Elizabeth (Heron) Carr (1529 - 1553)

Born 1529 in Ford Castle, Northumberland, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 13 Jan 1553 at about age 24 in Ford Castle, Northumberland, England

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Biography

WikiTree.com -- Elizabeth Heron (c.1529 - 13 Jan 1553),^[1] was only six years old, when she inherited Ford Castle from her grandfather in 1535.^[2][3]

In 1540, the Scots burned most of the castle down ... except the tower defended by Thomas Carr, a younger son of the captain of Wark. It's said that this is the reason Elizabeth decided to marry him, but the union divided Northumberland into Carr and Heron factions in 1557^[4]... after casualties resulted from the not-so-legal decision to enforce the Heron's right for their male heirs -- namely George Heron of Chipchase or Alexander Heron of Meldon -- to the keep castle.^[2][5] But the feud was already in fully swing by 1553, and the violence continued until the end of Queen Mary's reign.^[5]

Intriguingly, it especially caused problems between Elizabeth's family, and her mother Margaret Forster ... who out-lived both her daughter, and son-in-law, Thomas Carr.^[6]

Margaret's family already had a long-running blood-feud with members of Carrs. In fact, her grandfather and his brothers got into a fight at Newham, where some of the Carrs died. It was so bad, her great-uncle Roger Forster, fled Northumberland, founding the Hunsden line of Forsters in Hertfordshire.^[3]

Long story short... Margaret turned around and took George Heron of Chipchase for a third husband. Naturally, he was set up to inherit the castle ... then reinforced by a posse of more than 30 men -- including Ralph Grey of Chillingham, the town mayor, and the treasurer -- to evict the Carrs on 27 Mar or 28 and 29 Apr 1557.^[2][5]

But the Carrs weren't so easy to take down, and the mayor and another Heron relative were killed at the scene, blowing the family feud into a county problem.^[2][3]

Tragically, Thomas Carr was murdered eights months later in January of 1558. And although the family feud was toned down by state intervention, it went on for at least another 20 years.^[7] But eventually, Ford Castle passed to the next generation by 1584, and landed in the hands of Elizabeth Heron's son, William Carr, Esq.^[2]

Parents

Margaret Forster and William Heron^[3]

Marriage

This profile is part of the Carr Name Study.

m.1 (Mar 1549) Thomas Carr of Etal and Ford (living 1520, 28 Apr 1557; Father: John Carr, Captain of Wark).^[2][8][3][9] Issue:^[3][5]

• William Carr, Esq. (b.1551)^[6]
• Ralph Carr of Howburne m. Jane Ogle
• Agnes
• Elizabeth

Sources

1. ↑ Smart, T.G. (1868). Genealogy of the descendants of the Prichards, formerly lords of Llanover, Monmouthshire, with an appendix of the pedigrees of the houses, with which that family intermarried, (pp.107-108). J. H. Meyers. archive.org.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, (1889). Proceedings, (Vol III, pp.348). South Shields. Google Books.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5} Tomlinson, W. W. (1897). Life in Northumberland during the sixteenth century, (Vol. 20, pp.118-120). Walter Scott. Google Books.
4. ↑ Families who sided with the Herons (Hodgson, Hodgson-Hinde & Bruce, 1858):
   • Forster
   • Fenwick
   • Ridley
   • Reveley
   • Selby
   • Grey
   • Shafto
   • Wallace
   • Muschamp
   • Burrell
   • Rutherford
   • Lord Wharton (warden)
   Carr's supporters:
   • Collingwood
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3} *Hodgson, J. Hodgson-Hinde, J. & Bruce, J.C. (1858). A history of Northumberland in Three Parts, (pp.367-368). Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne. E. Walker. Google Books.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} *Betham, William (1804). The Baronetage of England, Or the History of the English Baronets, and Such Baronets of Scotland, as are of English Families: With Genealogical Tables, and Engravings of Their Armorial Bearings, Vol. 4. pp.38. Google Books.
7. ↑ Heron, George (by 1515-75), of Chipchase, Northumb.www.historyofparliamentonline.org
8. ↑ Foster, J. (1891). The Royal Lineage of Our Noble and Gentle Families (principally Devonians), (Vol 3, pp. 860). N.p. Google Books.
9. ↑ p. John Carr of Hetton m.1 Margaret Collingwood; Thomas became known as Thomas Carr of Etal and Ford after their marriage (Thomas, 1890); "probably killed with Christopher Clavering by Christopher and Edward Horsely"

• Heron, George (by 1515-75), of Chipchase, Northumb. History of Parliament Online. [1]
• Thomas, W.B. (1890). "Descent of Smart of Trewhitt, Co. Northumberland from Heron, Carr, and Alder," (pp.88). The genealogist, VI. Keith W. Murray, ed. London : George Bell & Sons. archive.org.