Margaret, Countess of Cumberland from NPG

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 character ...

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 ...

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". Eli ...

. 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 ...

Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, KG ( – 28 July 1585) of Chenies in Buckinghamshire and of Bedford House in Exeter, Devon, was an English nobleman, soldier, and politician. He was a godfather to the Devon-born sailor Sir Francis Drake ...

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 j ...

the son of

Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland (1517 – January 1570) was a member of the Clifford family, seated at Skipton Castle from 1310 to 1676.Charles Mosley, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington ...

and Anne Dacre. Her sister, Anne Russell, Countess of Warwick, 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". Eli ...

, 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 Prince Henry (or Prince Harry) may refer to: People *Henry the Young King (1155–1183), son of Henry II of England, who was crowned king but predeceased his father *Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal (1394–1460) *Henry, Duke of Cornwall (Ja ...

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 Coombe Abbey is a hotel which has been developed from a historic grade I listed building and former country house. It is located at Combe Fields in the Borough of Rugby, roughly midway between Coventry and Brinklow in the countryside of Warwicks ...

. 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 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 Beamsley Hospital is an Almshouse building at Beamsley, near Skipton in North Yorkshire, and founded in 1593 by the Lady Margaret Russell, the Countess of Cumberland. She had originally intended for the construction of accommodation for 13 po ...

, 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 St Lawrence's Church is in Boroughgate, Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Appleby, the archdeaconry of Carlisle, and the diocese of Carlisle. The parish is one of ten parishes wh ...

along with that of her daughter, Lady Anne Clifford. Lady Anne Clifford built the

Countess Pillar The Countess Pillar is a 17th-century monument near Brougham, Cumbria, England, between Penrith and Appleby. It is two miles east of Penrith on the A66. The square top of the pillar is brightly painted and carries sundials on its sides. It was ...

to commemorate her.

Children

* Robert Clifford (21 September 1585 – 24 May 1591) * Francis Clifford (1584 – 8 December 1589) *

(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 Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and 1st Earl of Montgomery, (10 October 158423 January 1650) was an English courtier, nobleman, and politician active during the reigns of James I and Charles I. Philip and his older brother William we ...

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. 238
googlebooks
Retrieved 11 September 2008 *Walpole, Horace, and

Thomas Park Thomas Park (1759–1834) was an English antiquary and bibliographer, also known as a literary editor. Life He was the son of parents who lived at East Acton, Middlesex. When ten years old he was sent to a grammar school at Heighington, County ...

. ''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 Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

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