CP Correction: Marriage Date of Margaret Beaufort & Thomas Stanley
Douglas Richardson
Complete Peerage gives an account of the marriage of Margaret Beaufort
(mother of King Henry VII) to her third husband, Thomas Stanley, later
Earl of Derby, under both Derby (vol. 4, pg. 207) and Richmond (vol.
10, pg. 827). In the former account, it is stated that Margaret and
her 3rd husband were married in 1482 (before November) but no source
is cited for this date. In the latter account, it is stated that the
couple were married "before October 1473," citing as its source, Rolls
of Parliament, vol. vi, pg. 77. In a footnote to the Richmond account
(which was published some years after the Derby account), the reader
is instructed to ignore the 1482 date found in the Derby account.
Elsewhere, I find in the corrections volume of Complete Peerage (vol.
14), the editor of that work points out that the marriage date cited
in the Richmond account ("before October 1473") is correct (see pp.
251, 545), presumably because it is properly sourced.
It would appear, however, that Margaret Beaufort and Thomas Stanley
were actually married by September 1472. The following quote
regarding this couple is found in Welsh History Review, vol. 14
(1998), pg. 8:
"An interesting illustration of this is provided by a receiver's
account for Thomas Stanley's lordship of Hawarden in 1472-73. It
records Lord Stanley and his second wife, Margaret Beaufort, countess
of Richmond, staying at the castle for four days in September 1472.
They were accompanied by all of Stanley's brothers, Wiliam, James, and
John."
A footnote on the same page gives the source of the 1472-3 account
roll as being Liverpool City Library, 920/M00/1091.
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
E-mail: royala...@msn.com
Douglas Richardson
Since my initial post regarding the marriage date of Margaret Beaufort
and her 3rd husband, Thomas Stanley, I've had a chance to examine the
modern biography of Margaret Beaufort written by Michael K. Jones
entitled "The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of
Richmond and Derby," published in 1992.
Mr. Jones appears to have surveyed a wide swath of original materials
regarding the life of Margaret Beaufort, including many unpublished
documents found in the archives of St. John's College, Cambridge. As
such, he presumably had access to various documents which were not
accessed by the person(s) who prepared the Derby and Richmond accounts
found in Complete Peerage.
Regarding the marriage of Margaret Beaufort and Thomas Stanley, Mr.
Jones has the following to say:
pp. 58-59: "A carefully worked out marriage contract guaranteed her
a yearly income of 500 marks from Stanley's estates in Cheshire and
north Wales. The marriage took place at one of Stanley's Lancashire
residences, possibly Knowsley, early in June 1472 [Footnote 70: The
marriage had taken place between the drawing up of Margaret's will, on
2 June 1472, and the arranging of the marriage settlement on 12 June
(SJC, D56.195, 200). The couple's relationship is discussed in
greater detail in Chapter 5,144-160]. END OF QUOTE.
As we can see, Jones narrows the date of Margaret Beaufort's marriage
to Thomas Stanley as having taken place between 2 and 12 June 1472.
These two dates come from an early will of Margaret Beaufort dated 2
June 1472, and the marriage settlement between her and Thomas Stanley
dated 12 June 1472. Both of these documents are found in the archives
of St. John's College, Cambridge, which source he calls SJC.
Jones further includes an account of Margaret Beaufort's trip to
Hawarden Castle with her husband, Thomas Stanley, in September 1472,
which trip was mentioned in my earlier post:
pg. 146: "In September 1472 Margaret accompanied her husband and his
three younger brothers as they traveled from Lathom to Chester and
then to Hawarden, where the party stayed for four days [Footnote 27:
Liverpool City Library, 920/MOO/1091]. END OF QUOTE.
Given the specific nature of these documents, it is clear that Michael
Jones has correctly identified the approximate date of Margaret
Beaufort's 3rd marriage to Thomas Stanley as being 2/12 June 1472.
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
E-mail: royala...@msn.com
royala...@msn.com (Douglas Richardson) wrote in message news:<5cf47a19.03100...@posting.google.com>...