir William Fogge and an un-named daughter of William Wadham (his second wife).[17] “The Antiquary” states that he was the son of Sir William and his first wife, a daughter of Sir William Septvans.[15] However, Rosemary Horrox argues that he was the son of another John [and Jane Cotton]; Sir William’s younger brother.[12] Horrox also states he must have been born about 1417, since he was of legal age in 1438, and came to prominence when he inherited the senior line of the family by February 1447.[12]

John Fogge was for certain the grandson of Sir Thomas Fogge, who died in 1407. Fogge was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. He had been a soldier and courtier under King Richard II and his successor, the Lancastrian usurper, King Henry IV. Fogge’s standing in Kent was owed much to his early career as a Captain of war in France. His military service began in the retinue of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, the King’s lieutenant in Brittany from 1356. Like the Parrs’, he served John, Duke of Lancaster; the third surviving son of Edward III. He was of service to Lancaster in Spain in 1386.[13] It is uncertain for how long Fogge had been a retainer of Lancaster, but on 13 June 1372, the Duke formally retained him for life. Lancaster made mention of Fogge’s good service in the past and indicated by the size of the annuity granted (100 marks) that he ranked him high in his esteem. Under Lancaster, Fogge was Captain of Calais among other high postings.[19]

Thomas Fogge’s eldest son, John, came to the court of the Lancastrian King Henry IV. John served on a number of commissions and was appointed Sheriff of Kent in 1453.  John would continue to hold favor under the new King and gained the esteemed office of Comptroller of the Household in 1460 and keeper of the wardrobe to Henry VI in the last year of his first reign. John was knighted by the King in 1461.

In 1461 and 1463, under the Yorkist King, Edward IV, John Fogge was elected to Parliament as knight of the shire for Kent. Fogge became a Privy Councillor. From 1461-68, he was Comptroller and Treasurer of the Household [later known as Lord Chamberlain under the Tudor monarchs]. Fogge would continue that role for the Prince of Wales (later King Edward V). In 1461, Fogge was granted the office of keeper of the writs of the Court of Common Pleas.[2] He took part in the investigation of the possible treason of Sir Thomas Cooke. In 1467, he was MP for Canterbury and Sheriff of Kent, again, in 1472 and 1479. He represented Kent in parliament in 1478 and 1483.[1] It is thought that Fogge may have accompanied Edward into exile.[16] For Fogge’s continued loyalty to the Crown, he was awarded the Constableship of Rochester Castle, the keeping of Hothfield Manor, and the manors of Towton and Dane, which had formerly belonged to the Lancastrian loyalist, Sir Thomas Brown.[16]

From 1473, he was on the council and one of the tutors of Prince Edward (the future King Edward V).[16] He undertook administration of his property and was made Chamberlain jointly with Sir John Scott.[1] Fogge’s kinsman, Anthony, Earl of Rivers, was appointed the Prince’s Governor.[16] Fogge’s Haute kinsmen also rose in royal favor; Richard Haute had also become one of Prince Edward’s tutors and councilors and by 1483 Haute was controller of this household.[16]

In 1483, he supported Richard Guildford in Kent against Richard III, this rising being in support of Edward V, and becoming part of the unsuccessful Buckingham’s rebellion.[4] This was despite an apparent reconciliation with the king as soon as he came to the throne, after Fogge had taken sanctuary in June 1483 at the time of Richard’s coup in Westminster Abbey.[5][6] The rising was blocked at Gravesend by John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk; and the rebel force retreated.[7] The king acted mercifully once order had been restored;[8] but Fogge later did have lands in Kent confiscated and given to Sir Ralph Ashton.[9]Throughout the many conflicts which arose with the War of the Roses, Sir John was lucky enough to survive, especially when Richard III came to the throne. Sir John was a supporter of Henry Tudor and reportedly had a role in the Battle of Bosworth field. Because of this, Sir John’s lands that were attained during King Richard’s reign were restored as soon as King Henry VII came to power.

There is some confusion as to which wife he married first; they were both named Alice. It is thought that Alice Haute was Fogge’s first wife. His second wife was Alice de Criol or Kyriell, the daughter of the Yorkist Sir Thomas de Kyriell who was killed at the second battle of St. Albans. This marriage brought him Westenhanger Castle.[10]The “History of Ashford” states that Alice de Kyriell was Fogge’s first wife and that Alice Haute was his subsequent marriage. However, it then states that Alice was formerly married to a Woodville; which is not true. She was the daughter of a Woodville.

Fogge’s switch from the Red Rose of Lancaster to the White Rose of York was most likely due to his marriage into either the Woodville or Kyriel family; both families joined the Duke of York [later King Edward IV] in 1460. Fogge, Sir William Haute [father of Alice], and Sir Thomas Kyriel [father of Alice] were part of the first group to join the Yorkist earls when they arrived at Kent in 1460.[16]

Family

Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville by Sophie Carter.

Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville by Sophie Carter.

