Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk 1622-1680

Paternal Family Tree: Villiers

Maternal Family Tree: Anne Pakenham 1485-1544

Around 1612 [her father] Edward Villiers [aged 27] and [her mother] Barbara St John were married.

In May 1622 Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk was born to Edward Villiers [aged 37] and Barbara St John. She was baptised at Westinster Abbey on 1st June 1622.

On 7th September 1626 [her father] Edward Villiers [aged 41] died.

On 28th April 1627 [her brother-in-law] Robert Douglas 8th Earl Morton [aged 11] and [her sister] Elizabeth Villiers Countess Morton [aged 18] were married. He the son of William Douglas 7th Earl Morton [aged 45] and Anne Keith Countess Morton.

On 29th December 1630 Oliver St John 1st Viscount Grandison [aged 71] died. His great nephew [her brother] William [aged 16] succeeded 2nd Viscount Grandison. [her future sister-in-law] Mary Bayning Countess Anglesey [aged 7] by marriage Viscountess Grandison.

On 3rd June 1640 Theophilus Howard 2nd Earl Suffolk [aged 57] died at Suffolk House, Suffolk Street. He was buried at Waldon Priory and Abbey [Map]. His son [her future husband] James [aged 21] succeeded 3rd Earl Suffolk, 3rd Baron Howard de Walden.

Before 27th November 1640 [her brother] William Villiers 2nd Viscount Grandison [aged 26] and [her sister-in-law] Mary Bayning Countess Anglesey [aged 17] were married. She the heiress of a fortune of £180,000.

On 1st December 1640 [her future husband] James Howard 3rd Earl Suffolk [aged 21] and Susannah Rich Countess Suffolk [aged 12] were married. She by marriage Countess Suffolk. She the daughter of Henry Rich 1st Earl Holland [aged 50] and Isabel Cope Countess Holland. He the son of Theophilus Howard 2nd Earl Suffolk and Elizabeth Home Countess Suffolk. They were fifth cousins.

Before 1646 Richard Wenman [aged 23] and Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk [aged 23] were married.

Before 1646 [her husband] Richard Wenman [aged 23] died.

On 7th August 1648 William Douglas 7th Earl Morton [aged 66] died. His son [her brother-in-law] Robert [aged 32] succeeded 8th Earl Morton. [her sister] Elizabeth Villiers Countess Morton [aged 39] by marriage Countess Morton.

Around February 1650 James Howard 3rd Earl Suffolk [aged 30] and Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk [aged 27] were married. She by marriage Countess Suffolk. He the son of Theophilus Howard 2nd Earl Suffolk and Elizabeth Home Countess Suffolk.

Before 15th December 1654 [her sister] Elizabeth Villiers Countess Morton [aged 45] died.

Deeds of King Henry V

Henrici Quinti, Angliæ Regis, Gesta, is a first-hand account of the Agincourt Campaign, and subsequent events to his death in 1422. The author of the first part was a Chaplain in King Henry's retinue who was present from King Henry's departure at Southampton in 1415, at the siege of Harfleur, the battle of Agincourt, and the celebrations on King Henry's return to London. The second part, by another writer, relates the events that took place including the negotiations at Troye, Henry's marriage and his death in 1422.

Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.

In 1660 Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk [aged 37] was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber to Catherine of Braganza Queen Consort England [aged 21] which position she held until 1681.

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 26th July 1662. Thence to Mrs. Sarah, and there looked over my Lord's lodgings, which are very pretty; and White Hall garden and the Bowling-ally (where lords and ladies are now at bowles), in brave condition. Mrs. Sarah told me how the falling out between my [her niece] Baroness Castlemaine's [aged 21] and her Lord was about christening of the child lately1, which he would have, and had done by a priest: and, some days after, she had it again christened by a minister; the King [aged 32], and Lord of Oxford, and Duchesse of Suffolk, being witnesses: and christened with a proviso, that it had not already been christened. Since that she left her Lord, carrying away every thing in the house; so much as every dish, and cloth, and servant but the porter. He is gone discontented into France, they say, to enter a monastery; and now she is coming back again to her house in Kingstreet. But I hear that the Queen [aged 23] did prick her out of the list presented her by the King;2 desiring that she might have that favour done her, or that he would send her from whence she come: and that the King was angry and the Queen discontented a whole day and night upon it; but that the King hath promised to have nothing to do with her hereafter. But I cannot believe that the King can fling her off so, he loving her too well: and so I writ this night to my Lady to be my opinion; she calling her my lady, and the lady I admire. Here I find that my Lord hath lost the garden to his lodgings, and that it is turning into a tennis-court. Hence by water to the Wardrobe to see how all do there, and so home to supper and to bed.

