Lady Eleanor Beaufort (1431 – 16 August 1501) was the daughter of

Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, 4th Earl of Somerset, 1st Earl of Dorset, 1st Marquess of Dorset styled 1st Count of Mortain, KG (140622 May 1455), was an English nobleman and an important figure during the Hundred Years' War. His rival ...

(1406-1455), KG, and was a sister of the 3rd and 4th Dukes of Somerset.

Origins

She was the daughter of

, KG (1406–1455), by his wife, Lady

Eleanor Beauchamp Lady Eleanor Beauchamp, Baroness de Ros and Duchess of Somerset (September 1408 – 6 March 1467) was the second daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and Elizabeth de Berkeley, daughter of Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkele ...

. Eleanor Beauchamp was the daughter of

Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick (25 or 28 January 138230 April 1439) was an English medieval nobleman and military commander. Early life Beauchamp was born at Salwarpe Court Richard Gough, ''Description of the Beauchamp chapel, adjoi ...

, by his first wife, Elizabeth de Berkeley (herself daughter and heiress of

Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley (5 January 1352/53 – 13 July 1417), ''The Magnificent'', of Berkeley Castle and of Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire, was an English peer and an admiral. His epithet, and that of each previous and s ...

, by his wife,

Margaret de Lisle, 3rd Baroness Lisle Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular through ...

); she was also an elder half-sister of Henry de Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick, and

Anne Neville, 16th Countess of Warwick Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick (13 July 1426 – 20 September 1492) was an important late medieval English noblewoman. She was the daughter of Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, and his second wife Isabel le Despenser, a daught ...

Marriages and children

Eleanor Beaufort married twice. Her first marriage was in circa April 1458 to James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, 1st Earl of Wiltshire (d. 1461). Butler was Lieutenant of Ireland in 1453; when civil conflict broke out, the lieutenant fought on the Lancastrian side. He was present at the First Battle of St. Albans in 1455, Mortimer's Cross in 1461, and at the

Battle of Towton The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between a ...

. Butler also held the post of councilor to the Lancastrian

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...

. After Towton, he was a proscribed as a traitor and was captured in the same year at Cockermouth and executed there in 1461. Her second marriage was to Sir Robert Spencer of Spencer Combe in the parish of

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter and around from the M5 motorwa ...

, Devon, by whom she had two daughters and co-heiresses: *

Margaret Spencer Margaret (or Eleanor) Spencer (1472–1536) was the daughter of Sir Robert Spencer, of Spencer Combe in the parish of Crediton, Devon, by his wife Lady Eleanor Beaufort, the daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and Lady Eleanor Bea ...

(or Eleanor Spencer; 1472–1536); wife of Thomas Carey of Chilton Foliot, Wiltshire, second son of Sir William Carey (1437-1471) of

Cockington Cockington is a village near Torquay in the English county of Devon. It has old cottages within its boundaries, and is about a half a mile away from Torquay. Bus service 62 (Torquay circular) calls at the village five times per day (Mon-Fri) a ...

, Devon. She had two sons: ** Sir John Carey (1491–1552) of Plashey, eldest son, ancestor to the Carey Viscounts Falkland. ** William Carey, her second son, the first husband of

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key f ...

's sister

Mary Boleyn Mary Boleyn, also known as Lady Mary, (c. 1499 – 19 July 1543) was the sister of English queen consort Anne Boleyn, whose family enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII. Mary was one of the mistresses of Henry VI ...

and ancestor to the Carey Barons Hunsdon, Barons Carey of Leppington, Earls of Monmouth, Viscounts Rochford and Earls of Dover.Vivian, pp.150, 154-6, pedigree of Cary * Catherine Spencer (1477–1542); wife of Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland, and mother to Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland, an early love interest of

Ancestry

References

Sources

* ''The royal descent of Nelson and Wellington, from Edward the first'', George Russell French, 1853, p. 28 * ''The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII'',

Retha Marvine Warnicke Retha Marvine Warnicke (born 1939) is an American historian and Professor of History at Arizona State University. Career Warnicke graduated with a BA from Indiana University, magna cum laude, in 1961. She then moved on to Harvard University, wher ...

, 1984, p. 36 * ''The Baronetage of England: containing a genealogical and historical account of all the English'',

Edward Kimber Edward Kimber (1719–1769) was an English novelist, journalist and compiler of reference works. Life He was son of Isaac Kimber; and in early life apprentice to a bookseller, John Noon of Cheapside. He made a living by compilation and editorial w ...

, 1771, p. 221 {{DEFAULTSORT:Beaufort, Eleanor 1431 births 1501 deaths People from Crediton People from Wiltshire 15th-century English women 16th-century English women 15th-century English people Daughters of English dukes Wives of knights

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 intro ...