Henry VIII Mother’s in Law part 2

So in part 1 we looked at the first 3 Mother’s in Law of King Henry VIII, Queen Isabella of Castile & Leon, Lady Elizabeth Boleyn and Lady Margery Seymour. Now onto Mother’s in Law 4-6.

            Maria of Julich-Berg and her husband, John III, Duke of Cleves. Copyright Hisotryfan

Mother in Law 4 was Maria of Jülich-Berg, the mother of Anne of Cleves. She was born in 1491 in what is now Germany to William IV, Duke of Julich-Berg and his wife Sibylle of Brandenburg. Maria was her father’s heir and inherited his titles in 1511 when he died. Maria married John III, Duke of Cleves in 1509 and the couple had 3 children, William 1516-1592 who became Duke of Julich-Cleves-Berg, Amalia 1517-1586 and Anne 1515-1557 who married King Henry VIII of England. After her husband’s death in 1511 Maria did not re marry. She raised her children with Catholic ideals even though they became Protestants, hence King Henry wanting to marry one of her daughters. There is some suggestion that Maria was against the marriage of Anne to Henry. Some say it was due to what had happened to his previous wives and others say she didn’t want her daughter to leave. Maria died in 1543. In her life time her son became a Duke and her daughter became Queen Consort of England, briefly.

 

Henry’s next wife was the ill-fated Catherine Howard. Her mother was Jocasta or Joyce Culpeper. She was born around 1480 to Sir Richard Culpeper and Isabel Worsley. Joyce married twice. The first was to Ralph Leigh who was her step father’s brother. They had 5 children, Sir John Leigh, Ralph Leigh, Isabel Leigh, Joyce Leigh and Margaret Leigh. After her husband’s death Joyce went on to marry Lord Edmund Howard who was the 3^rd son of Thomas Howard, 2^nd Duke of Norfolk. Together they had 6 children, Henry Howard, Sir Charles Howard, Sir George Howard, Margaret Howard, Catherine Howard c1523-1542 and Mary Howard. Little more is known about Joyce as she is believed to have died in 1528 and no definitive portrait of her is known. If she had survived I wonder how the life of her daughter may have differed. It must be said that it is very likely King Henry knew his future mother in law or at least had met her as her husband Edmund Howard was a member of the court and one of the Kings attendants.

This may be Maud Green by Hans Holbein

Henry’s final wife Catherine Parr was the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr and his wife Maud Green. Maud was born in Northamptonshire in 1492 to Sir Thomas Green and his wife Jane Fogge. Maud was at the Royal court from around 1509 as she was a lady in waiting to Queen Consort Catherine of Aragon and was one of the Queens closest ladies entrusting the organisation of the education of the Royal children to her since Maud was intelligent and well educated for the time. Before she arrived at court she married Sir Thomas Parr who was the Sheriff of Northamptonshire. Together the couple had 3 children who survived. They were Catherine Parr 1512-1548 who became Queen Consort number 6 to King Henry VIII and was the god daughter of Queen Consort Catherine of Aragon and probably named after her, William Parr 1^st Marquess of Northamptonshire and 1^st Earl of Essex 1513-1571 and Anne Parr 1515-1552 who became Countess of Pembroke. Maud died before she would ever know that her daughter had become Queen Consort. She died in 1531 and was buried in St Ann’s, Blackfriars alongside her husband Thomas who had died in 1517.

What Henry’s relationship with his mother’s in law that he knew was like we may never know, but none of them got into trouble with him for anything so maybe he liked them. He would have definitely known Lady Elizabeth Boleyn nee Howard, Lady Margery Seymour nee Wentworth and Lady Maud Parr nee Green as they would have been at court during his time as King. Did he know Joyce Culpeper? Possibly through her husband. He wouldn’t have known Queen Isabella of Castile & Leon as she died before he married her daughter and Maria of Jülich-Berg is not known to have visited Anne of Cleves. Also what they thought of him is not known but whatever the relationship their daughters went on to become Queens of England for better or worse, mainly worse.

Sarah Tinker’s life

So on the name will mean nothing to you but to me it is the name of my great, great, great Grandma and 205 years ago this week she married my great, great, great Grandad. But first some background.