Note 1. The boy was born in June at Baroness Castlemaine's house in King Street. By the direction of Lord Castlemaine, who had become a Roman Catholic, the child was baptized by a priest, and this led to a final separation between husband and wife. Some days afterwards the child was again baptized by the rector of St. Margaret's, Westminster [Map], in presence of the godparents, the King, Aubrey De Vere [aged 35], Earl of Oxford, and Barbara, Countess of Suffolk [aged 40], first Lady of the Bedchamber to the Queen and Baroness Castlemaine's aunt. The entry in the register of St. Margaret's [Map] is as follows: "1662 June 18 Charles Palmer Ld Limbricke, s. to ye right honorble Roger Earl of Castlemaine by Barbara" (Steinman's "Memoir of Barbara, Duchess of Cleveland", 1871, p. 33). The child was afterwards called Charles Fitzroy, and was created Duke of Southampton in 1674. He succeeded his mother in the dukedom of Cleveland in 1709, and died 1730.

Note 2. By the King's command Lord Clarendon [aged 54], much against his inclination, had twice visited his royal mistress with a view of inducing her, by persuasions which he could not justify, to give way to the King's determination to have Baroness Castlemaine's of her household.... Lord Clarendon has given a full account of all that transpired between himself, the King and the Queen, on this very unpleasant business ('Continuation of Life of Clarendon,' 1759, ff. 168-178). Steinman's Memoir of Duchess of Cleveland, p. 35. The day at length arrived when Baroness Castlemaine's was to be formally admitted a Lady of the Bedchamber. The royal warrant, addressed to the Lord Chamberlain [aged 61], bears date June 1, 1663, and includes with that of her ladyship, the names of the Duchess of Buckingham [aged 24], the Countesses of Chesterfield and Bath [aged 22], and the Countess Mareshall. A separate warrant of the same day directs his lordship to admit the Countess of Suffolk as Groom of the Stole and first Lady of the Bedchamber, to which undividable offices she had, with the additional ones of Mistress of the Robes and Keeper of the Privy Purse, been nominated by a warrant dated April 2, 1662, wherein the reception of her oath is expressly deferred until the Queen's household shall be established. We here are furnished with the evidence that Charles would not sign the warrants for the five until Catherine had withdrawn her objection to his favourite one. Addenda to Steinman's Memoir of Duchess of Cleveland (privately printed), 1874, p. i.

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 22nd July 1663. Thence to my Lord Crew's. My Lord not being come home, I met and staid below with Captain Ferrers, who was come to wait upon my Lady Jemimah to St. James's, she being one of the four ladies that hold up the mantle at the christening this afternoon of the Duke's [aged 29] child (a boy). In discourse of the ladies at Court, Captain Ferrers tells me that my [her niece] Baroness Castlemaine's [aged 22] is now as great again as ever she was; and that her going away was only a fit of her own upon some slighting words of the King [aged 33], so that she called for her coach at a quarter of an hour's warning, and went to Richmond; and the King the next morning, under pretence of going a-hunting, went to see her and make friends, and never was a-hunting at all. After which she came back to Court, and commands the King as much as ever, and hath and doth what she will. No longer ago than last night, there was a private entertainment made for the King and Queen [aged 24] at the Duke of Buckingham's [aged 35], and she: was not invited: but being at my Lady Suffolk's [aged 41], her aunt's (where my Lady Jemimah and Lord Sandwich [aged 37] dined) yesterday, she was heard to say, "Well; much good may it do them, and for all that I will be as merry as they:" and so she went home and caused a great supper to be prepared. And after the King had been with the Queen at Wallingford House, he came to my Baroness Castlemaine's, and was there all night, and my Lord Sandwich with him, which was the reason my Lord lay in town all night, which he has not done a great while before. He tells me he believes that, as soon as the King can get a husband for Mrs. Stewart [aged 16] however, my Baroness Castlemaine's nose will be out of joynt; for that she comes to be in great esteem, and is more handsome than she. I found by his words that my Lord Sandwich finds some pleasure in the country where he now is, whether he means one of the daughters of the house or no I know not, but hope the contrary, that he thinks he is very well pleased with staying there, but yet upon breaking up of the Parliament, which the King by a message to-day says shall be on Monday next, he resolves to go.

