The Dukes of Norfolk.
The Howards of ARUNDEL
There is so much history in this castle, a special room for queen victoria, a chapel where most of the howards and Fitzalan's lay to rest, Find out the Devere connection.
MY CONNECTION TO THE HOWARDS
Edmund Fitzalan, 2nd Earl of Arunde (1 May 1285 – 17 November 1326) fitzalan 22nd great-grandfather
Relationship to me
Edmund Fitzalan, 2nd Earl of Arundel (1 May 1285 – 17 November 1326) fitzalan
22nd great-grandfatherjoan fitzalan
Daughter of Edmund Fitzalan, 2nd Earl of Arundel (1 May 1285 – 17 November 1326) fitzalanMary de Bohun
Daughter of joan fitzalanHenry V of England 1386-1422
Son of Mary de BohunHenry VII of England 7th
Son of Henry V of EnglandMARGARET TUDOR QUEEN 1489 1489-1541
Daughter of Henry VII of England 7thMargaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (7 October 1515 Stewart 1515-1578
Daughter of MARGARET TUDOR QUEEN 1489KINGS OF SCOTLAND james the first of scotland AND VI OF ENGLAND Stewart MERGE 1566-1625
Son of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (7 October 1515 StewartKing James II of Scotland Stewart 1430-1437
Son of KINGS OF SCOTLAND james the first of scotland AND VI OF ENGLAND Stewart MERGEMary Stewart, Countess of Arran Stewart MERGE 1453-1488
Daughter of King James II of Scotland StewartElizabeth Hamilton 1544-1569
Daughter of Mary Stewart, Countess of Arran Stewart MERGEJanet Muir 1574-1685
Daughter of Elizabeth HamiltonArchibald Glen 1600-1641
Son of Janet MuirJohn GLENN 1625-1710
Son of Archibald GlenThomas GLENN 1652-1714
Son of John GLENNJohn Glenn 1678-1720
Son of Thomas GLENNThomas Glenn 1706-1780
Son of John GlennThomas Glen 1748-1787
Son of Thomas GlennThomas Ainsley Glen 1772-1864
Son of Thomas Glenjane McDonald 1818-1861
Daughter of Thomas Ainsley Glenandrew o,donell mcdonald 1855-1899
Son of jane McDonaldanna annie o,donell mcdonald 1882-1960
Daughter of andrew o,donell mcdonaldJames Weir 1910-1976
Son of anna annie o,donell mcdonaldNicholas Logan Weir 1957-2013
Son of James WeirAbbe The True Royal Rose of Great Britain Brooks-weir
You are the daughter of Nicholas Logan Weir
The history of Arundel Castle
Photos by Abbe Devere
Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established by Roger de Montgomery on Christmas Day 1067.[2] Roger became the first to hold the earldom of Arundel by the graces of William the Conqueror. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War and then restored in the 18th and 19th centuries by Charles Howard the 11th Duke of Norfolk.[3]
From the 11th century, the castle has been the seat of the Earl of Arundel and, for over 400 years, the Duke of Norfolk. It is a Grade I listed building.[1]
Junction of the old and new walls
The original structure was a motte and double bailey castle. Roger de Montgomery was declared the first Earl of Arundel as the King granted him the property as part of a much larger package of hundreds of manors.[4]
Roger, who was a cousin of William, had stayed in Normandy to keep the peace there while William was away in England. He was rewarded for his loyalty with extensive lands in the Welsh Marches and across the country, together with one fifth of Sussex (Arundel Rape). (For other reasons, the generally accepted first creation of the title Earl of Arundel lies in the year 1138 with William d'Aubigny, confirmed in 1155.)
After Roger de Montgomery died, the castle reverted to the crown under Henry I. The King, in his will, left Arundel Castle and the attached land to his second wife Adeliza of Louvain.[citation needed] In 1138, three years after Henry's death, she married William d'Albini II (aka d'Aubigny, the first Earl, of the d'Aubigny family of Saint-Martin-d'Aubigny in Normandy).
Medieval changes
Since 1138 to the present day Arundel Castle and the Earldom of Arundel have passed by inheritance, in all but two or three generations in a direct male line, and with only two or three temporary forfeitures to the crown. Since the Aubigny family first acquired the castle progressive changes have been made and the castle has been re-structured to meet the requirements of modern times.
In 1139 the Empress Matilda was invited to stay at Arundel during her travels to press her claim to the English throne upon King Stephen. The apartments constructed to accommodate her and her entourage survive to this day.
