Anne Russell, Countess of Warwick
Anne Dudley | |
---|---|
Countess of Warwick | |
Born | 1548/1549 |
Died | 9 February 1604 Northaw, Hertfordshire |
Buried | Chenies, Buckinghamshire |
Noble family | Russell |
Spouse(s) | Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick |
Father | Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford |
Mother | Margaret St. John |
Anne Dudley (née Russell), Countess of Warwick (1548/1549 – 9 February 1604) was an English noblewoman, and a lady-in-waiting and close friend of Elizabeth I. She was the third wife of Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick.
Family and marriage
Anne Russell was the eldest daughter of Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford and his first wife Margaret St. John. Possibly serving the future Elizabeth I from childhood, she became a maid of honour in 1559, shortly after the Queen's accession.[1]
When she was 16 her father and Elizabeth's
Like other courtiers, the Countess of Warwick gave valuable New Year's Day gifts to Elizabeth I, including a silver table and a perfuming pan, and in 1588 a pair of gold earrings and a gold flower like a star. She also gave the queen a spoon with a coral handle set with a diamond and a fork set with rubies. The fork, an item rarely noted in Elizabethan inventories, may have been used for fruit or ginger syrup desserts known as sucket.[4]
Ambrose Dudley suffered for decades from the effects of a leg injury sustained in military service in 1563. At the end of January 1590 his leg was amputated, as a consequence of which he died at Bedford House in the Strand, London on 21 February.[5] The diplomat Sir Edward Stafford had visited him and his wife two days before; he had found the Earl in great suffering "which lasted him unto his death",[5] and the Countess sitting "by the fire so full of tears that she could not speak".[1]
Widowhood
From her husband Anne Dudley inherited debts to the amount of some £7000.
Anne Countess of Warwick was the aunt and godmother of the
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Adams 2008b
- ^ Thomas Hearne, De rebus Britannicis collectanea, vol. 2 (London, 1774), pp. 666-9
- ^ Read 1936 p. 25
- ^ Arthur Collins, Jewels and Plate of Elizabeth I (London, 1955), pp. 430 no. 814, 433 no. 832, 584 no. 1558, 591-2 no. 1581.
- ^ a b Adams 2008a
- ^ Schoenbaum 1987 p. 246
References
- Adams, Simon (2008a): "Dudley, Ambrose, earl of Warwick (c.1530–1590)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biographyonline edn. Jan 2008 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010-04-06
- Adams, Simon (2008b): "Dudley, Anne, countess of Warwick (1548/9–1604)" Dictionary of National Biography online edn. Jan 2008 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010-06-11
- Read, Conyers (1936): "A Letter from Robert, Earl of Leicester, to a Lady" The Huntington Library Bulletin No. 9 April 1936
- ISBN 0-19-505161-0