Sarah Tinker was born around 1796 in either Horstead or Worstead in Norfolk. Little is known about her until she married William Weeds on the 18^th May 1815 at St Michael’s at Plea in Norwich, Norfolk. She was listed as a single woman and William was a widower. His first wife Mary had died the previous October.

St Andrew’s Church, Thorpe St Andrew, Norfolk. ©Family History Research England 2020.

Sarah moved to the village of Thorpe St Andrew, Norfolk with William where they raised their family. William worked as a baker and carpenter and Sarah ran the home and raised their 7 children and possibly the 2 surviving children from William’s first marriage.

There children were as follows:

Frederick Weeds 1817-1856 who married Harriett Todd and had 3 children.

Amelia Weeds 1819-1894 who married James Copsey and had 3 children.

Emma Weeds 1821 to 1895 who married William Mace and had 8 children.

Edward Weeds 1823 to 1870 who married Mary Charlotte Voyce and had 7 children.

Louisa Morgan Weeds 1826 to 1902 who married Ebenezer Richard Glanville and had 4 children and then William Martin Hingle and had one daughter.

Julia Weeds who was born in 1828 and married William White.

Jesse Weeds 1831 to 1915 who married Samuel George Miles and had 2 children.

In 1841 Sarah and William were living on Turnpike Road in Thorpe St Andrew and William was a baker. 5 of their children were still living at home with them.

On the 19^th February 1848 William died. He was 61 years old and had been working as a carpenter. He died of inflammation of the lungs. This left Sarah a widow in her early 50’s. She never remarried.

In 1851 Sarah and her daughter Mary A (I think this was Jesse but I’m not sure) were still living in Thorpe St Andrew. They were shopkeepers living on Thorpe Row. By 1861 Sarah was living in Norwich with her daughter Julia. Sarah no longer worked but Julia was a shoe binder. The next we hear of Sarah is in 1881 when she was living with her daughter Jesse, her son in law Samuel and granddaughter Jesse in Coltishall in Norfolk. By now Sarah was 89 years old.

Sarah lived for another 10 years. She died on the 20^th August 1890 in Coltishall aged 99. Her cause of death was given as senile decay. When you consider the average life expectancy when Sarah was born was around 40 years old she didn’t do too bad. It would really have annoyed me not to get to 100!

So again from a family historian’s point of view consider how much her life changed and the world around her. What did she see during her lifetime. Yes she may possibly have stayed in Norfolk all her life but she did travel in the county. She started in Worstead/Horstead and moved to Norwich about 25 miles away. What prompted the move I don’t know? She then went to Thorpe St Andrew which was around 3 miles away from Norwich where she moved into the large family that was the Weeds family, her husband William was 1 of 10. Presumably she was away from her family. She may have helped raise her step children as I have no idea what happened to the 2 surviving children from William’s first marriage. She was a grandmother to 28 grandchildren and a great grandmother to 27 in her lifetime with more born after she died.

So why not have a look through your ancestors and find out who lived the longest of them all.

Henry VIII’s Mother’s in Law part 1

So as those who read my blog know I’m a big fan of the history of the monarch and especially the Tudors. As you know Henry VIII was a big fan of wedding cake, well he must have been since he married 6 times! We all know about his wives, but who were his mother’s in law?

Queen Isabella of Castile and Leon

Infanta Catalina of Aragon’s mother was Queen Isabella of Castile and Leon, Queen consort of Aragon, Majorca, Sardinia, Sicily and Naples as well as Countess of Barcelona. She was born in 1451 in Madrigal de les Torres in Castile to King John II of Castile and Isabella of Portugal. Isabella became the second in line to throne of Castile after her father died when she was 4. After her younger brother’s death she became the heir. When she was 18 she married Ferdinand of Aragon the son of King John II of Aragon who later became King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Isabella succeeded her brother Henry in 1474 as Queen of Castile and Leon. The couple had 7 children, 1 was a miscarriage and another was still born. Their surviving children were Isabella 1470-1498 who became Queen consort of Portugal, John 1478-1497, Joanna 1479-1555 who was Queen of Castile in her own right, Maria 1482-1517 who was Queen consort of Portugal (she married her sister Isabella’s husband after she died) and Catherine (Catalina) 1485-1536 who married Prince Arthur of England and then his brother King Henry VIII. 