In 1176 William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel died and Arundel Castle reverted to the crown, under King Henry II, who spent a vast amount of money re-structuring the building, mainly for domestic needs. When Henry died the castle remained a possession of his son and heir King Richard I ("the Lionheart"), who offered it to William d'Aubigny, 3rd Earl of Arundel. The last in the Aubigny male line was Hugh d'Aubigny, 5th Earl of Arundel, who died at an early age in 1243. When his sister and heiress Isabel d'Aubigny married John FitzAlan of Clun, he became the 6th Earl of Arundel and inherited the castle. The FitzAlan family continued in an unbroken male line until 1580, but were twice temporarily deprived of their estates.
Upon the death of John FitzAlan, 7th Earl of Arundel in 1272, Arundel Castle and the earldom passed to his five-year-old son Richard FitzAlan, 8th Earl of Arundel. Thirteen years later, King Edward I granted the 8th Earl the right to hold two fairs per annum at Arundel with the right to impose taxation. This grant provided funding for much needed renovation of the castle, which had fallen into disrepair.
Once sufficient funds were available, the 8th Earl added the well tower and re-constructed the entrance to the keep. His son Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel was executed for his part in the rebellion against King Edward II. Arundel Castle was forfeited to the crown and was granted by the king to his half-brother Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent (1301-1330), the 6th son of Edward I by his second wife Margaret of France. Edmund of Woodstock was executed by Queen Isabella and her lover Mortimer for his support of her husband Edward II, and his widow and orphaned children (including Joan of Kent (1326/7-1385) (the "Fair Maid of Kent"), future mother of King Richard II) were placed under house arrest at Arundel Castle. The castle and titles were restored to the FitzAlans four years later.
Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, fought at the Battle of Crécy with Edward III and his son the Black Prince. The 10th Earl ordered the building of the FitzAlan Chapel, completed posthumously according to his will. One of his daughters, Alice FitzAlan, married Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent (1350-1397) whose mother Joan, "Fair Maid of Kent", had spent her infancy under house arrest at Arundel Castle.
Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel was treated harshly by Richard II. At the funeral of his wife Queen Anne of Bohemia, the Earl was beaten for arriving late and asking to leave early. Richard II eventually grew tired of his treachery and executed him before confiscating his property which he gave to one of his elder half-brothers John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter (1352-1400) (a son of Joan, "Fair Maid of Kent"), but when the Duke was executed by King Henry IV (who had deposed Richard II), Arundel was returned to the FitzAlan line once again. Thomas FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel married a daughter of King John of Portugal and the couple eventually became the first members of the FitzAlan family to be buried in the FitzAlan Chapel built by the 10th Earl.
The FitzAlan male line ceased on the death of Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, whose daughter and heiress Mary FitzAlan married Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, to whose descendants the castle and earldom passed. The crown seized Arundel upon his execution for conspiring to marry Mary, Queen of Scots in 1572. The castle was later returned to his Howard heirs, the successor Earls of Arundel.
Main article: Siege of Arundel (1643)
In 1643, during the First English Civil War, the castle was besieged for 18 days.[5] Afterwards in 1653 Parliament ordered the slighting of the castle, however "Weather probably destroyed more". [6] The 10000 royalists inside had to surrender after an 18-day siege.
Although the castle remained in the hands of the Howard family over the succeeding centuries, it was not their favourite residence, and the various Dukes of Norfolk invested their time and energy into improving other ducal estates, including Norfolk House in London and Worksop.
Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk, was known for his restoration work and improvements to the castle beginning in 1787 and continuing for a number of years, as he desired to live there and entertain his visitors there. Many of his improvements have since been revised and remodelled, but the library in the castle is still as he had it designed and built.
The Folly that still stands on the hill above Swanbourne Lake was commissioned by and built for the Duke by Francis Hiorne to prove his abilities as an architect and builder. He held a large party at Arundel Castle to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta shortly before his death in 1815.
Royal visit of 1846
In 1846, Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert, visited Arundel Castle for three days. Henry Charles Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk, had remodelled the castle in time for her visit. He was thinking of disposing of some of the 11th Duke of Norfolk's work, as there had been several complaints from the celebrities of the day that it was too cold, dark and unfriendly. The Duke devised a brand new apartment block for the new Queen and Prince Albert to stay in, commissioning a portrait of the Queen and decorating the block with the finest of Victorian furniture and art. There was also a re-structuring of bedrooms for the court. The Duke spared no expense to make the Queen's visit enjoyable, and he succeeded.
