Margaret Audley, Duchess of Norfolk

January 15, 2014 — ancestor, Duchess of Norfolk, Margaret Audley

Margaret Audley

My 14th great-grandmother was Duchess of Norfolk. Elizabeth I beheaded her husband, who was her 5th cousin.  She is buried in a church in Norwich.

Lady Margaret Howard 1540-1563/4
“The Virtuous Lady Margaret” was the daughter and sole heir of Thomas, Lord Audley of Walden and Elizabeth Grey. Lord Audley was a prominent Politician whose roles included Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII. Her first husband Lord Henry Dudley died before she was eighteen.
She subsequently married her cousin, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, who had been widowed in 1557. Thomas was extremely rich and powerful and has been described as the “Premier Peer” in England between 1558 – 1568. The marriage was initially delayed whilst Norfolk’s lawyer negotiated in Rome for a Papal dispensation that would allow him to marry his cousin. Following the death of Queen Mary in 1558 and the accession of the protestant Queen Elizabeth the marriage went ahead without Papal approval. Subsequently in Elizabeth’s first parliament in 1559 the marriage received statutory ratification. Margaret brought a rich inheritance to the alliance, including Audley End in Essex.
During her short marriage she bore five children: two sons and three daughters. She died on 10th January 1564 three weeks after giving birth to her second son Lord William Howard, born on 19th December 1563. The monument, however, states she died 7th February 1563 ! This could be because although Margaret was buried with great dignity on the North Side of the Chancel in St John Maddermarket , she had no memorial there until this tablet was erected in 1791 by her descendant Lord John Howard of Walden. Although the monument here is very plain her effigy lies beside that of the Duke’s first wife Mary Fitzalan, on a splendid tomb in St Michael’s church, Framlingham Suffolk. A space had been left between the two figures, presumably for the effigy of their husband. He was never placed here having brought disgrace to the family and being beheaded for treason by Elizabeth I because of his attempts to marry Mary Queen of Scots.
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The Monument
This rather humble tablet was erected by Lord John Howard of Walden in 1791 in a style typical of the time; it was restored by Lord Howard de Walden in 1903.
Under the shield is quoted the Howard family motto ” Sola Virtus Invicta” – which translates to “Bravery Alone is Invincible.” The reference to “The virtuous Lady Margaret” on the monument could, however, be reference to an alternative translation “Virtue Alone is invincible”

Margaret Audley (1545 – 1564)
is my 14th great grandmother
Margaret Howard (1561 – 1591)
daughter of Margaret Audley
Lady Ann Dorset (1552 – 1680)
daughter of Margaret Howard
Robert Lewis (1574 – 1645)
son of Lady Ann Dorset
Robert Lewis (1607 – 1644)
son of Robert Lewis
Ann Lewis (1633 – 1686)
daughter of Robert Lewis
Joshua Morse (1669 – 1753)
son of Ann Lewis
Joseph Morse (1692 – 1759)
son of Joshua Morse
Joseph Morse (1721 – 1776)
son of Joseph Morse
Joseph Morse III (1752 – 1835)
son of Joseph Morse
John Henry Morse (1775 – 1864)
son of Joseph Morse III
Abner Morse (1808 – 1838)
son of John Henry Morse
Daniel Rowland Morse (1838 – 1910)
son of Abner Morse
Jason A Morse (1862 – 1932)
son of Daniel Rowland Morse
Ernest Abner Morse (1890 – 1965)
son of Jason A Morse
Richard Arden Morse (1920 – 2004)
son of Ernest Abner Morse
Pamela Morse
I am the daughter of Richard Arden Morse

Source: Wikipedia
Margaret Howard (née Audley), Duchess of Norfolk (1540 – 1564) was the sole surviving child[1] of Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden and Lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset and Margaret Wotton. Lady Elizabeth Grey was the aunt of Lady Jane Grey, de facto Queen of England for nine days in 1553 and, therefore, Margaret and Queen Jane were first cousins.
Margaret was a wealthy heiress and married first, without issue, Lord Henry Dudley, son of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland. Henry Dudley was killed at the Battle of St. Quentin, 20 August 1557
In December 1558, she became the second wife of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, who was her fifth cousin, through their descent from Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Richard Woodville. Margaret’s line of descent came from the marriage of Elizabeth Woodville and John Grey, while Thomas Howard’s line of descent came through Elizabeth Woodville’s sister, Catherine, who had married Henry Stafford. They had four children, Elizabeth (who died as a child), Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, William, and Margaret. She died 9 January 1564, three weeks after the birth of her last child. She was buried at St. John the Baptist’s church at Norwich.