Isabella and Ferdinand and known as the Catholic Monarchs and it was during their reign that the infamous Spanish Inquisition started. If you weren’t a good Catholic you were a heretic and could be burned at the stake. They also funded Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Indies, he ended up in the America’s but hey we all make mistakes with directions. This lead to the great Spanish influence throughout the America’s and the Caribbean. 

Isabella died at the Medina del Campo Royal Palace in Castile-Leon in 1504 after a steady decline in her health following the deaths of her family members. Her tomb is in the Capilla Real in Granada.

Lady Anne Boleyn was the daughter of Lady Elizabeth Boleyn nee Howard. Elizabeth Howard was born around 1480 and was the daughter of Thomas Howard the 2nd Duke of Norfolk and his wife Elizabeth Tilney. Lady Elizabeth was a lady in Waiting to Queen Consort Elizabeth of York and later Queen Consort Catherine of Aragon. Around 1500 Elizabeth married Thomas Boleyn who later became the Earl of Ormond and Wiltshire making her the Countess of Ormond and Wiltshire. The couple had 3 children. Mary c1499 -1543, Anne c1500-1536 and George c1503 to 1536. Elizabeth became the Queens mother in 1533 following Anne’s marriage to Henry VIII. Her tenure was short though, as was Anne’s. Following Anne and George’s fall from grace Elizabeth fought hard to save them but not even her father the Duke of Norfolk could save them from death. After the executions had taken place Elizabeth left London and died in 1538. She is buried in St Mary’s Church in Lambeth.

Elizabeth Boleyn, by an unknown artist (public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Jane Seymour was the daughter of Margery Wentworth and Sir John Seymour. Jane's mother Margery was born around 1478 and spent time in the household of her Aunt the Countess of Surrey. She married Sir John Seymour a courtier and solider of King Henry VII in 1494. Together the couple had 10 children. John c 1500-1510. Edward c1500-1522 who became the Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector during the reign of King Edward VI. Henry 1503-1578. Thomas c1508-1549 who was an admiral and became 1^st Baron Seymour of Sudeley and married Henry VIII widow Catherine Parr. John and Anthony who died young. Jane c1509-1537 who became Queen Consort of King Henry VIII. Margery who died around 1528. Elizabeth c1518-1568 and Dorothy. After Sir John died in 1536 Margery did not remarry. She died in 1550 having seen her daughter provide the much longed for male heir for King Henry VIII, her eldest son become Lord Protector of England and Wales for her Grandson King Edward VI and another son executed for treason.

Margery Wentworth

So as you can see the mothers of the Queens consorts can be just as interesting as the daughters. The next 3 Mother’s in Law will be looked at in the future in Henry VIII’s Mother’s in Law part 2.

How has Sheffield changed since my ancestors were around?

So in the past I’ve introduced you to my home city of Sheffield and this week I was wondering what had changed in the city that my ancestors would have known and that was no longer there or been adapted.

So the biggest change is in industry. Sheffield was synonymous with steel production, blade making and the cutlery industry. So much of this has now gone. Don’t get me wrong it does still take place in the city but not on the scale it did. When you went through the census returns the men were working in the steel mills, as blade forgers, blade grinders or making cutlery or even scissors. Even the women were working in the industry. So many of them worked as buffer girls which were the women who polished up the cutlers once it was made so it was ready for sale.

I was also thinking about the way the building in the city centre have changed. In my life time building have come and gone. I miss the Town Hall extension which was lovingly names the egg boxes. So what big changes have there been?

Sheffield Town Hall with the Egg Box extension. Copyright unknown

So one change my ancestor may notice happened to the City Hall. This is a massive performance venue in the city that hosts concerts, plays and so much more. It was completed in the 1930’s. Now during the WW2 a bomb exploded in the square outside the hall. If you visit look at the pillars that were once pristine but now they have shrapnel wounds in them. I always find it fitting that the war memorial for the city stands in the square where the bomb fell.

Another massive change would be to the churches in the city. The Cathedral had an extension in the 1960’s and it’s off the period. It’s so different from the medieval church building. It’s a very marmite addition (you either love it or you hate it). Another big change would be that St Paul’s church next to the Town Hall is no longer there. It was built in the early 1700’s as the other churches couldn’t cope with the growing population. By 1937 the church had virtually no congregation so it shut and was pulled down. My ancestors may even has gone there as some lived locally to it.