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 19th October 1663. Coming to St. James's, I hear that the Queen [aged 24] did sleep five hours pretty well to-night, and that she waked and gargled her mouth, and to sleep again; but that her pulse beats fast, beating twenty to the King's or my Lady Suffolk's [aged 41] eleven; but not so strong as it was. It seems she was so ill as to be shaved and Pigeons put to her feet, and to have the extreme unction given her by the priests, who were so long about it that the doctors were angry. The King [aged 33], they all say; is most fondly disconsolate for her, and weeps by her, which makes her weep1; which one this day told me he reckons a good sign, for that it carries away some rheume from the head.

Note 1. "The Queen was given over by her physicians,..., and the good nature of the King was much affected with the situation in which he saw! a princess whom, though he did not love her, yet he greatly esteemed. She loved him tenderly, and thinking that it was the last time she should ever speak to him, she told him 'That the concern he showed for her death was enough to make her quit life with regret; but that not possessing charms sufficient to merit his tenderness, she had at least the consolation in dying to give place to a consort who might be more worthy, of it and to whom heaven, perhaps, might grant a blessing that had been refused to her.' At these words she bathed his hands with some tears which he thought would be her last; he mingled his own with hers, and without supposing she would take him at his word, he conjured her to live for his sake".-Grammont Memoirs, chap. vii.

Samuel Pepys' Diary. 16th September 1667. Up, and several come to me, among others Mr. Yeabsly of Plymouth, Devon [Map], to discourse about their matters touching Tangier, and by and by Sir H. Cholmly [aged 35], who was with me a good while; who tells me that the Duke of York's [aged 33] child is christened, the Duke of Albemarle [aged 58] and the Marquis of Worcester [aged 38] godfathers, and my Lady Suffolke [aged 45] godmother; and they have named it Edgar, which is a brave name. But it seems they are more joyful in the Chancellor's [aged 58] family, at the birth of this Prince, than in wisdom they should, for fear it should give the King [aged 37] cause of jealousy.

Before 1670 [her brother-in-law] Henry Howard 5th Earl Suffolk [aged 42] and Mary Stewart [aged 29] were married. He the son of Theophilus Howard 2nd Earl Suffolk and Elizabeth Home Countess Suffolk.

In 1672 [her mother] Barbara St John died.

John Evelyn's Diary. 22nd December 1674. Was at the repetition of the "Pastoral", on which occasion Mrs. Blagg [aged 22] had about her near £20,000 worth of jewels, of which she lost one worth about £80, borrowed of the Countess of Suffolk [aged 52]. The press was so great, that it is a wonder she lost no more. The Duke [aged 41] made it good.

Before 1675. Remigius van Leemput [aged 67]. Portrait of Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk [aged 52].

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough

A canon regular of the Augustinian Guisborough Priory, Yorkshire, formerly known as The Chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh, describes the period from 1066 to 1346. Before 1274 the Chronicle is based on other works. Thereafter, the Chronicle is original, and a remarkable source for the events of the time. This book provides a translation of the Chronicle from that date. The Latin source for our translation is the 1849 work edited by Hans Claude Hamilton. Hamilton, in his preface, says: 'In the present work we behold perhaps one of the finest samples of our early chronicles, both as regards the value of the events recorded, and the correctness with which they are detailed; Nor will the pleasing style of composition be lightly passed over by those capable of seeing reflected from it the tokens of a vigorous and cultivated mind, and a favourable specimen of the learning and taste of the age in which it was framed.'

Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.

Before 18th December 1676 [her son-in-law] Thomas Felton 4th Baronet [aged 27] and Elizabeth Howard Lady Felton were married. She by marriage Lady Felton of Playford in Suffolk. She the daughter of James Howard 3rd Earl Suffolk [aged 57] and Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk [aged 54]. They were fifth cousins.

On 13th December 1680 Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk [aged 58] died.

Before 8th May 1682 [her former husband] James Howard 3rd Earl Suffolk [aged 63] and Anne Montagu Countess Suffolk [aged 15] were married. She by marriage Countess Suffolk. The difference in their ages was 47 years. She the daughter of Robert Montagu 3rd Earl Manchester [aged 48] and Anne Yelverton Countess Manchester [aged 52]. He the son of Theophilus Howard 2nd Earl Suffolk and Elizabeth Home Countess Suffolk.

On 7th January 1689 [her former husband] James Howard 3rd Earl Suffolk [aged 69] died at Great Chesterford. He was buried at Waldon Priory and Abbey [Map]. Baron Howard de Walden abeyant. His brother [her former brother-in-law] George [aged 63] succeeded 4th Earl Suffolk. Anne "Mary" Wroth Countess Suffolk by marriage Countess Suffolk.