The Queen was received on 1 December 1846 by the Duke, Edward Howard Howard-Gibbon (the Mayor of Arundel), and other town dignitaries, and then she retired to her private apartments in the castle. On her visit she walked in the newly designed grounds and visited areas of the county nearby, including Petworth House. Almost every part of the castle that the Queen would visit was re-furbished and exquisitely decorated to meet Royal standards. At the end of her visit, she wrote to the Duke and commented on how enjoyable her visit was, commenting on the "beautiful" castle and the friendliness of her reception. The suite of rooms in which Victoria stayed are now part of the family's private apartments but the suite of bedroom furniture made for her is on display. Among other things to see are the Queen's bed, the guest book bearing her and her Consort's signature, and her toilet.
Changes since 1850
Soon after the 1846 Royal visit the 14th Duke began re-structuring the castle again. He died before its completion, and the work, which had been undertaken by Rattee and Kett of Cambridge,[7] was completed by the 15th Duke in 1900. The keep was restructured later on, but the original keep was retained until then for its antiquity and picturesque quality.
The 16th Duke had planned to give the castle to the National Trust but following his death in 1975 the 17th Duke cancelled the plan. He created an independent charitable trust to guarantee the castle's future, and oversaw restorative works.[8]
Today the castle remains the principal seat of the Dukes of Norfolk, the dukedom currently being held by the 18th Duke, the Earl Marshal of England. Most of the castle and its extensive grounds are open to the public.
The extensive gardens had received significant improvements by early 2020 through the efforts of head gardener Martin Duncan and his crew. A horticulturalist and landscape designer, Duncan has been working at the Castle since 2009; in 2018, he received the Kew Guild Medal. The gardeners and volunteers "have worked wonders with their bold and innovative plantings", according to an April 2020 report by Country Life (magazine). Their most recent efforts led to a wild water garden around the ponds; it was expected to be open to visitors in 2020.[9]
The marriage of the future Henry IV of England and Mary de Bohun (1380)
The visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (1846)
The opening of the Collector Earl's Garden 14 May 2008 by Prince Charles
On 14 October 1651, Captain Morley, who held the Castle for Parliament, while out hunting, almost captured Charles II and Colonel Phillips. Charles II was on the run for his life at the time, fleeing from the Royalist defeat at Worcester. His party managed to just stay clear of Morley's party by dismounting as if to descend the hill more easily, thereby letting Morley's group run past them. (See Gounter, Last Act, p. 12.[11])
^ Jump up to:a b Historic England. "Arundel Castle (1027926)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
^ "History of Arundel Castle". www.arundelcastle.org. Archived from the original on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
^ "Arundel Castle, West Sussex". History Extra. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
^ "Arundel Castle". www.castlesfortsbattles.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
^ "Civil War Action at Arundel Castle English Civil War event on 5-6 April 2014"(PDF). arundelcastle.org. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
^ Castle Studies Group (2006). "Arundel Castle Review" (PDF). Castle Studies Group Bulletin. 19: 8.
^ "Rattee and Kett" (PDF). Capturing Cambridge. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
^ "The Duke of Norfolk profile". The Daily Telegraph. 26 June 2002. Retrieved 19 April2016.
^ "Arundel Castle Gardens: 'Sometimes, a garden catches you unawares… the thought keeps recurring: I've never seen anything like this before.'". Country Life. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
^ Barclay opens up Arundel for the people, The Daily Telegraph; accessed 19 April 2016.
^ Gounter, George (1873). The last act in the miraculous story of His Majesty King Charles the Second's escape out of the reach of his tyrannical enemies. J, R, Smith.
^ Moreton, Cole (22 November 2013). "Doctor Who's Britain: 50 years of out-of-this-world locations". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
^ Olivia Edward; Genevieve Cortinovis; James Eggleton (2007). MTV England. John Wiley & Sons. p. 257. ISBN 0764587730.
^ Fox, Chloe (4 February 2009). "The Young Victoria: we were amused". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
The History Of Arundel
There are nearly 1,000 years of history at this great castle, situated in magnificent grounds overlooking the River Arun in West Sussex and built at the end of the 11th century by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel. The oldest feature is the motte, an artificial mound, over 100 feet high from the dry moat, and constructed in 1068: followed by the gatehouse in 1070.
