Hans Holbein the Younger - Frances, Countess of Surrey RL 12214

Frances Howard, Countess of Surrey ( de Vere; c. 1517 – 30 June 1577) was the daughter of

John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, Lord Great Chamberlain KG PC (c. 1482 – 21 March 1540). was an English peer and courtier. Career John de Vere, born about 1482, was the son of John de Vere and Alice Kilrington (alias Colbroke), and the g ...

, and Elizabeth Trussell. She married firstly,

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), Order of the Garter, KG, was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person executed at the instan ...

, son of

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, (1473 – 25 August 1554) was a prominent English politician and nobleman of the Tudor era. He was an uncle of two of the wives of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom were beheade ...

, and his wife

Elizabeth Stafford Elizabeth Stafford, also known as Dame Elizabeth Drury and – in the years prior to her death in 1599 – Dame (Lady) Elizabeth Scott, was a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I. She and her first husband, Sir William Drury, entertained ...

, by whom she had two sons and three daughters: *

Jane Howard, Countess of Westmorland Jane Neville (''née'' Howard), Countess of Westmorland (1533/37 – buried 30 June 1593), was an English noblewoman. Family Jane Howard, born between 1533 and 1537, was the daughter of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and Frances de Vere. ...

(1533/1537 – buried 30 June 1593), who married

Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland (18 August 154216 November 1601) was an English nobleman and one of the leaders of the Rising of the North in 1569. He was the son of Henry Neville, 5th Earl of Westmorland and Lady Anne Manners, second d ...

. *

Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, (Kenninghall, Norfolk, 10 March 1536Tower Hill, London, 2 June 1572) was an English nobleman and politician. Although from a family with strong Roman Catholic leanings, he was raised a Protestant. He was a ...

(10 March 1536 – 2 June 1572), married (1) Mary FitzAlan (2) Margaret Audley (3) Elizabeth Leyburne. *

Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, KG (25 February 154015 June 1614), was an important English aristocrat and courtier. He was suspect as a crypto-Catholic throughout his life, and went through periods of royal disfavour, in which his reputati ...

(25 February 1540 – 15 June 1614), who died unmarried. *Katherine Howard, Baroness Berkeley (d. 7 April 1596) who married

Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley, KB (26 November 1534 – 26 November 1613) was an English peer and politician. He was Lord Lieutenant and Vice-Admiral of Gloucestershire. He was the grandfather of George Berkeley, 8th Baron Berkeley. F ...

. *Margaret Howard, Baroness Scrope of Bolton (b.1547) who married

Henry Scrope, 9th Baron Scrope of Bolton Henry Scrope, 9th Baron Scrope of Bolton, KG (c. 1534 – 13 June 1592) was the son and heir of John Scrope, 8th Baron Scrope of Bolton and Catherine Clifford, daughter of Henry Clifford, 1st Earl of Cumberland. Life Henry Scrope, a loyal s ...

. Late in 1546, while Frances was expecting her fifth child (Margaret), her husband was accused of treason and he was subsequently executed in January 1547. She married secondly, to

Thomas Steyning Thomas Steyning (died c. 1582?), of Earl Soham, Suffolk, was an English politician. He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Castle Rising in 1559. Family He married Frances Howard, Countess of Surrey and had two children: a son He ...

, by whom she had two children, Henry and Mary. Mary Steyning married

Charles Seckford Charles Seckford (1551–1592), of Great Bealings, Suffolk, was an English politician. He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Aldeburgh in 1572. Charles married Mary, daughter of Thomas Steyning and Frances de Vere Frances How ...

. She died at

Earl Soham Earl Soham is a small settlement in Suffolk, England. It is on the A1120 road and is west of the town of Framlingham. Earl Soham once belonged to the Earls of Norfolk, the Bigod family (sometimes spelt "Bigot" in old texts), who also owned near ...

, Suffolk and was buried at Framlingham Church in Suffolk. In 1614, her first husband was later reburied next to her.

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