Parentage of Elizabeth Talbot, wife of Henry de Grey, Knt., 5th Lord Grey of Wilton
Douglas Richardson
Elizabeth, wife of Henry de Grey, 5th Lord Grey of Wilton, is commonly
identified in printed sources as the daughter of Gilbert Talbot, Knt.,
3rd Lord Talbot [see, for example, Blore, History & Antiqs. of
Rutland, Vol. 1, pt. 2 (1811): 164]. The Talbot affiliation appears
to be based on a Grey pedigree found in the 1619 Visitation of
Leicestershire (cited further below), which identifies Elizabeth as
“fil. Tho. Talbot” (that is, daughter of Thomas Talbot). The Thomas
Talbot in question is presumably Thomas Talbot, born c.1325, who was
the third surviving son of Richard Talbot (died 1328), of Richard’s
Castle, Herefordshire, by Joan, daughter and co-heiress of Hugh de
Mortimer [see Rees, Cal. of Ancient Petitions Rel. Wales (Board of
Celtic Studies, Hist. & Law Ser. 28) (1975): 326–327].
There are two pieces of evidence which support that Elizabeth, wife of
Henry de Grey, was a member of the Talbot family. First, there was
formerly an ancient monument in the church of Shirland, Derbyshire,
which monument is believed to have been that of Elizabeth’s husband,
Henry de Grey, 5th Lord Grey of Wilton, who died 22 April 1396. For a
description of this tomb, see Cox Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire
1 (1875): 333-336. Found at this tomb were some twenty-two
escutcheons which appear to have memorialized the marriages of the
various Lords Grey of Wilton. Presumably the person who prepared the
escutcheons was fully advised of Sir Henry de Grey’s ancestry and his
wife’s parentage. Included among the shields is one for Talbot, which
presumably represents Henry de Grey’s wife, Elizabeth’s family.
Second, the garter plate of William Grey, 13th Lord Grey of Wilton,
dated 1557 features a shield of arms containing ten quarterings, one
of the arms being that of Talbot (Gules, a lion rampant within a
bordure engrailed or) [see Notes & Queries 6th Ser. 10 (1884): 8–9].
The quartering of the Talbot arms would typically mean that if Lord
Grey’s ancestress, Elizabeth, wife of Henry de Grey, was a Talbot, she
was the daughter and heiress of a younger male member of the baronial
Talbot family. If so, then she can not have been the daughter of
Gilbert Talbot, 3rd Lord Talbot (as alleged in print), as he left
surviving male issue. Rather, she would appear to be the daughter of
Lord Talbot’s near male relative, Thomas Talbot, born c.1325, about
whom little is known.
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah