The Death of Anne Stanhope, Duchess of Somerset - 16 April 1587
- thedudleywomen
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In July 1586, Anne Stanhope, the Dowager Duchess of Somerset, made her last will and testament. Being advanced of age, twice-widowed and her health failing, the infamous strong-willed and stoic Anne made provisions in preparation for her death, which would come nine months later.
Anne was the second wife of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, the former Lord Protector and head of the Regency Council during the early years of Edward VI's reign. Their favour had initially risen during the reign of Henry VIII, with her husband's power and influence being recognised by his peers in his appointment as Lord Protector shortly after the succession of his nephew, Edward VI, in January 1547 (Scard, 2016).
Fortunes significantly changed for Anne and her children, as on the background of increased dissatisfaction from Regency Council members regarding political decisions being made by the leader, with an increased autocratic rule, Anne had been arrested and imprisoned along with her husband in October 1549, following a coup intending on removing him from his position as Lord Protector. Both having been released from the Tower of London, the couple were rearrested in October 1551, on charges of conspiring to murder John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, and newly appointed Lord President of the Regency Council. Whilst Somerset was convicted and executed on 22 January 1552, after being found guilty of these charges, in addition to those of felony (seeking a change in government), Anne remained imprisoned in the Tower. She was only released on Northumberland's own arrest in July 1553, on the orders of her old ally, the newly proclaimed queen, Mary I, being released from the Tower on 10 August 1553 (Scard, 2016).
In 1558, Anne married Francis Newdigate: a former gentleman usher who had served her late husband, and who had reportedly served in her own household. As described by History of Parliament (2026), this event was a "turning point" which turned his career "from that of a servant to nobility". (Scard, 2016) identifies that this marriage likely suited Anne well: Newdigate, being a man of a lower-social status, likely enabled her to keep control of her own finances and her property, as well as her title. However, as a married woman, Anne now had the protection of a man, who was known to her, as well as to the family, and likely trusted by them all. It was said that he was "sufficiently close" to Somerset to have been "implicated in his fall", and appears to have played an active role in attempted to 'salvage' and locate Somerset's property. When Newdigate died in 1582, he bequeathed all his goods and property to Anne, whom he made his sole executrix of his will, acknowledging that his favour and 'preferment' had come due to his marriage (History of Parliament, 2026).
By 1558, reportedly in preparation for her upcoming marriage, Mary I had granted Anne Hanworth Palace in Middlesex - a former royal hunting lodge, located just over 5 miles south-west from her former palatial residence of Syon House, and 5 miles north-west of Hampton Court-Palace. Anne would make Hanworth her primary residence for the rest of her life. It was at Hanworth, in Summer 1558, that Anne's daughter Jane, then a Lady of the Queen's Bedchamber, had retired to her mother's home for rest and recovery after falling ill. She was accompanied by Lady Katherine Grey, one of her closest friends, who had began to rekindle a secret relationship with Anne's eldest son, Edward, 1st Earl of Hertford. It was to Hanworth, under the care of Anne and Francis Newdigate, that Hertford was released from the Tower of London in 1563, separated from Katherine and their children (Borman, 2009; Scard, 2016; History of Parliament, 2026).
See THE DUDLEY WOMEN POST: The Marriage of Katherine Grey and Edward Seymour - Christmas 1560
Anne had spent most of the latter years of her life at Hanworth, although by 1575 had once again been regifted Somerset Place: the palatial mansion located on The Strand in Westminster, which had been confiscated by the Crown, following Somerset's execution in 1552. Anne, along with various family members, including her two daughters, Mary, Lady Rogers, and Elizabeth, Lady Knightley, continued to attend the royal court, exchanging New Year's gifts with Elizabeth I, and dining with the queen (Soberton, 2018). Anne's husband, Francis Newdigate, referred to Anne's "wonted weak state" in correspondence written on 15 December 1581, himself dying six weeks later, on 26 January 1582. By June 1582, the elderly Anne presented with symptoms of poor health: that she “remaineth still troubled with the cough which with her age maketh her feeble and weak” (Soberton, 2018, p.243). Despite this, adjustments appear to have been made to Anne's diet (including not eating venison), as well as wearing spectacles to aid her failing eyesight. On the backdrop of her declining health, Anne drafted her will on 14 July 1586, in which she nominated her eldest son Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford her primary beneficiary and executor of her will. Introducing her will, Anne acknowledged her poor health ("the sicknes wherwith I am visited"), although acknowledged that despite her advancing age, she suffered from no cognitive impairment ("in perfect mynde and remembrance") (The National Archives, 2026). As acknowledged by Scard (2016, p.246), Anne's will was a "testament to the enormous wealth" which she had accumulated over the years since her release from the Tower in 1553: bequeathments of property, furniture, jewellery and money were made to multiple family members (The National Archives, 2026). As later noted on her tomb, Anne had given birth to nine children, although only five were living during her final year: sons Hertford and Henry, and daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and her eldest Anne Unton. Whilst all her other children, grandchildren and inlaws are mentioned in her will as benficiaries, her daughter Anne and her family are visibly absent. Anne even makes provisions for "poor prisoners in London", as well as "godly and poor students" (The National Archives, 2026). This exclusion is likely due to her daughter's decades-long struggles with mental illness: following her second husband's death in 1582, an inquest was held which found that the younger Anne had experienced "bouts of madness" and was "a lunatic enjoying lucid intervals, and the date of her falling into that state was fixed so long before as 1st May 8 Eliz, 1566" (Nichols, 1841, pg. xliv). [See THE DUDLEY WOMEN POST: Anne Seymour: "Lady Warwyks Lunacye"]
Signs that Anne's health was failing came a week prior to her death, when on 07 April 1587, Elizabeth I sent Sir Thomas Gorges, a Groom of the Privy Chamber, to visit Anne at Hanworth. The queen had come to hear that Hertford would act as the Dowager Duchess's sole executor, thereby excluding his younger brother Lord Henry Seymour, and so had sent Gorges to Hanworth in an attempt to persuade to ailing Anne to change her will in favour of her younger son. Anne reportedly stated to Gorges "my last will is now her Majesty’s will", and with tears in her eyes, kissed a ring, which she sent as a promise to the queen. Whether Anne did intend to make the changes, or whether it was said to placate Gorges and Elizabeth, it cannot be confirmed: no changes to her will were made, and Hertford remained her sole executor, reassurance being given to him when he visited her bedside the following day, 08 April (Soberton, 2018; Folgerpedia, 2026).
On Good Friday, 14 April, Anne's personal physician, Dr Thomas Muffit, one of the witnesses to her will, noted that she presented as "very weak...more likely to die than live". Having been informed of her pending mortality, Dr Muffit encouraged the Duchess to set her affairs in order, including making changes to the will, as promised the previous week (Soberton, 2018).
![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)
Anne died on Easter Sunday, 16 April 1587; as her year of birth is unknown, her age at the time of her death is unconfirmed, although she herself recognised in her will "the many yeres wherwith God hath blessed me" (The National Archives, 2024). It is estimated that she was approximately a decade younger than her first husband, who was born at the turn of the 16th century, and had been married and fathered children before his marriage to Anne (Scard, 2016). However, on her tomb, which was commissioned by her eldest son, it is transcribed that "with firme faith in Christ in most mylde maner renred she this life at XC yeres of age", that is she died aged 90 years old (Westminster Abbey, 2024).
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