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Margaret Clifford (''née'' Russell), Countess of Cumberland (7 July 1560 – 24 May 1616) was an English
googlebooks
Retrieved 11 September 2008 *Walpole, Horace, and Thomas Park. ''A Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors of England, Scotland, and Ireland; With Lists of Their Works.'' London: Printed for J. Scott, 1806.
googlebooks
Retrieved 31 August 2008
The Correspondence of Margaret Clifford
i
EMLO
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumberland, Margaret Clifford, Countess of 1560 births 1616 deaths Cumberland Daughters of British earls British maids of honour 16th-century English women 16th-century English nobility 17th-century English women 17th-century English nobility 16th-century alchemists 17th-century alchemists Court of Elizabeth I Wives of knights
Margaret Clifford (''née'' Russell), Countess of Cumberland (7 July 1560 – 24 May 1616) was an English noblewoman
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteri ...
and maid of honor
Bridesmaids are members of the bride's party in a Western traditional wedding ceremony. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman and often a close friend or relative. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony. Tradit ...
to Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
. Lady Margaret was born in Exeter, England
Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
to Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford and Margaret St John.
On 24 June 1577 she married George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland
Sir George Clifford, 3rd Earl of Cumberland, 13th Baron de Clifford, 13th Lord of Skipton, (8 August 155830 October 1605), was an English peer, naval commander, and courtier of Queen Elizabeth I of England. He was notable at court for his jo ...
the son of Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland and Anne Dacre. Her sister, Anne Russell, Countess of Warwick
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 marri ...
, was married to Ambrose Dudley, brother of Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester
Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837.
Early creatio ...
, and Anne too was a great literary patron and a close friend to Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
, attending her on her death bed.
In 1603 she travelled from London with her daughter Lady Anne Clifford
Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery, '' suo jure'' 14th Baroness de Clifford (30 January 1590 – 22 March 1676) was an English peeress. In 1605 she inherited her father's ancient barony by writ and became '' suo jure ...
and the Countess of Warwick to join others greeting Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Eng ...
and Prince Henry at Dingley, the house of Thomas Griffin on 24 June. Afterwards they rode with Anne Vavasour (later Lady Warburton) through Coventry to see Princess Elizabeth at Coombe Abbey. At this time her husband was not maintaining her, and she wrote to Sir Robert Cecil
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612), was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury served as the ...
asking for his intervention so that she could buy suitable clothes to "furnish her self" to attend the new queen. The royal couple were entertained at Grafton Regis
Grafton Regis is a village and civil parish in the south of the English county of Northamptonshire. The population of the civil parish (including Alderton) at the 2001 census was 152. This increased to 253 at the 2011 census. The village is ea ...
by her husband. Although the Countess was present, according to her daughter, she was marginalised, "not held as mistress of the house".
She was a patron of the poet Emilia Lanier
Emilia Lanier (also Aemilia or Amelia Lanyer, 1569–1645), ''née'' Aemilia Bassano, was an English poet and the first woman in England to assert herself as a professional poet, through her volume ''Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum'' (''Hail, God, King ...
.
In 1593, Lady Margaret Russell founded Beamsley Hospital, an almshouse for local widows.
She was interested in physic and alchemy, and had an alchemical recipe book compiled for her.
She died at Brougham Castle
Brougham Castle (pronounced ) is a medieval building about south-east of Penrith, Cumbria, England. The castle was founded by Robert I de Vieuxpont in the early 13th century. The site, near the confluence of the rivers Eamont and Lowther, ha ...
, on 24 May 1616.Jessica L. Malay, ''Anne Clifford's Autobiographical Writing, 1590-1676'' (Manchester, 2018), pp. 35-7, 40-1.
The tomb of the Countess is at St Lawrence's Church, Appleby along with that of her daughter, Lady Anne Clifford. Lady Anne Clifford built the Countess Pillar to commemorate her.
Children
* Robert Clifford (21 September 1585 – 24 May 1591) * Francis Clifford (1584 – 8 December 1589) *Lady Anne Clifford
Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery, '' suo jure'' 14th Baroness de Clifford (30 January 1590 – 22 March 1676) was an English peeress. In 1605 she inherited her father's ancient barony by writ and became '' suo jure ...
(30 January 1590 – 22 March 1676), who married Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset
Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset (18 March 1589 – 28 March 1624) was the eldest surviving son of Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset, by his first wife, Margaret, a daughter of the Duke of Norfolk.
Born at Charterhouse, London, Sackville ...
, and secondly Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke
References
*Bell, J. ''Belle Assemblée: Or, Court and Fashionable Magazine; Containing Interesting and Original Literature, and Records of the Beau-monde.'' Ser. 3, vol. 8, J. Bell, 1828. (p. 238googlebooks
Retrieved 11 September 2008 *Walpole, Horace, and Thomas Park. ''A Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors of England, Scotland, and Ireland; With Lists of Their Works.'' London: Printed for J. Scott, 1806.
googlebooks
Retrieved 31 August 2008
External links
The Correspondence of Margaret Clifford
i
EMLO
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumberland, Margaret Clifford, Countess of 1560 births 1616 deaths Cumberland Daughters of British earls British maids of honour 16th-century English women 16th-century English nobility 17th-century English women 17th-century English nobility 16th-century alchemists 17th-century alchemists Court of Elizabeth I Wives of knights