Catherine Carey
Catherine Carey | |
---|---|
Lady Knollys | |
Born | c. 1524 England |
Died | 15 January 1569 (aged 46-47) Hampton Court Palace |
Buried | St Edmund's Chapel, Westminster Abbey |
Spouse(s) | Sir Francis Knollys |
Issue |
|
Father | William Carey |
Mother | Mary Boleyn |
Catherine Carey, after her marriage Catherine Knollys and later known as both Lady Knollys and Dame Catherine Knollys,
Biography
Catherine Carey was born in 1524, the daughter of
Catherine was said to be a witness to the execution of her aunt, Anne Boleyn, in 1536;[5] however, claims that she had stayed overnight to entertain and distract her aunt Anne in the Tower of London before the latter's execution have been dismissed.[5]
Catherine went on to become
Princess Elizabeth wrote to her cousin there, and Catherine was appointed Chief Lady of the Bedchamber after Elizabeth became queen. For the first ten years of the reign, Lady Catherine combined the most senior post among the ladies-in-waiting with motherhood to more than a dozen children.[3] Elizabeth never recognized Catherine as her half-sister, and it was certainly not a relationship that Catherine or Sir Francis ever openly claimed. At court, Catherine was acknowledged as the queen's favourite among her first cousins, and Elizabeth's lack of other female relatives to whom she felt close may be adequate to explain this favoured position.[3]
She died on 15 January 1569 at Hampton Court Palace, being outlived by her husband and children, and was buried the following April in St Edmund's Chapel in Westminster Abbey. There is a small commemorative plaque in the abbey, although her chief monument is at Rotherfield Greys in Oxfordshire.
Catherine's epitaph reads:
The Right Honourable Lady Catherine Knollys, chief Lady of the Queen's Majesty's Bedchamber, and Wife to Sir Francis Knollys, Knight, Treasurer of Her Highnesses Houshold, departed this Life the Fifteenth of January, 1568, at Hampton-Court, and was honourably buried in the Floor of this Chapel. This Lady Knollys, and the Lord Hunsdon her Brother, were the Children of William Caree, Esq; and of the Lady Mary his Wife, one of the Daughters and Heirs to Thomas Bulleyne, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde; which Lady Mary was Sister to Anne Queen of England, Wife to K. Henry the Eighth, Father and Mother to Elizabeth Queen of England.[7]
Issue
Sir Francis and Lady Knollys produced sixteen children:[3]
- Mary Knollys (c. 1541 – 1593). She married Edward Stalker.
- Sir Henry Knollys (c. 1542 – 1582). He was a member of parliament representing first Shoreham, Kent (1563) and then Oxfordshire. Esquire of the Body to Elizabeth I. He was married to Margaret Cave (1549–1600), daughter of Sir Ambrose Cave and Margaret Willington. Their daughter Lettice Knollys (1583–1655) married before 19 June 1602 William Paget, 4th Baron Paget.
- Sir Christopher Blount., Catherine's daughter
- William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury, (c. 1544 – 25 May 1632). He was married first to Dorothy Bray, who was 20 years his senior; and secondly to Elizabeth Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, and his second wife Catherine Knyvett.
- Edward Knollys (1546–1580). He was a member of Parliament.
- Sir Robert Knollys (1547–1626). Member of Parliament representing Reading, Berkshire (1572–1589), Brecknockshire (1589–1604), Abingdon, Oxfordshire (1604, 1624–1625) and finally Berkshire (1626). He married Catherine Vaughan, daughter of Sir Rowland Vaughan, of Porthamel.
- Richard Knollys (1548 – 21 August 1596). Member of Parliament representing first Wallingford (1584) and then Northampton (1588). Married Joan Heigham, daughter of John Heigham, of Gifford's Hall, Wickhambrook, Suffolk.
- .
- Maud Knollys (1548 – ?). Died young.
- Sir Thomas Knollys (died 1596). Known for service in the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648). Governor of Ostend in 1586. Married Odelia de Morana, daughter of John de Morada, Marquess of Bergen.
- Sir Francis Knollys "the Younger" (c. 1552 – 1648). Member of Parliament representing first Oxford (1572–1588) and then Berkshire (1597, 1625). Married Lettice Barrett, daughter of John Barrett, of Hanham. Father-in-law of John Hampden.
- Anne Knollys (19 July 1555 – 30 August 1608). Married Thomas West, 2nd Baron De La Warr. Mother to Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, after whom the state of Delawareis named.
- Catherine Knollys (21 October 1559 – 20 December 1620). Married first Gerald FitzGerald, Baron Offaly (son of Mabel Browne) and secondly Sir Phillip Butler, of Watton Woodhall. She was the mother of Lettice Digby, 1st Baroness Offaly.
- Cecily Knollys (c. 1560 - ?).No known descendants.
- Margaret Knollys. No known descendants.
- Dudley Knollys (9 May 1562 – June 1562)[9]
In literature
The possibility that Catherine, and perhaps her brother
Notes
- ^ Vivian, p.150
- ^ Doran, J. (1835). "The history and antiquities of ... Reading in Berkshire". John Doran - 1835. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
Queen Elizabeth, by her charter, gave 50 oaks out of the park, to the corporation of Reading, and granted the rest of the estate to Sir Francis and Dame Catherine Knollys.....
- ^ a b c d Varlow 2007, p. 322.
- ^ Weir 2012, p. 200.
- ^ a b Weir 2012, p. 286.
- ^ Varlow 2007, pp. 315–323.
- ^ Guillim 1726, p. 255.
- ISBN 9781387631230. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
Lady Elizabeth Knollys ... was born on 15 June 1549 in Rotherfield Peppard Court, Oxfordshire, England
- ^ Varlow 2007, p. 317.
References
- Guillim, John; Kent, Samuel (1726). The Banner Display'd: or, An Abridgment of Guillim: Being a Compleat System of Heraldry, in all its Parts ... Vol. I. By Samuel Kent. London: Printed for Thomas Cox.
- ISBN 9781405134637.
- Lee, Sidney (1892). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 31. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 275–279. . In
- ISBN 9781407117355.
- Varlow, Sally (August 2007). "Sir Francis Knollys's Latin Dictionary: New evidence for Katherine Carey". .
- ISBN 9780712640176.
- Weir, Alison (2011). The Six Wives of Henry VIII. New York: Random House. ISBN 9781446449097.
- Weir, Alison (2012). Mary Boleyn: 'The Great and Infamous Whore'. London: Vintage. ISBN 9780099546481.