Eleanor Clifford, Countess of Cumberland (née Lady Eleanor Brandon; 1519 – 27 September 1547) was the third child and second daughter of

Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, (22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. Through his third wife, Mary Tudor, he was brother-in-law to King Henry VIII. Biography Charles Brandon was the second ...

and Princess Mary Tudor, the Dowager Queen consort of France. She was a younger sister of

Lady Frances Brandon Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk (née Lady Frances Brandon; 16 July 1517 – 20 November 1559), was an English noblewoman, the second child and eldest daughter of King Henry VIII's younger sister, Princess Mary, and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke ...

and an elder sister of

Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln Henry Brandon, Earl of Lincoln (c. before 18 June 1523 – 1 March 1534) was the youngest child and second son born to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor, Queen of France, who was a daughter of Henry VII, King of England. Thus ...

. She was also a younger paternal half-sister of Lady Anne Brandon and Lady Mary Brandon from her father's second marriage. After her mother's death in 1533, her father remarried to

Catherine Willoughby Katherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, ''suo jure'' 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby ( Willoughby; 22 March 1519 – 19 September 1580), was an English noblewoman living at the courts of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and Queen Elizabeth I. ...

and Eleanor became an elder half-sister of

Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (18 September 1535 – 14 July 1551), styled Lord Henry Brandon before 1545, was an English nobleman, the son of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, by his fourth wife, Catherine Willoughby. His father h ...

and

Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk (12 October 1537 – 14 July 1551), known as Lord Charles Brandon until shortly before his death, was the son of the 1st Duke of Suffolk and the ''suo jure'' 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. His father ha ...

. Her paternal grandparents were Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. Her maternal grandparents were

Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beauf ...

and his queen consort

Elizabeth of York Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503. Elizabeth married Henry after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which mark ...

. She was thus a niece of Henry VIII.

Countess of Cumberland

Lady Eleanor was a descendant of a member of the Tudor dynasty and therefore her marriage would advance the political ambitions of any given husband. In March 1533, a marriage contract was written up for Lady Eleanor and Henry Clifford, the eldest son and heir of

Henry Clifford, 1st Earl of Cumberland Henry Clifford, 1st Earl of Cumberland KG (1493 – 22 April 1542) was a member of the Clifford family which was seated at Skipton Castle, Yorkshire from 1310 to 1676. Origins He was born at Skipton Castle, a son of Henry Clifford, 10th Bar ...

by Lady Margaret Percy. However, since her mother died nine months later, she waited to go and live with her young husband and in-laws. In anticipation of Eleanor's arrival, the

Earl of Cumberland The title of Earl of Cumberland was created in the Peerage of England in 1525 for the 11th Baron de Clifford.''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press'', 2004. It became extinct in 1643. The dukedom of Cumberland was cr ...

built two towers and the great gallery within

Skipton Castle Skipton Castle is a Grade I Listed medieval castle in Skipton, North Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1090 by Robert de Romille, a Norman baron, and has been preserved for over 931 years. History The castle was originally a motte and ...

.John Burke. ''The portrait gallery of distinguished females'', E. Bull, 1833. pg 36
''Google eBook''
/ref> Eleanor married Clifford in June 1535; her uncle King Henry VIII was present. In January 1536, Eleanor was designated the chief mourner for the funeral service of Catherine of Aragon, first Queen consort of Henry VIII, at

Peterborough Cathedral Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Pau ...

. There is not much known about her later life and she left only one letter:

Issue

With Henry Clifford: *

Lady Margaret Clifford Margaret Stanley, Countess of Derby (née Lady Margaret Clifford; 1540 – 28 September 1596) was the only surviving daughter of Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland and Lady Eleanor Brandon. Her maternal grandparents were Charles Brandon, 1s ...

(1540 - 28 September 1596); she married

Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby KG (September 1531 – 25 September 1593) was a prominent English nobleman, diplomat, and politician. He was an ambassador and Privy Counsellor, and participated in the trials of Mary, Queen of Scots and the E ...

. *Henry Clifford; died an infant. *Charles Clifford; died an infant.

Portrait

There is a discrepancy as to who the sitter is in the Hans Eworth portrait which is featured. The coat of arms in the top left corner, which may have been added later, are the impaled arms (those of a husband and wife) of Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland, and his wife Lady Eleanor, daughter of

, and Mary Tudor, Dowager Queen of France. As a result, the painting has been frequently exhibited in the past as a portrait of Lady Eleanor, regardless of the fact that she died in 1547, well before the date of this portrait. It is, however, a rule of heraldry that impaled arms are not used by the children of a marriage, as they would have their own. Hence the later addition and erroneous use of the arms here suggests that the identity of the portrait was already unclear only two or three generations after it was painted, a situation by no means unusual amid the frequent early deaths, multiple marriages, and shifting alliances and fortunes of the most powerful families of the Tudor era. Later the portrait was thought to represent the only child of Eleanor and Henry to survive infancy, Margaret. Unfortunately the inscription on the right which might have provided a check (Margaret would have been aged 25–28 at the time of this portrait) has been truncated; although the Roman numerals of the year can apply only to 1565-8, the age of the sitter cannot be ascertained with any useful accuracy. The National Portrait Gallery has an online sketch of this portrait identified as Lady Eleanor, but the portrait remains in dispute. There is, however, a portrait of Lady Eleanor featured at

. It is reportedly a very poor work of art, but nonetheless interesting.Richard Davey. ''The sisters of Lady Jane Grey and their wicked grandfather'', E.P. Dutton and co., 1912. pg 294.

References

External links

''The sisters of Lady Jane Grey and their wicked grandfather; chapter: Lady Eleanor Brandon''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumberland, Eleanor Clifford, Countess of 1519 births 1547 deaths Daughters of English dukes English countesses 16th-century English women 16th-century English nobility

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

People from Westhorpe, Suffolk