ON THIS DAY - 16 April 1587
- thedudleywomen
- Apr 16
- 3 min read
On This Day (16 April) in 1587, Anne Stanhope, Dowager Duchess of Somerset, died at Hanworth Palace, Middlesex.
Anne had been the second wife of Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp, whose political favour rose with the marriage of his younger sister Jane to King Henry VIII. Shortly after their marriage, Edward was granted the Earldom of Hertford in 1536, later being made 1st Duke of Somerset, on his appointment as head of the Regency Council on the succession of his nephew Edward VI in 1547.
Anne held strong Reformist beliefs throughout her life; she was a close ally of Henry VIII's sixth queen Katherine Parr, and was believed to have supported the heretic martyr Anne Askew, including providing her with financial gifts. Anne was praised for her intelligence and her perseverance, attributes which were passed on to her children. However, she was also known for her arrogance, snobbery and pride, characteristics which would see others blame Anne for her husband's eventual downfall. The couple had ten children together, including their eldest surviving son and heir Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford. The education and knowledge of their daughters was also praised, with their three eldest daughters, Anne, Margaret and Jane, celebrated in the publication of 1550 poem, 'Hecatodistichon’, dedicated to the Protestant literary patron Queen Marguerite de Navarre. The couple's fortunes changed significantly as Edward VI's reign progressed, as increased dissatisfaction from Council members regarding political decisions and an increased autocracy lead to Somerset's removal from his position as Lord Protector. They were imprisoned on two occasions within the Tower of London, with Somerset being executed on 22 January 1552 after being found guilty of felony (seeking a change in government) and conspiracy to assassinate the new leader of the Council, Lord President John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland.
Within a year of Somerset's execution, Anne married for a second time, to Francis Newdigate, a steward in her late husband's household. Despite Somerset's attainment, Anne had been granted Hanworth Palace, Middlesex for life, which she made her primary residence. It was at Hanworth that Lady Katherine Grey visited her close friend Lady Jane Seymour in the summer of 1558, and where it is likely that a relationship first formed between her and Anne's eldest son Edward, whom she was to secretly marry at Christmas 1560.
With her health failing her, Anne made her will in July 1586, making bequeathments to family members. She failed to mention her eldest surviving daughter Anne in her will; it is likely that this is because in October 1582, following the death of her own husband, an inquest ruled her daughter to be incapacitated, due to recurrent "bouts of madness". Despite this, Anne, and her title of 'Countess of Warwick' is reflected on her mother's tomb; this is likely due to the tomb being commissioned by the Duchess' son Edward, who shared a close bond with his sister Anne when they were younger, having once been the ward of her husband John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick, after their father's execution.
Her health finally failing, Edward was called to his mother's bedside on 07 April 1587; however, there were discussions regarding his mother's will right until the time of her death. Despite Edward being the eldest son and heir, Elizabeth I had wished for Anne's next eldest son Henry to be his mother's executioner of her will, give her ongoing dissatisfaction with Edward over the Katherine Grey affair. However, it appears that Anne was resistant of this, possibly due to Harry's wife's Catholic background, and no changes were made to her will prior to her death.
![Tomb of Anne Stanhope, St Nicholas' Chapel, Westminster Abbey © Eman Bonnici [FindAGrave]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ed9b82_dbb46a5998c94a12a605b59ab36d1d49~mv2.jpeg/v1/fill/w_980,h_735,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/ed9b82_dbb46a5998c94a12a605b59ab36d1d49~mv2.jpeg)
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