Elizabeth (Wriothesley) Montagu (1646 - 1690)

Born 1646 in Titchfield, Hampshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of Ralph Montagu — married 24 Aug 1673 (to 19 Sep 1690) in Titchfield, Hampshire, England

Descendants

Died 19 Sep 1690 at about age 44 in Walden, Northamptonshire, England

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Biography

Elizabeth (Wriothesley) Montagu is Notable.

Elizabeth Wriothesley was born in 1646 ^[1] at Titchfield Abbey in Hampshire, daughter of Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton and his second wife, Elizabeth Leigh. Her mother died in 1658 and the following year her father married Frances Seymour.

Elizabeth was married to Josceline Percy ^[2] son of Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland, and his wife, Elizabeth Howard. They had two children, Elizabeth born in 1667 and Henry, who died an infant, born in 1668. One of the Windsor Beauties and painted several times by Sir Peter Lely, she was also thought beautiful by that connoisseur of good-looking women, Samuel Pepys. ^[3] The Earl of Northumberland died on the 13th of October 1668 and Josceline succeeded as 11th Earl of Northumberland; ^[4] Elizabeth became his Countess. She travelled with her husband to Turin in Italy and it was there that he took ill and died ^[1] on the 19th of May 1670. ^[5]

Reputedly worth £6,000 a year Elizabeth was the most desirable matrimonial catch of the time wooed by many including Harry Saville, but it was rumoured that she aspired to marry the widowed James Duke of York, ^{[6] [7]} brother and heir of Charles II, however when she married again it was to Ralph Montagu ^[8] son of Edward Montagu and his wife, Anne Winwood. They were married at Titchfield on the 24th of August 1673 ^{[6] [9]}but whether privately in the Abbey or publicly in the village church where her ancestors were buried in not known. Together they had four children despite what was said to have been a turbulent marriage.

Elizabeth died on the 19th of September 1690. ^{[9] [1]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Wikipedia: Elizabeth Percy, Countess of Northumberland
2. ↑ Genealogical Memoirs of the Extinct Family of Chester and Chicheley Page 145
3. ↑ Diary of Samuel Pepys 31 March 1667 "...walked to my Lord Treasurer's house.......Here I saw the Lady Northumberland and her daughter-in-law, my Lord Treasurer's daughter, my Lady Piercy, a beautiful lady indeed. "
4. ↑ Wikipedia: Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland
5. ↑ Wikipedia: Josceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 38 Montagu, Ralph by Charles Harding Firth
7. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for Ralph Montagu:Edward Charles Metzger, ‘Montagu, Ralph, first duke of Montagu (bap. 1638, d. 1709)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 11 Dec 2016
8. ↑ British History online: Newnham Regis
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} The Peerage.com Lady Elizabeth Wriothesley Cites: Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003