Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Question from Carole - Info and sources on Anne Bourchier

I am an amateur at genealogy and am in the process of learning how difficult it can be to get at the correct information for my family tree.

My questions are:

1.Where can I find information and sources for Anne Bourchier (b abt 1520 who married William Parr, Marquis of Northampton b. abt 1513) specific to her affair with a person by the name of John Lyngfield, AKA John Hunt, AKA John Huntley? He was supposedly Prior of St. James Church, Tanbridge, Surry.

2.Also her supposed marriage to a John York or John of York.

3.I would also be interested in knowing if her children retained the Parr surname.

Thank you in advance for your input.
Carole

3 comments:

Marilyn R said...

Have you seen the references to her on this site on July 27th 2009?
You might find useful references in the footnotes to William Parr in 'Complete Peerage' - these often are a good source of leads.

Lara said...

Here's the thread Marilyn is referring to: http://queryblog.tudorhistory.org/2009/07/question-from-marie-when-did-adultery.html

I should have checked before posting to see if she had come up before! That's what I get for trying to rely on my memory instead of just searching my own site. :)

kb said...

The best sources for women of the period start with the men in their lives. So, as Marilyn R suggests, start tracking down the sources for William Parr. The Complete Peerage is a good place to start - but spend some serious time in the footnotes for William Parr's entry. There's usually some good clues in the footnotes for the women.

Also, have you tried the parish/church records for the church John was associated with?

I have this note for William:
"William Parr, Marquess of Northampton, the brother of Queen Katherine had married Anne Bourchier, daughter to Henry, second Earl of Essex, in 1541. By 1547 he had sufficient doubt as to the paternity of her children to obtain an a mensa et thoro divorce and to have the offspring declared illegitimate by Parliamentary statute. Confused about his marital status, or so he claimed, the Marquess took a second wife while a Church commission was still deliberating about whether or not he could remarry during the lifetime of his first wife. Outraged by his action, the King's Council, following the advice of religious experts, ordered him to separate from his second spouse, Elizabeth Brooke, daughter to George, ninth Lord Cobham. In 1552 Northampton finally sought and won Parliamentary approval of the second union, a decision that was without precedent in England, for even Henry VIII had established the validity or the invalidity of his marriages by Church commissions." This is from Retha Warnicke ‘Women of the English Renaissance and Reformation’ p. 85.

I would suggest looking at the History Of Parliament records for the dates mentioned as well as church records. While it all may seem to be about William and his second wife, I would wager you could find some juicy bits about Anne and John as well.