FOOTNOTES:
[93] A copy is preserved by the Society of Antiquaries.
XXV
SIR ANDREW DUDLEY AND LADY MARGARET CLIFFORD, 1553
The Dudley, who with Empson, served Henry VII rather too eagerly in filling the coffers of the State, was sacrificed in the first year of Henry VIII to the resentment of the people. He left three sons, John, Andrew, and Jerome, plain Dudleys. The aspiring ambitions of the eldest were successful beyond his early hopes, and he had worked himself up through all the grades of nobility to the highest place, and greatest power in the land, by the first half of 1553.
The Dudleys were a united family, both through affection and common interests, and John helped his brother Andrew as much as he could, to add to his own strength in Edward’s reign. So plain Andrew Dudley was made Admiral of the Fleet of the North on 27th February 1546-7, and knighted shortly afterwards. He was also made Keeper of Westminster Palace, October 1560, Master of the Robes, and Captain of Guisnes. He did not share in the greater honours the Privy Councillors bestowed on each other on 11th October 1551, when his brother John, then Earl of Warwick, was made Duke of Northumberland. But in 1552-3 Sir Andrew Dudley was made Knight of the Garter, and it became evident that his elder brother meant to shower more honours on him should he himself be successful in his skilfully prepared coup d’état. An old Earl of Warwick had been surnamed “the Kingmaker”; this Dudley, Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland, might have been surnamed the Queenmaker. By a curious coincidence, all the possible heirs to the throne at that time were women. Northumberland arranged to set aside the will of Henry VIII, in so far as it affected the succession of Mary and Elizabeth, on the ground that their father had determined their illegitimacy in Acts of Parliament which had never been repealed; he followed that will in excluding from succession the Scottish Queen, and he persuaded Edward VI to make a will for himself settling the crown on the heirs of his Aunt Mary, Duchess of Suffolk, younger sister of Henry VIII. Mary had left two daughters, Frances, now Duchess of Suffolk, and Ellinor, late Countess of Cumberland. It has never been explained how Northumberland managed to persuade the Duchess of Suffolk to allow herself to be passed over during her lifetime. But he arranged it somehow, that her eldest daughter, the Lady Jane Grey, should be the chosen heir to Edward’s throne. When he thought he had settled this, he married the Lady Jane to his eldest unmarried son, the Lord Guilford Dudley, and gave her two younger sisters to his friends. The story of the disasters brought thereby on all concerned is universally known.
But it is not so well known that Northumberland’s far-reaching vision had seen and settled with further possible royal successions, and he betrothed his brother Andrew to the sole daughter and heir of Ellinor, Countess of Cumberland. The bare fact is mentioned in the D.N.B., and in some other authorities (not in all). A hitherto unnoted suit has turned up at the Record Office among the uncalendared proceedings of the Court of Requests of Elizabeth, which provides much fuller tragi-romantical details. This is a suit instituted by Sir Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, to secure possession of all his uncle Andrew’s goods, as executor of his will. Ellinor, daughter of Mary, Duchess of Suffolk, had married Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland; and it says much for the power and influence of the Duke of Northumberland in 1553 that he should have made the noble Earl content to give his well-dowered daughter Margaret, great-granddaughter of Henry VII, to a middle-aged landless knight, a widower to boot. The fair young girl, if the D.N.B. is correct in the date of her birth (which it gives as 1540), would be but thirteen years old, though it seems from her examinations later, she was a year or two older. The inclination of the lady is nowhere referred to. It is barely possible there may have been some feelings of affection between the apparently incongruous pair. She may have
Loved him for the dangers he had passed,
And he loved her that she did pity them.
They were duly betrothed, and arrangements proceeded. The earliest preserved reference is in “A Warrant to Sir Andrew Dudley, as Master of the Wardrobe, to take for the Lady Margaret Clifford, daughter to the Earl of Cumberland, and to himself for their wedding apparel, sundry silks and jewels, 8th June, 7 Ed. VI, 1553, M. S. Reg. 18, cxxiv. f. 364.”
On 12th June of the same year a letter was dictated by the Privy Council in favour of Sir Andrew Dudley, concerning a marriage to be concluded “at the King’s request,” but the address is not given in the register. So by the middle of June 1553, Sir Andrew Dudley was gaily preparing for his wedding with the second cousin of the King, a girl who, by the new scheme of the succession, stood next in the line of inheritance of the throne after the Lady Jane Grey and her two sisters.
The Earl of Cumberland had shunned Court life since the death of his wife Ellinor, and had lived with his young daughter at Skipton Castle, in Craven, Yorkshire. He was loth to part with his daughter, even had Sir Andrew had a suitable home to which to take her. Therefore it had been arranged that the bride and bridegroom should reside with the Earl at Skipton, at least for a time. Sir Andrew sent rich gifts of jewels and clothing, collected all his best plate and furniture, and even borrowed some from his friends to adorn the suite of rooms they should dwell in. He seems to have had faithful and capable servants. Oswald Wilkinson, of the city of York, had been gentleman porter at Guisnes when Sir Andrew was in command there; he left when his master left, and followed him to Ireland, where he served him during the last year of Edward VI. And now Sir Andrew sent this trusty servant in charge with sixteen or seventeen others to convey his treasures north to his bride. Among other things there were:
Three cupboards furnished with plate, with a garnish of vessels silver gilt, a Venetian cup with a cover pounced, a salt with certain stones set therein, and one or two pieces of small plate which were thought to be all pure gold.... Also much goodly apparel, both for him and for her, three or more suits apiece, two of them of gold and silver tinsel, the rest of velvet and satin, with buttons and aglets of gold. As for money, none went with them, save a little purse of gold and silver strange coins, in value about £10.
Oswald Wilkinson and Alexander Harrison were present at the unpacking, and thought the things would be worth at least £3,000. Wilkinson made two copies of the inventory, with rough valuation, in the presence of Lady Margaret Clifford, Lady Conyers, Sir Ingram Clifford, James Banks and William Danby, gentleman servants to the Earl, and Mrs. Brograve, gentlewoman to Lady Margaret. Wilkinson signed one of the inventory-books, and gave it to the Lady Margaret, she signed the other, and gave it to him to keep till his master came. The Lady waited for her Lord in the Northern Tower, with the keys of the plate cupboards, the clothes chests, and the jewel coffers in her pocket, while the faithful henchman of her future husband kept the keys of the treasure chamber. They seem to have remained at Skipton nearly three weeks, during the first part of which time Sir Andrew was winding up his affairs, realizing his money, and preparing to follow his wedding gifts to his future home.
But the young King died too soon; too soon for Northumberland, for he had not yet had the Royal Will ratified by his submissive Parliament; too soon for Sir Andrew, for he had not yet wed his lady. Edward’s death was concealed from the outer world for a day or two, while Northumberland and the Council prepared their plans. Then followed an anxious week for the country. But in Skipton Castle there was a special dread. New rulers had sometimes a way of getting rid of collateral connections.
Northumberland and the Council proclaimed the Lady Jane as Queen, and arranged that the Duke of Suffolk should go forth to deal with Mary. But the only Royal action the poor little Queen Jane was ever allowed to do of her own free will, was to insist that her father should stay with her in the Tower, a decision by which she helped to save his life in the first instance. So Northumberland perforce had to go himself, and all his family supported him. He got as far as Cambridge, his forces deserting as he went. The unexpected courage of Mary, the ready response it met, turned the tide of events. The Council he had left behind him in London, bound with an oath to Jane, proclaimed Mary. Northumberland tried to save himself also by proclaiming her in Cambridge. But he was too late. All the Dudley family were arrested, Sir Andrew among them, so he never reached his bride and his treasure waiting for him in Skipton Tower, but was hurried to the Tower of London, in by the Traitor’s Gate.
The Earl of Cumberland had been sitting on the fence. When he heard that Mary had been proclaimed in York, he dropped on the safe side, and to show his love and loyalty took the keys of her treasures from his fair daughter, the keys of the chamber from Dudley’s servants, with both the inventories, and took possession of the property in the name of Queen Mary!
No affronted Sovereign, backed by her people, could afford to pass by treason so determined. Northumberland and some of his chief supporters fell at once. The Baga de Secretis records, under the date of 19th August 1553, the attainder of Sir Ambrose Dudley, Henry Dudley, Esquire, Sir Andrew Dudley, Sir John and Sir Henry Gate, “for levying war against the Queen, and asserting the title of the Lady Jane on the 18th and 19th July, and for taking their way towards Framlingham Castle, to deprive the Queen of her Royal Dignity.” They were all condemned. But Mary was wonderfully merciful. She pardoned the Dudleys, she even released the Duke of Suffolk, father of her rival, because confinement did not agree with his health.
