Catherine (Carey) Knollys (1524 - 1569)

Born 19 May 1524 in England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 15 Jan 1569 at age 44 in Hampton Court Palace, Richmond upon Thames, Surrey, England

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Biography

Catherine Carey was the first cousin of Queen Elizabeth I. She was nominally the daughter of William Carey and Mary Boleyn. Her mother Mary, was a mistress of Henry VIII before her sister, Anne Boleyn, married him and it was rumoured that Catherine was actually the king's daughter.^[1] Catherine never claimed such a relationship, and Queen Elizabeth never recognized Catherine as her half-sister. Only circumstantial evidence supports this assertion, although she was certainly one of Elizabeth's favourites.

On 26 April 1540 Catherine married the protestant courtier Sir Francis Knollys. It is believed that the two might have met in November 1539 as both appear in the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII. Francis is recorded as one of the men sent to greet the king’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, upon her arrival at Calais and Catherine is named as one of the young women delegated to meet Anne once she arrived at court. ^{[2] [3]}

Francis and Catherine's family grew prodigiously during the 1540s and 1550s. Their children, reputedly recorded in a family book by Francis Knolly's own hand, included: ^[4]

• Henry (1541)
• Mary (1542)
• Lettice (1543)
• William (1545)
• Edward (1546)
• Maud (1548)
• Elizabeth (1549)
• Robert (1550)
• Richard (1552)
• Francis (1553)
• Ann (1554)
• a child unbaptised (1557)
• Thomas (1558)
• Catherine (1559)
• Dudley (1562)

With the death of the young King, powerful factions worked to control the crown of England. Francis did not participate in the coup to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne, even though he was very concerned about Queen Mary's Catholic leanings. The idea of a Catholic England evidently repulsed Francis and so, with his twelve year old son Henry, he departed from Dover in Sep 1553 and made for Geneva. It is believed that they conducted a Protestant mission to meet with John Calvin. Francis and Henry had returned home by the autumn of 1554. ^[5][6] On 5 Feb 1555/6, under the orders of Mary Tudor, the first Protestant burnings took place in England putting Francis and his family in grave danger. In the summer of 1555 Francis once more left England for safety in Europe and by June of 1557 he, Catherine and five of their children were in the German city of Frankfurt. Where the other six children were is not known. ^[5]

Catherine returned to England by 14 Jan 1559/60, and became a lady of the privy chamber to Queen Elizabeth. Her status meant that she was to tend to the Queen's personal needs, sleep at the foot of her bed when required and help dress the Queen, among other duties. It was a position of intimacy and one which evidently Elizabeth I came to cherish. ^[7]

Catherine died at Hampton Court, still in the queen's attendance. At the time, Francis was guarding Mary, Queen of Scots, at Bolton Castle and had been forbidden by the Queen to return to Catherine's side. Queen Elizabeth, possibly out of a sense of guilt at keeping the couple apart, went on to pay for Catherine's lavish funeral which ultimately cost £640 2s.11d. ^[8]

Ten days after her death, her husband Francis wrote to the Privy Council expressing his grief:

My case is pitiful. For my wife disburdened me of many cares. She kept all the monuments of my public charges as well as my private accounts and now my children, my servants, and all other things are loosely left without good order.^[9]

There's a small plaque about Catherine in Westminster Abbey. (Although the plaque shows Catherine's death date as January 15, 1568, that date is "Old Style," and she actually died in 1569.) The Knollys Chapel at Saint Nicholas Church, Rotherfield Greys, Oxfordshire, contains a large tomb in which Catherine and Francis are buried. The tomb has effigies of Francis and Catherine, with individual figures of seven sons, six daughters and, probably, son William's wife. Eric Hardy has placed a number of coloured photos of the tomb on Flickr.

The epitaph on her memorial in the Chapel of St Edmund at Westminster Abbey reads: The Right Honourable Lady Catherine Knollys, chief Lady of the Queen's Majesty's Bedchamber, and Wife to Sir Francis Knollys, Knight, Treasurer of Her Highnesses Houshold, departed this Life the Fifteenth of January, 1568, at Hampton-Court, and was honourably buried in the Floor of this Chapel. This Lady Knollys, and the Lord Hunsdon her Brother, were the Children of William Caree, Esq; and of the Lady Mary his Wife, one of the Daughters and Heirs to Thomas Bulleyne, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde; which Lady Mary was Sister to Anne Queen of England, Wife to K. Henry the Eighth, Father and Mother to Elizabeth Queen of England.

Below it is a Latin verse which can be translated as: O, Francis, she who was thy wife, behold, Catherine Knolle lies dead under the chilly marble. I know well that she will never depart from thy soul, though dead. Whilst alive she was always loved by thee: living, she bore thee, her husband, sixteen children, equally female and male (that is, both gentle and valiant). Would that she had lived many years with thee and thy wife was now an old lady. But God desired it not. But he willed that thou, O Catherine, should await thy husband in Heaven. ^[10]

Research Notes

• In 1752 the calendar in England changed from old style to new style. Previous to 1752 the new year began on March 25th in 1752 it was changed and began January 1st. Dates prior to 1752 occurring between January 1st and March 24th will be recorded as dual years to reflect the change.

Sources

1. ↑ Sally Varlow, 2006. 'Knollys [née Carey], Katherine, Lady Knollys', (c. 1523–1569). Oxford Dictionary of Nationa; Biography, 2009. ODNB, https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/69747. Accessed 2 Jan 2020. (subscription required to view)
2. ↑ Dillard, Adrienne Catherine Carey: In a Nutshell MadeGlobal Publishing; Kindle Edition (10 October 2015) Amazon. com
3. ↑ Ridgeway, Claire The Anne Boleyn Files 26 April 2018 Anne Boleyn Files
4. ↑ Varlow, Sally Sir Francis Knollys's Latin dictionary: new evidence for Katherine Carey Historical Research, Volume 80, Issue 209, August 2007, Pages 315–323,Oxford Academic
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Nicola Tallis, Elizabeth's Rival: The Tumultuous Tale of Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester Michael O'Mara Books, 2 Nov 2017 Google Books
6. ↑ Knights of England Page 62
7. ↑ Merton, C. I. (1992). Women who served Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth : Ladies, Gentlewomen and Maids of the Privy Chamber, 1553-1603. (Doctoral thesis). https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.13844
8. ↑ Historical Manuscripts Commission, Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Rt. Hon. The Marquis of Salisbury preserved at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire [hereafter: Hatfield MSS.], (1883), Part I, p. 415; Historical Manuscripts Commission, Fourth Report of the Royal Commission of Historical Manuscripts [hereafter: Fourth Report], Part I, Report and Appendix, (1874), part I (appendix), p. 179; DNB XI, 278.
9. ↑ Adrienne Dillard, The Tumultuous Friendship of Sir Francis Knollys and Elizabeth I Tudor Times posted 16th November 2015 Tudor Times
10. ↑ Westminster Abbey

See Also

• Wikipedia: Catherine Carey
• Lady Katherine Carey Knollys on Find A Grave: Memorial #22630874 Retrieved 11:46, 20 February 2017 (EST).
• Visitation of Hertfordshire: Cary of Aldenham Page 136