Arundel Castle Photos by Abbe Devere
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey 1517–1547
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), KG, (courtesy title), was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and the last known execution by King Henry VIII. He was a first cousin of both Queen Anne Boleyn and Queen Catherine Howard, second and fifth wives of King Henry VIII. His name is usually associated in literature with that of Sir Thomas Wyatt, who was the older poet of the two. He was the son of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey and when his father became Duke of Norfolk (1524) the son adopted the courtesy title of Earl of Surrey. Owing largely to the powerful position of his father, Howard took a prominent part in the Court life of the time, and served as a soldier both in France and Scotland. He was a man of reckless temper, which involved him in many quarrels, and finally brought upon him the wrath of the ageing and embittered Henry VIII. He was arrested, tried for treason and beheaded on Tower Hill.
He was born in Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk by his second wife Elizabeth Stafford, a daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. He was thus descended from King Edward I on his father's side and from King Edward III on his mother's side.
He was brought-up at Windsor Castle with Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII. He became a close friend, and later a brother-in-law, of Fitzroy following the marriage of his sister to him. Like his father and grandfather, he was a soldier, serving in Henry VIII's French wars as Lieutenant General of the King on Sea and Land.
He was repeatedly imprisoned for rash behaviour, on one occasion for striking a courtier, on another for wandering through the streets of London breaking the windows of houses whose occupants were asleep.[2] He assumed the courtesy title Earl of Surrey in 1524 when his grandfather died and his father became Duke of Norfolk.
In 1532 he accompanied Anne Boleyn (his first cousin), King Henry VIII, and the Duke of Richmond to France, staying there for more than a year as a member of the entourage of King Francis I of France. 1536 was a notable year for Howard: his first son was born, namely Thomas Howard (later 4th Duke of Norfolk), Anne Boleyn was executed on charges of adultery and treason, and the Duke of Richmond died at the age of 17 and was buried at Thetford Abbey, one of the Howard seats. In 1536 Howard also served with his father in the suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace, a rebellion against the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Marriage and progeny
Frances de Vere, by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1535
He married Frances de Vere, a daughter of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, (by his wife Elizabeth Trussell) by whom he had two sons and three daughters:
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (10 March 1536 – 2 June 1572), who married three times: (1) Mary FitzAlan (2) Margaret Audley (3) Elizabeth Leyburne.
Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton, who died unmarried.
Jane Howard, who married Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland.
Margaret Howard, who married Henry Scrope, 9th Baron Scrope of Bolton.
Katherine Howard, who married Henry Berkeley, 7th Baron Berkeley.
The arms for which Howard was attainted (Edward the Confessor's arms are in the fifth quarter with a label of three points plain Argent)
The Howards had little regard for the "new men" who had risen to power at court, such as Thomas Cromwell and the Seymours. Howard was less circumspect than his father in concealing his disdain. The Howards had many enemies at court.[5] Howard himself branded Cromwell a 'foul churl' and William Paget a 'mean creature' as well as arguing that 'These new erected men would by their wills leave no nobleman on life!'[6]
Henry VIII, consumed by paranoia and increasing illness, became convinced that Howard had planned to usurp the crown from his son the future King Edward VI. Howard suggested that his sister Mary FitzRoy, Duchess of Richmond and Somerset (widow of Henry's illegitimate son Henry Fitzroy) should seduce the aged King, her father-in-law, and become his mistress, to "wield as much influence on him as Madame d'Etampes doth about the French King". The Duchess, outraged, said she would "cut her own throat" rather than "consent to such villainy".[7] She and her brother fell out, and she later laid testimony against Howard that helped lead to his trial and execution for treason. The matter came to a head when Howard quartered the attributed arms of King Edward the Confessor. John Barlow had once called Howard "the most foolish proud boy that is in England" and, although the arms of Howard's ancestor Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk show that he was entitled to bear Edward the Confessor's arms, doing so was an act of pride. [8] In consequence, the King ordered Howard's imprisonment and that of his father, sentencing them to death on 13 January 1547. Howard was beheaded on 19 January 1547 on a charge of treasonably quartering the royal arms. His father survived execution as the king died the day before that appointed for the beheading, but he remained imprisoned. Howard's son Thomas Howard became heir to the Dukedom of Norfolk in place of his father, which title he inherited on the 3rd Duke's death in 1554.
Howard's chest tomb in Framlingham Church, Suffolk, displaying the arms of Howard and de Vere
He was buried in Framlingham Church in Suffolk, where survives his spectacular painted alabaster tomb.
