Catherine (Carey) Howard (bef. 1545 - 1603)

Born before 1545 in England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 24 Feb 1603 after age 58 in Westminster, Middlesex, England

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Biography

Catherine Carey was a member of the aristocracy in England.

Catherine Carey was an English noblewoman and courtier, born between 1540 and 1545 as the daughter of Henry Carey, later 1st Baron Hunsdon, and his wife Anne Morgan.^[1]

Her father was a first cousin of the Princess Elizabeth and by 1551 was a gentleman of her household, while her mother was a granddaughter of Blanche Herbert, who had been a lady to the princess until 1546. When Elizabeth became Queen of England at the end of 1558, the two Careys were treated as members of the extended royal family. Their daughter Catherine, who had possibly been a member of the princess' household before 1558, in 1560 was appointed a gentlewoman of the privy chamber and was on close terms with the unmarried queen.^[1]

In 1563 Catherine married Charles Howard, who in 1573 became 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham and in addition was made 1st Earl of Nottingham in 1597. On going to sea against the Spanish Armada in 1588, he made her executor of his will. Already presiding over the ladies of the privy chamber by 1579, she was the most senior of the queen's gentlewoman by 1589. She was entrusted with some of the queen's jewels and was given the manor of Chelsea in Middlesex. The influence of her family at court increased, as her father, husband, brother, and sister all held appointments.^[1]

Her health went into decline at the end of 1601 and she died in Westminster on 24 Feb 1603. Badly affected by the loss of her closest friend, the queen herself died on 24 Mar 1603. Catherine was buried at Chelsea on 25 Apr 1603 and her husband remarried in 1604.^[1]

They had five known children:

• William Howard,^[1] Baron Howard of Effingham, who married Ann St John.
• Charles Howard,^[1] 2nd Earl of Nottingham, who married first Charity White and secondly Mary Cockayne.
• Elizabeth Howard, the Queen's goddaughter, ^[1] who married first Robert Southwell and secondly John Stewart.
• Frances Howard, who married first Henry FitzGerald and secondly Henry Brooke.
• Margaret Howard, who married Richard Leveson.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} Simon Adams, “Howard [née Carey], Katherine, countess of Nottingham (1545x50–1603)” in “Oxford Dictionary of National Biography”, 03 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/67994 (accessible to members of subscribing libraries)

See also

• Leveson-Gower, G, The Howards of Effingham. in “Surrey Archaeological Collections: Relating to the History and Antiquities of the County”, Volume 9, Guildford, 1888, p. 402-404 [1]
• “Cary of Aldenham” in “Visitation of Hertfordshire”, page 136 [2]