[her daughter] Elizabeth Howard Lady Felton was born to James Howard 3rd Earl Suffolk and Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk. She married before 18th December 1676 her fifth cousin Thomas Felton 4th Baronet, son of Henry Felton 2nd Baronet and Susanna Tollemache Lady Felton, and had issue.

Royal Ancestors of Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk 1622-1680

Kings Wessex: Great x 18 Grand Daughter of King Edmund "Ironside" I of England

Kings Gwynedd: Great x 15 Grand Daughter of Owain "Great" King Gwynedd

Kings Seisyllwg: Great x 21 Grand Daughter of Hywel "Dda aka Good" King Seisyllwg King Deheubarth

Kings Powys: Great x 16 Grand Daughter of Maredudd ap Bleddyn King Powys

Kings Godwinson: Great x 19 Grand Daughter of King Harold II of England

Kings England: Great x 9 Grand Daughter of King Edward III of England

Kings Scotland: Great x 13 Grand Daughter of King William I of Scotland

Kings France: Great x 11 Grand Daughter of King Philip III of France

Kings Duke Aquitaine: Great x 22 Grand Daughter of Ranulf I Duke Aquitaine

Kings Spain: Great x 14 Grand Daughter of Alfonso II King Aragon

Ancestors of Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk 1622-1680

Great x 4 Grandfather: William Villiers

Great x 3 Grandfather: John Villiers

Great x 2 Grandfather: John Villiers

Great x 1 Grandfather: William Villiers of Brooksby Leicestershire

Grandfather: George Villiers of Brokesby

Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Clarke

Great x 1 Grandmother: Collette Clarke

father: Edward Villiers

Great x 1 Grandfather: William Saunders of Harrington Northamptonshire

Grandmother: Audrey Saunders

Barbara Villiers Countess Suffolk 9 x Great Granddaughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Oliver St John 7 x Great Grandson of King John of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: John St John 7 x Great Grandson of King Edward I of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Elizabeth Scrope 6 x Great Granddaughter of King Edward I of England

Great x 2 Grandfather: John St John 8 x Great Grandson of King Edward I of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: John Iwardby

Great x 3 Grandmother: Joan Iwardby

Great x 1 Grandfather: Nicholas St John 6 x Great Grandson of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: James Carew 3 x Great Grandson of King Edward III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Carew 4 x Great Grandson of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Eleanor Hoo 6 x Great Granddaughter of King Edward I of England

Great x 2 Grandmother: Margaret Carew 5 x Great Granddaughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Robert Oxenbridge

Great x 3 Grandmother: Malyn Oxenbridge

Grandfather: John St John 7 x Great Grandson of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Thomas Blount 10 x Great Grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Richard Blount of Iver in Buckinghamshire 11 x Great Grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England

Great x 2 Grandfather: Richard Blount of Mapledurham in Oxfordshire 12 x Great Grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England

Great x 1 Grandmother: Elizabeth Blount 13 x Great Granddaughter of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England

mother: Barbara St John 8 x Great Granddaughter of King Edward III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Walter Hungerford 7 x Great Grandson of King Henry III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Edward Hungerford 8 x Great Grandson of King Henry III of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Jane Bulstrode

Great x 2 Grandfather: Walter Hungerford 1st Baron Hungerford Heytesbury 9 x Great Grandson of King Henry III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: John Zouche 7th Baron Zouche Harringworth 9 x Great Grandson of King John of England

Great x 3 Grandmother: Jane Zouche 9 x Great Granddaughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England

Great x 4 Grandmother: Joan Dynham Baroness Zouche Harringworth 8 x Great Granddaughter of King Henry "Curtmantle" II of England

Great x 1 Grandfather: Walter Hungerford 10 x Great Grandson of King Henry III of England

Great x 4 Grandfather: Richard Danvers

Great x 3 Grandfather: John Danvers

Great x 2 Grandmother: Susan Danvers

Grandmother: Lucy Hungerford 11 x Great Granddaughter of King Henry III of England

Great x 3 Grandfather: Robert Dormer of Wing

Great x 2 Grandfather: William Dormer

Great x 1 Grandmother: Anne Dormer

Great x 4 Grandfather: Nicholas Sidney

Great x 3 Grandfather: William Sidney

Great x 4 Grandmother: Anne Brandon

Great x 2 Grandmother: Mary Sidney

Great x 4 Grandfather: Hugh Pakenham

Great x 3 Grandmother: Anne Pakenham