Fogge’s first wife was Alice Haute or Hawte (born circa 1444),[11] whom he had married c. 1465. She was the daughter of Sir William Haute of Hautsbourne, Kent (c.1390-1462) and Joan Woodville, sister of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers; and as so Alice was first cousin to Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort to Edward IV, and mother to Elizabeth of York.[12][13] When Elizabeth became queen, she brought her favorite female relatives to court.[21] As Lady Alice Fogge, Alice was one of the queen’s five ladies-in-waiting during the 1460s.[21]

According to Susan James and Linda Porter, Fogge and Alice (Haute) were great-grandparents to the last queen consort of King Henry VIII, Katherine Parr, through their daughter Joan, Lady Greene.[11] Their other children included Sir John Fogge of Repton Manor and Margaret, Lady Stafford (mother of Sir William Stafford, husband to Mary Boleyn).[14][18]

His son Sir Thomas Fogge, Sgt of Calais was the son of his second marriage to Alice Kyriell.[14][15] His daughters Anne and Elisabeth were probably from the second marriage as well.[12]Illegitimate Daughter of Richard III Theory

There is a very slight possibility that Richard III’s mistress (or one of them) and mother to his illegitimate daughter was the sister-in-law to Lady Fogge. Katherine was the wife of James Haute (son of William Haute and Joan Woodville). Little is known about her; however in 1477 Richard in a grant gave to Katherine Haute 100 shillings per annum for life (DL29/637/10360A). There is no apparent reason for Richard to give her an annuity, and her Christian name is of course that of Richard’s illegitimate daughter, an uncommon one in the Yorkist Neville families. All of this may of course be far from the truth, although it is suggestive.[23]

Burial

The tomb of Sir John Fogge and his two wives at Repton Church, Kent, England. An inscription round the margin of the slab, of which only a part remained in the days of Dering, completed the memorial. It seems to have recorded “that Sir John was a special friend of Edward IV., … and departed this world universally esteemed by the common people.”

Fogge died in 1490. The tomb in which he’s buried stands on the North side of the altar between the chancel and Fogge Chapel. The original ornaments have been stripped, but there were originally brass effigies of his two wives, Alice Kyriell and Alice Haute. The mantels of the wives were fastened with a rose. At their feet were crouched dogs with knotted leading strings. On the south side of the tomb had been enriched with Gothic arches where three shields were found; Kryiell, Haute, and Valoignes impaling Fogge. Fogge’s effify was attired in rich armor and decorated with the Yorkist collar of suns and roses with the white lion of Marche. His head reclined on his helmet, adorned with mantlings and crest. At his feat sat an Italian greyhound. On the north side the center ornament was an angel supporting an inscription panel with an endless circle formed of rose sapling sticks firmly bound together perhaps to show the stability of the family unity, the vitality of which is indicated four small sprouts of rose branches with leaves and blossoms. Four large bosses of the united Roses proclaimed a Yorkist’s acquiescence in the peaceable conclusion of the commotion.[22]

Coat of Arms

Fogge of Kent

Fogge of Kent

Their arms, Argent, on a fess, between three annulets, sable, three mullets, pierced of the first, which coat is carved in stone on the porch of Ashford church, on the roof of the cloysters at Canterbury, and in several windows of the cathedral there.[20]

Images

  • Drawings by Sir Edward Dering, 17th Century, published in Archaelogica Cantiana, Vol 2, 1859 [out of copyright].

Notes

    1. Charles Ross, Richard III (1981), p.106.
    2. J. R. Lander, Conflict and Stability in Fifteenth-century England (1971), p. 180.
    3. Arelene Okerlund, Elizabeth, England’s Slandered Queen (2006), p. 104.
    4. Paul Murray Kendall, Richard III (1972), p. 261.
    5. Ross, p. 112.
    6. Michael Bennett, The Battle of Bosworth (1987), p. 41 and p. 43.
    7. Kendall p. 271.
    8. Kendall p. 276.
    9. Ross, p. 119.
    10. http://www.fortifiedengland.com/Home/Categories/ViewItem/tabid/61/Default.aspx?IID=3415
    11. The Lineage and Ancestry of H.R.H. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, by Gerald Paget, Vol. I, p. 95.
    12. Rosemary Horrox. “Fogge, Sir John“, on the website of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
    13. Peter Fleming. “Haute family“, on the website of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
    14. ‘Parishes: Stanford’, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 8 (1799), pp. 63-78. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63459&strquery=fogge Date accessed: 05 December 2012.
    15. E.W. Allen. “The Antiquary,” Vol. 3-4, 1873.
    16. Sheila Sweetinburgh. “Later Medieval Kent, 1220-1540,” Boydell & Brewer, Nov 18, 2010. pg 258.
    17. Archaelogica Cantiana, Vol 5, 1863
    18. Douglas Richardson. “Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families,” 2nd Edition, 2011. pg 219-25.
    19. The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 1993.
    20. Edward Hasted. ‘The town and parish of Ashford’, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 7 (1798), pp. 526-545.
    21. Barbara J. Harris. “English Aristocratic Women, 1450-1550 : Marriage and Family, Property and Careers: Marriage and Family, Property and Careers,” Oxford University Press, Jul 26, 2002. pg 218.
    22. Rev. A. J. Pearman. “History of Ashford,” H. Igglesden, 1868.
    23. Peter Hammond. “His Illegitimate Children,” Dr Rosemary Horrox notes. Richard III Society: Richard III — His Family.