There was an investigation into the traitors’ goods. Oswald Wilkinson was sent to the Tower, on the charge of carrying his master’s goods to Skipton, and he was kept there till the inventories were sent for and gone into. Early in 1554 Sir Andrew Dudley “was created loyal subject, and enabled to take, receive, and enjoy all manner of gifts of land, goods, and household stuff henceforth to him given.” That was cold comfort to a man past his prime, now without place or influence or friends to give him aught. And he wanted his bride. He sent up humble petitions for relief. By-and-by, “the King and Queen, moved with pity, by their letters patent under the Great Seal, granted him all such goods and chattels as had belonged to him on the 22nd July, 1553,” which had afterwards belonged to the King and Queen, and gave him full power and authority “to prosecute all actions or suits or executions concerning the goods, money, debts, against all and every person deteyning them, and in peace quietly to have and enjoy them, as if Sir Andrew Dudley had never been attainted of treason.” But this concession came too late.
We must turn back to note what the Cliffords had been doing. Sir Andrew being in the Tower, the Earl of Cumberland came to London, and handed over his Collar of the Garter into the Queen’s own hands, and some other jewels to the Queen’s Commissioners, Lord Rich and Mr. Potts, and on 6th September 1553, it was agreed that the Earl should keep the rest of Sir Andrew’s goods, on paying £500 into the Exchequer. Mary was very cordial to the Earl, but warned him that he must not marry his daughter except to one approved of by herself. It would almost seem that she suggested Henry, Lord Strange, son and heir of the Earl of Derby. At least the smiles of royalty brightened this wedding. The Queen presented the bride with a brooch of thirteen diamonds, all the household linen, and all the robes which had belonged to Sir Andrew Dudley. It is probable the Lady Margaret Clifford wore at her marriage to Lord Strange on 7th February 1554-5, the very robes of gold and silver tinsel Sir Andrew had received from the Royal wardrobe for his own intended wedding in June 1553. The Queen made a great feast at Court on the occasion of the marriage. There were jousts, in which King Philip himself took part, and “after supper there was the Juego de Cañas,” a Spanish game, in which he led. The Queen was anxious, a presentiment of evil weighed her down, and she more than once sent to beg the King not to expose himself so much. Her suspicion of a lurking danger was well founded. There was already widespread discontent with the Spanish marriage, the religious severities had increased this, and on the 4th of February, only three days before this gay wedding, John Rogers, the first Marian martyr, had been burned at the stake amid the murmurs of the people. The State Papers tell us that a secret band of conspirators had appointed William Hunnis, Allday, Cornwall, and others to the number of twelve, to kill the King, and after him the Queen, that very night. But though these elements of danger mingled in the gay crowd nothing was done. “A cautious consideration of the risks run by themselves put the conspirators out of stomach for the enterprise.” So the Lady Margaret Clifford was safely married to the Catholic Lord Strange; and after the festivities were all over the Queen’s pity turned to her former fiancé, and he was made capable of holding property and demanding debts. The first thing he did was to send his former servant, Alexander Harrison, to York to meet Oswald Wilkinson, and go with him to Skipton Castle to demand back his (Sir Andrew’s) wedding provision. But the Earl refused unless they paid him £500. They had it not to pay. The Earl refused even to give them some necessary pieces of plate for Sir Andrew’s use, worth in all about £40, which they earnestly requested. Poor Sir Andrew never saw either his bride or his property again. He was in a sad plight. He had lost all Court influence through his brother’s death, he was not so young or so astute as his nephews. He became suspected of being concerned in the plot held together by John Throckmorton, the Ashtons, and Henry Dudley (not his nephew). He might have sympathized with it, but nothing was proved against him. After a year filled with trials and executions in connection with this conspiracy Sir Andrew Dudley fell ill. He thought he was going to die, and made his will on 21st July 1556, leaving many legacies to be paid out of debts due to him, and appointing as overseers his nephews, Ambrose, afterwards Earl of Warwick, Robert, afterwards Earl of Leicester, and Henry, not the conspirator. The broken man did not then die. A new path to promotion might have been found for him in the new reign, through his nephews. But he died in the first year of Elizabeth at Westminster. His will was proved on 22nd November 1559, by Sir Robert Dudley. Thence arose the suit in the Court of Requests, which has preserved so many details. Sir Robert could not settle the legacies without securing the debts, so he exhibited a Bill of Complaint against the Earl of Cumberland, the chief debtor. The complaint itself is lost, but it is easy to reconstruct it (excepting the date) from the other papers. In an undated answer the Earl denied that the Lord Robert Dudley had any right to demand goods lawfully forfeited, minimized the amount and value of the goods, but acknowledged having:
One purse of 29 pieces of gold and 11 pieces of new money; divers apparels, as shirtes, petycotes, trusses, doublets of taffaty and satin, hoses of velvet and saten, jerkyns, clokes, and gowns of velvet and satin with aglets of gold, jackets of cloth of gold, cote of silver, velvet, and satin, hankerchers, certain plate double gilt, parcel gilt, white plate, one cup of gold, and certain pewter and glass.