Literary activity and legacy
He and his friend Sir Thomas Wyatt were the first English poets to write in the sonnet form that Shakespeare later used, and Howard was the first English poet to publish blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) in his translation of the second and fourth books of Virgil's Aeneid. Together, Wyatt and Howard, due to their excellent translations of Petrarch's sonnets, are known as "Fathers of the English Sonnet". While Wyatt introduced the sonnet into English, it was Howard who gave them the rhyming meter and the division into quatrains that now characterises the sonnets variously named English, Elizabethan, or Shakespearean sonnets
The Tudor Poet
Tudor poet Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey, was born in Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, England. He was the son of the third Duke of Norfolk. Associated with the royal court, he grew up at Windsor, where he was a childhood companion to the Duke of Richmond, son of Henry VIII. Surrey was also a first cousin to Anne Boleyn. Educated by tutors, he lived an eventful life as a soldier and a courtier, eventually marrying Lady Frances de Vere, daughter of the Earl of Oxford. In 1532, he traveled to France with Henry VIII and stayed at the French court for almost a year. He was made Knight of the Garter in 1541 and served as a soldier in France. After Anne Boleyn's execution, Surrey and his father ran afoul of the new English court on several occasions. Eventually charged with treason, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London and executed in 1547. Surrey's poetry is often associated with that of Thomas Wyatt, whose work was published alongside Surrey's in Tottel's Miscellany (1557). A major poet of the 16th century, Surrey is credited with developing the Shakespearean form of the sonnet. He wrote love poems and elegies and translated Books 2 and 4 of Virgil's Aeneid as well as Psalms and Ecclesiastes from the Bible. He also introduced blank verse to English—a form that he used in his translations of Virgil.
Frances Devere
Frances Devere, Countess of Surrey
The marriage between Frances de Vere, the daughter of the Earl of Oxford, and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, son of the Duke of Norfolk, was destined to be ill-fated. The two families had a long and complicated history. And Henry Howard was to be the last person executed in the reign of King Henry VIII.
Frances was born c. 1516, the second daughter and third child of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford and his second wife Elizabeth Trussell. We know nothing of her childhood but it can be assumed she received an education commensurate with her rank. Based on Hans Holbein the Younger's portrait of Frances, she was an attractive young lady. Her father had solid landed interests and had much influence at court, holding the hereditary title of Lord Great Chamberlain of England.
The Howard and de Vere families were intertwined with mixed results. They had fought on different sides during the Wars of the Roses, with the de Vere family supporting the Lancastrians and the Howards backing the Yorkists. The 13th Earl of Oxford had killed the Earl of Surrey's great-grandfather at the Battle of Bosworth. The Earl of Oxford was an advocate of the New Religion whereas the Duke of Norfolk was the premier Catholic nobleman of England.
The Duke of Norfolk's half-sister Anne had married the 14th Earl of Oxford who had proceeded to treat her very shabbily. When the 15th Earl of Oxford inherited his title, he stopped paying Anne's jointure and sent a mob to rampage through her lands. They ended up killing many of her deer, a valuable commodity at the time as the deer provided food. Anne was expelled from her lands and ended her days in isolation at Tendring Hall.
In 1524, Thomas Howard became the Duke of Norfolk upon the death of his father. His son Henry was known by the courtesy title of Earl of Surrey. Henry was born about the same time as Frances and lived with his family at Kenninghall and was highly educated. In 1526, the Duke purchased the wardship of Elizabeth, daughter of John, second lord of Marney with the intention of marrying her to Henry. But in 1529, Anne Boleyn, who was related to the Howards and had considerable influence over King Henry VIII, was promoting a marriage between the Princess Mary and her cousin Henry. The Duke was enthusiastic about the match as it would give him greater political influence and put his family closer to the throne of England.
Anne Boleyn may have considered the match as a way to neutralize the threat Mary posed to her and any children she would have by the king. But she soon changed her mind when she realized her crafty uncle the Duke would use the match to support Mary's claim to the throne and support Catherine of Aragon in the frustrating divorce proceedings. By October 1530, Anne Boleyn had changed her mind and she persuaded the reluctant Duke to arrange for Henry to marry Frances de Vere.
The contract for their betrothal was signed on February 13, 1532. Frances was endowed with a settlement of four thousand marks, two hundred of which were payable upon the marriage and the rest to be paid in installments. Frances would keep this money in the event of her husband's death. The Duke also promised to give the couple lands that would produce a yearly rent of £300. Frances and Henry may have had some slight contact with each other before they were married as their families frequently crossed paths.
