Elizabeth Chamber Baroness St John Bletso was born to Geoffrey Chamber of Stanmore in Middlesex.
Before 1500 [her future husband] Walter Stonor [aged 22] and Anne Foliot were married.
Before 1533 Walter Stonor [aged 55] and Elizabeth Chamber Baroness St John Bletso were married.
On 2nd May 1536 Queen Anne Boleyn [aged 35] was charged with treason and accused of 'despising her marriage and entertaining malice against the King, and following daily her frail and carnal lust'. She was imprisoned in the Tower of London [Map]. Five ladies were appointed to serve Anne whilst in prison:
Margaret Dymoke [aged 36],
her aunt Anne Boleyn [aged 60],
Mary Scrope [aged 60], wife of the Lieutenant of the Tower of London William Kingston [aged 60],
her aunt by marriage Elizabeth Wood aka Wode, wife of her uncle James Boleyn [aged 43], and
Elizabeth Chamber Baroness St John Bletso, wife of Serjeant-at-Arms [her husband] Walter Stonor [aged 59].
Letters and Papers. Around 5th May 1536. Otho, C. x. 222. B. M. Singer's Cavendish, ii. 220. Ellis, I. Ser. ii. 56. 798. Sir William Kyngston [aged 60] to Cromwell.
"After your departynge yesterday Greneway, gentelman yssher, cam to .... Mr. Caro and Master Bryan commaunded hym in the Kynges name to my .... Ratchfort [aged 33] from my Lady hys wyf [aged 31] and the message was now more .... se how he dyd and also she wold humly sut unto the Kynges hy[nes] .... for hyr husband, and so he gaf hyr thankes and desyred me to kno .... tyme he shuld cum affore the Kynges consell, for I thynk I .... cum forthe tylle I cum to my jogement, wepynge very .... I departed from hym, and when I cam to the chambre the .... of me and sent for me, and sayd, I here say my Lord my .... here; it ys trowth, sayd I. I am very glad, sayd s[he] .... bothe be so ny to gether, and I showed hyr here was .... Weston [aged 25] and Brerton, and she made very gud contenans .... I also sayd Mr. Page and Wyet [aged 15] wase mo then she sayd he ha .... one hys fyst tother day and ys here now bot ma .... I shalle desyre you to bayre a letter from me .... [to Master] Secretory. And then I sayd, Madam, telle it me by [word of mouth, and I] wille do it. And so gaf me thankes, sayinge I ha[ve much marvel] that the Kynges conselle commes not to me and thys .... [she] sayd we shuld have now rayne tyll she ware [delivered out] of the Towre. I pray you it may be shortly, by [cause, said I, of the] fayre wether; you know what I mayne. The Que[ne said unto me that same] nyght that the Kyng wyst what he dyd w[hen he put such] ij. abowt hyr as my Lady Boleyn and Mestres [Cofyn; for] [Margaret Dymoke aka Mistress Coffin [aged 36]] thay cowd tell her now thynge of my [Lord her father [aged 59], nor] nothynge ellys, bot she defyed them alle. [But then upon this my Lady Boleyn [aged 35]] sayd to hyr, Seche desyre as you have h[ad to such tales] hase browthe you to thys, and then sayd [Mrs. Stoner, Mark [aged 24]] ys the worst cherysshe of hony m[an in the house, for he w]ayres yernes. She sayd that was [because he was no gen]telman; bot he wase never in [my chamber but at Winchester, and there] she sent for hym to pl[ay on the virginals, for there my] logynge wa[s above the King's] .... for I never spake with hym syns bot upon Saterday before Mayday; and then I fond hym standyng in the ronde wyndo in my chambre of presens. And I asked why he wase so sad, and he ansured and sayd it was now mater; and then she sayd, You may not loke to have me speke to you as I shuld do to a nobulle man by cause you be an inferor [pe]rson. No, no, madam, a loke sufficed me, and thus fare you welle. [Sh]e hathe asked my wyf whether hony body makes thayr beddes, [and m]y wyf [aged 60] ansured and sayd, Nay, I warant you; then she say[d tha]y myght make balettes well now, bot ther ys non bot .... de that can do it. Yese, sayd my wyf, Master Wyett by .... sayd trew .... my Lorde my broder wille dy .... ne I am sure thys was as .... tt downe to dener thys day.
Before 8th February 1542 [her future husband] Oliver St John 1st Baron St John [aged 20] and Agnes Fisher Baroness St John Bletso [aged 16] were married.
Before 1551 [her future husband] Edward Griffin [aged 50] and Anne Smith were married.
In 1551 [her husband] Walter Stonor [aged 74] died.
In or before 1560 Reginald Conyers and Elizabeth Chamber Baroness St John Bletso were married.
In 1560 [her husband] Reginald Conyers died.
After 1560 Edward Griffin [aged 60] and Elizabeth Chamber Baroness St John Bletso were married.
William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback format.
On 16th December 1569 [her husband] Edward Griffin [aged 69] died.
Before 28th August 1572 Oliver St John 1st Baron St John [aged 50] and Elizabeth Chamber Baroness St John Bletso were married. She by marriage Baroness St John of Bletso.
In 1575 [her step-son] John St John 2nd Baron St John [aged 40] and Katherine Dormer Baroness St John Bletso were married.
In or before 1580 [her step-son] Oliver St John 3rd Baron St John [aged 39] and Dorothy Reid Baroness St John Bletso were married. She by marriage Baroness St John of Bletso.
On 21st April 1582 [her husband] Oliver St John 1st Baron St John [aged 60] died. His son [her step-son] John [aged 47] succeeded 2nd Baron St John of Bletso. Katherine Dormer Baroness St John Bletso by marriage Baroness St John of Bletso.
After 8th December 1602 Elizabeth Chamber Baroness St John Bletso died.
Edward Griffin and Elizabeth Palmer were married. The difference in their ages was 40 years.