The Queen became possessed of all, kept the jewels, and bargained the other goods to him for £500, as may be seen by a privy seal. The Replication of Lord Robert Dudley (also undated) declared the answer insufficient. The Earl of Cumberland in the first instance was not an official of the Queen’s, and had no right to seize the goods. They were not in his keeping, but in the keeping of the Lady Margaret. He never paid that £500 to the Exchequer, and had no receipt for it. Dudley was able to prove the goods were worth £4,500. Sir Andrew had a patent granted him to sue for all debts.
In the rejoinder the Earl said he knew of Sir Andrew’s patent, but before it was granted the Queen had seized the goods, detained some, sent some to the Lady Strange, and sold the remainder to him for £500. It is true that he did not pay this directly. But the Lord Strange owed him £500, and paid it for him. A commission was appointed to hear witnesses at Westminster, and they heard Lord Robert Dudley’s on 10th December 1560. The most important was Oswald Wilkinson, who stated all the facts above, and added that they could not have altered the inventory without his knowing it. Thomas Greene, of Adlyngton, co. Cheshire, another old servant, spoke to sums of money Sir Andrew had possessed. Alexander Harrison, while supporting Wilkinson, added that he had received from Sir Henry Sidney through James Shelley £1,300 for Sir Andrew Dudley at Petty Callys in Westminster in the last year of Edward VI. The Earl kept all the goods and inventories and everything except the four horses he and his fellows rode on. William Garrat and William Clark, gentlemen, of Westminster, former servants, supported the depositions of their fellows, and Hugh Briscowe had seen the book of payments for all Sir Andrew’s property, and heard him confess it on his death-bed. He knew Sir Andrew had sent in a Supplication against the Earl to the late Queen in the Court of Requests. John Cogges had packed all the property and had heard it estimated at £5,000.
The Earl’s witnesses were not examined till 3rd February 1561-2, Christopher Monckton, William Danby, and others, who really supported Dudley’s witnesses. On the same day, the 3rd of February 1561-2, the noble witness the Lady Margaret Strange was called. She gave her age as twenty-four, and thus the D.N.B. would seem to be out by two years in the date of her birth. She supported the depositions of the Dudley servants clearly and fully, and signed her deposition in her beautiful clear, careful handwriting, “Margaret Strange.” From the Book of Decrees and Orders one can gather that some private arrangement was come to after all. Lord Robert Dudley was becoming ever more powerful with the Queen, and the Earl of Cumberland would doubtless have to climb down. And the Lady Margaret Strange, who was not very happy with her Lord, became, on his father’s death, the Countess of Derby, survived her husband, and, it is said, communed with soothsayers, who promised her that her son should be King. That son resisted the suggestion, and she saw him struck down by poison given, it was said, by disappointed Jesuits. Her second son became Earl, and kept himself safe and secluded from worldly ambitions, “writing only comedies for the common players”; and she, out of favour in Elizabeth’s suspicious Court,[94] because of her dreams of a Royal succession, ended her life in gloom in 1596. (See Camden’s “Annals,” p. 470.)
“The Yorkshire Post,” 26th August 1912.