The wedding ceremony took place on May 23, 1532 and was attended by various nobility. The couple was separated after the wedding as they were considered too young to consummate the marriage. Frances' name appears in the list of maids of honour for the king's daughter the Lady Mary. Sometime in 1535, the Duke of Norfolk separated from his wife Elizabeth Stafford and set up his mistress Bess Holland with a household in Kenninghall. It was about this time Frances moved in and started conjugal relations with Henry.
Frances would have five children with Henry Howard, two sons and three daughters. The first child Jane was born between the spring of 1536 and the summer of 1537. The second child was a son Thomas who was born on March 10, 1538. Katherine was born in 1539, Henry in February 1540 and Margaret at the beginning of 1543 or after her father's death, depending on what source you read. Surrey guaranteed his children were given a fine humanist education as they were tutored at Kenninghall by the Dutch humanist Hadrianus Junius.
In January of 1536, Queen Catherine of Aragon died. Frances served as one of the chief mourners at the funeral at Peterborough Cathedral. When her husband's great and good friend, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII, died in July of 1536, Surrey was very depressed. Surrey, who was a brilliant poet and respectable soldier, gained a reputation for riotous conduct. He was quarrelsome and hot-headed and was detained more than once for some minor crimes and infractions.
The Duke of Norfolk and Surrey were instrumental in suppressing the Pilgrimage of Grace in late 1536 and early 1537. After this, Surrey moved Frances and the children out of Kenninghall and into the old manor house of Fersfield and later to Shottisham Hall. Finally, he moved everyone to the family mansion in Norwich. While in Norwich, Surrey decided to begin building his own home on some land he obtained from his father.
Construction began on the house which was to be called Mount Surrey when Surrey asked to go to France and join the siege of Boulogne. Between 1544 and 1546, Surrey served the King Henry VIII of and on in France. In July 1545, Mount Surrey was nearly completed when he was offered a position in another English campaign in France. He was the captain-general of the English city of Boulogne where he had eight thousand men and did his best to maintain control against repeated attacks by the French. But eventually, his control and authority failed while his personal debts mounted. He was spending his own money conducting the campaign and knew it was unlikely he would be recompensed. The campaign was overwhelming and he missed his wife and children. He wrote asking the king's council for permission to bring his family overseas but the council refused his request.
Because of the unsuccessful fight in France, Surrey was shunned by the king. By this time Henry VIII was very ill and there was a great deal of political maneuvering going on. Surrey resented the Seymour brothers whom he considered "new men" and not worthy of positions in the new king's government when Henry died. He began to act alarmingly and treacherously, putting himself and his father at risk. Indeed they were both arrested and put in the Tower.
In the early morning of December 14, 1547, Kenninghall was raided by the king's men looking for evidence of Surrey's treason. The men found the Duke's mistress Bess Holland, and his daughter Mary and a pregnant Frances alone in the home. Because of Frances' condition, it was decided to send her and the children away. It is unknown where Frances went. Her children were taken from her and put in the care of relatives. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey was found guilty at trial and executed on January 19, 1547. He was buried in the church of All Hallows Barking-by-the-Tower. Frances' children were assigned to the Earl's sister Mary Howard and she continued their education while they were in her care.
Frances lived a quiet life after Surrey's death and she was remarried by 1553. Her new husband was a country squire named Thomas Steyning. They lived together in East Anglia and she attended court for the obligatory funerals and christenings. She had two children with Steyning, one of whom was a son named Henry. Frances died in June of 1577 and was buried in the Howard family church of St. Michael's in Framlingham. In 1614, Frances and Surrey's son Henry had his father's remains transferred from the church of All Hallows and buried alongside Frances.
Further reading: "Henry VIII's Last Victim: The Life and Times of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey" by Jessie Childs, entry on Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography written by Susan Brigden, "The House of Howard, Volume 1 and 2" by Gerald Brenan and Edward Phillips Stratham
The Marriage uniting The Deveres and The Howards
Arundel Castle from my visit back in 2018.... A very random visit... Last minute decision with the aid if a few white feathers and clarevoyant messages.. Id driven passed before and thought how beautiful without the knowledge of the Devere connection, Francis Devere married Henry Howard which i found out whilst being quizzed by a curator to why i was there.. When i told her about the genealogy and historical research between myself and father... Her eyes lit up and said... "oh your more connected than you think, Go into the library, there is a portrait of one of your ancestors", She directed me through these huge double doors with swords and shields on... Towards a tiny little old lady... She was adorable with so much information.... She added with a kind of wink.....
"you do know that we hold the last original copies of. William Shakespeare"
How curious of a thing to say.