Frances Howard Duchess Lennox and Richmond 1578-1639

Around 1526 Thomas Howard 1st Viscount Howard Bindon [aged 6] and Elizabeth Marney Viscountess Howard Bindon were married. She by marriage Viscountess Howard Bindon. He the son of [her grandfather] Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk [aged 53] and [her grandmother] Elizabeth Stafford Duchess Norfolk [aged 29]. They were fifth cousin once removed.

Before 25th December 1560 Edward Seymour 1st Earl Hertford [aged 21] and Catherine Grey Countess Hertford [aged 20] were married in secret by an anonymous clergyman at Hertford House Canon Row. She by marriage Countess Hertford. She the daughter of Henry Grey 1st Duke of Suffolk and Frances Brandon Duchess of Suffolk. He the son of Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset and Anne Stanhope Duchess Somerset [aged 63]. They were sixth cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King Edward III of England. She a great granddaughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland.

After 1565 Thomas Howard 1st Viscount Howard Bindon [aged 45] and Gertrude Lyte Viscountess Howard Bindon were married. She by marriage Viscountess Howard Bindon. He the son of [her grandfather] Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk and [her grandmother] Elizabeth Stafford Duchess Norfolk.

On 7th June 1576 Thomas Howard 1st Viscount Howard Bindon [aged 56] and [her mother] Mabel Burton Viscountess Howard Bindon [aged 36] were married. She by marriage Viscountess Howard Bindon. The difference in their ages was 20 years. He the son of [her grandfather] Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk and [her grandmother] Elizabeth Stafford Duchess Norfolk.

On 27th July 1578 Frances Howard Duchess Lennox and Richmond was born to Thomas Howard 1st Viscount Howard Bindon [aged 58] and Mabel Burton Viscountess Howard Bindon [aged 38] at Lychett, Dorset.

In 1580 [her mother] Mabel Burton Viscountess Howard Bindon [aged 40] died.

In 1582 Edward Seymour 1st Earl Hertford [aged 42] and Frances Howard Countess Hertford [aged 28] were married. She by marriage Countess Hertford. He the son of Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset and Anne Stanhope Duchess Somerset [aged 85]. They were half sixth cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King Edward III of England.

In 1582 Thomas Howard 1st Viscount Howard Bindon [aged 62] died. His son Henry succeeded 2nd Viscount Howard Bindon.

On 26th May 1583 Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox [aged 41] died. His son Ludovic [aged 8] succeeded 2nd Duke Lennox, 2nd Earl Lennox.

In 1590 [her half-brother] Henry Howard 2nd Viscount Howard Bindon died. In 1590 His brother Thomas succeeded 3rd Viscount Howard Bindon.

Before June 1590 Ludovic Stewart 2nd Duke Lennox 1st Duke Richmond [aged 15] and Sophia Ruthven Duchess Lennox were married. She by marriage Duchess Lennox. She the daughter of William Ruthven 1st Earl Gowrie and Dorothea Stewart Countess Gowrie [aged 49]. He the son of Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox and Catherine Balsac Duchess Lennox. They were third cousins.

Around March 1592 Henry Prannell and Frances Howard Duchess Lennox and Richmond [aged 13] were married.

Around August 1598 Ludovic Stewart 2nd Duke Lennox 1st Duke Richmond [aged 23] and Jean Campbell Duchess Lennox [aged 45] were married. She by marriage Duchess Lennox. The difference in their ages was 21 years; she, unusually, being older than him. He the son of Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox and Catherine Balsac Duchess Lennox. They were second cousin once removed.

In 1599 [her husband] Henry Prannell died.

On 27th May 1601 Edward Seymour 1st Earl Hertford [aged 62] and Frances Howard Duchess Lennox and Richmond [aged 22] were married. She by marriage Countess Hertford. The difference in their ages was 39 years. He the son of Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset and Anne Stanhope Duchess Somerset. They were half third cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King Edward III of England.

In 1611 [her half-brother] Thomas Howard 3rd Viscount Howard Bindon died. Viscount Howard Bindon extinct.

On 21st July 1612 [her step-son] Edward Seymour [aged 50] died.

Diary of Anne Clifford. 28th April 1619. The 28th my Lord [aged 30] and I, my Coz. Sackville and Lady Windsor went to the Tower to see my Lady Somerset [aged 28], where we saw her little child [aged 3]¹. My Lord went to see Earl of Northumberland [aged 55]² and I and the Lady Windsor went to see Lady Shrewsbury [aged 63]³, and after supper my Lord and I went by water to Channel Row to see my Lord of Hertford [aged 79]⁴ and his Lady [aged 40] where we found my Lady Beauchamp⁵, my Lord Essex's [aged 28] Sister, then I went to Arundel House and talked with her about Lords being made Knights of the Garter.

Note 1. "Her little Child," Anne Carr, afterwards married to William 5th Earl and 1st Duke of Bedford [aged 2].

Note 2. Henry, 6th Earl, a Prisoner since the time of the Gunpowder Plot.

Note 3. Mary Cavendish, wife of Gilbert 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, was sent to the Tower in June 1611, at the same time with her niece the Lady Arabella Stuart first cousin of King James. Lady Arabella died, in the Tower, in 1615.

Note 4. Earl of Hertford son of Protector Somerset, and his 3rd wife Frances, d. of Thomas Viscount Howard of Bindon, widow of [her former husband] Henry Pranell, Esq., and married, 3rdly to Ludovick Stuart Duke of Lenox and Richmond [aged 44].

Note 5. Lady Frances Devereux [aged 19], and wife of William Lord Beauchamp [aged 31], afterwards Marquis of Hertford; daughter of Queen Elizabeth's favourite, and sister of the Parliament's General.

On 6th April 1621 Edward Seymour 1st Earl Hertford [aged 81] died. He was buried at Salisbury Cathedral [Map].

On 16th June 1621 Ludovic Stewart 2nd Duke Lennox 1st Duke Richmond [aged 46] and Frances Howard Duchess Lennox and Richmond [aged 42] were married. She by marriage Duchess Lennox. He the son of Esme Stewart 1st Duke Lennox and Catherine Balsac Duchess Lennox. They were fifth cousin once removed.

In 1623 Ludovic Stewart 2nd Duke Lennox 1st Duke Richmond [aged 48] was created 1st Duke Richmond, 1st Earl Newcastle upon Tyne by King James I of England and Ireland and VI of Scotland [aged 56]. Frances Howard Duchess Lennox and Richmond [aged 44] by marriage Duchess Richmond.

On 16th February 1624 Ludovic Stewart 2nd Duke Lennox 1st Duke Richmond [aged 49] died. He was buried at Westminster Abbey [Map]. Duke Richmond and Earl Newcastle upon Tyne extinct. His brother Esmé [aged 45] succeeded 3rd Duke Lennox. Katherine Clifton Duchess Lennox [aged 32] by marriage Duchess Lennox.

Before 1636 Marcus Gheeraerts [aged 73]. Portrait of Frances Howard Duchess Lennox and Richmond [aged 57].

On 8th October 1639 Frances Howard Duchess Lennox and Richmond [aged 61] died at Exeter House [Map]. She was buried at Westminster Abbey [Map].