In 1905 King Edward VII and Queen Alexander opened Firth Court at the University of Sheffield. It is a grand building and my ancestors certainly would have known the building as again some lived in the area. By 1971 it had a new building next to it which was designed in the 1960’s. It was built using the same coloured bricks but the styles were completely different. 

The Firth building on the left and the new addition

Now I know this is a minor change but it’s a change no the less. In Sheffield next to the Town Hall is a police box. It was installed in 1928 and is still there and it’s even a listed building. The change is that it now says South Yorkshire Police on it instead of just Sheffield Police as it was when it was built. South Yorkshire didn’t exist until 1974 when it was formed from the West Riding of Yorkshire. So in a way another that’s another change. The city didn’t move but it moved county.

Our own Tardis, the Town Hall Police Box

There will be so many things throughout the City that have changed since my ancestors were around. The fact I’m even calling it a city is different as from 1297 to 1893 it was a town. So why not think about what has changed in your area that you ancestors would have known.

Genealogy for Kids

So things are strange at the moment to say the least. Parents are trying to work full time and teach the kids. So Why not use technology and family to bring the kids closer to their ancestry. Family has a wealth of information in it that is vital to our family history. So kids ask you grandparents etc the questions now and write it down and it can work as a boredom buster for both young and old.

I really believe that children need to learn about their ancestors. These days we don’t live close together as families like our ancestors did and so were may not know as much about our forebears.

I remember as a kid having to ask questions of my Grandpa as part of a school project. I had a sheet with my questions on and Grandpa wrote down his answers in my Fraggle Rock note book as I sat with him in his bedroom and asked the questions.

The answers to the questions I asked Grandpa

I was trying to decide what the questions were and I think they must have been:

1. Where did you live growing up?

2. How many rooms were there in your house?

3. How many bedrooms did your house have?

4. Who lived in the house?

5. ?

6. What was used for cleaning the house?

7. How did you do the washing?

8. How was the house heated?

9. What was there in the kitchen?

10. What furniture did you have in your bedroom?

11. What was in the bathroom?

12. What furniture was in the sitting room?

So from here I decided to compile a list of questions children could ask their parents, grandparents and if their lucky enough great grandparents (I was lucky I knew both my paternal great grandma’s).

1. What is your full name?

2. When and where were you born?

3. Did you have a nick name?

4. What were your parent’s names?

5. When were your parent’s dates of birth?

6. Where were your parents born?

7. What were your siblings called and when and where were they born?

8. Where did you live?

9. Where did you go to school?

10. What was you highest qualification?

11. Who did you marry?

12. Where did you meet your spouse?

13. When did you get married?

14. Who were your bridesmaids and best man?

15. Did you have any children?

16. What did you do for a living?

17. Who were your grandparents?

18. When and where were they born?

19. What were their occupations?

20. Did you know your Great Grandparents?

21. What can you tell me about them?

22. When and where did they die?

23. Where were they buried or cremated?

They could take a list of questions with them to the family gathering and ask away. Once they’ve got all their answers they could spend the rest of Christmas writing the story of their ancestors. Or they could have one of the many blank ancestor forms from the Internet download and printed and then file them in. There is a great selection at: https://www.cyndislist.com/free-stuff/printable-charts-and-forms/

They could also have a blank family tree printed out and filed in or even better make one. All you need to do is draw a tree and place small printed out photos of your ancestors and stick them on. Then write their names underneath. Alternatively use one of the many blank family trees which can be printed out that don’t have photos on.

An example of the blank trees available

Who knows what impact going through this process may have on the kids. They may develop an interest in genealogy. This may lead to a lifelong passion for the subject and who knows where they may end up. They may up being a professional genealogist like me. This could also lead them to a passion for history in general as a hobby and it’s well know a knowledge of the past can help in future.

Another quick thought is to make a diary and get the kids to write all the birth, marriages and deaths of their ancestors in it so they can wish a happy birthday to them.

So make genealogy a fun thing that may spark a lifelong passion and if nothing else give the kids a project for a few hours.