The Other Margaret Beaufort

Guest Post by Janet Reedman

Margaret Beaufort

The Beauforts were one of the most famous families during the Wars of the Roses. A bastard line from the relationship of John of Gaunt and his mistress, later wife, Katherine Swynford, they were legitimised but not considered eligible to claim the throne—although they did, in fact, do so, through Margaret Beaufort’s son, Henry Tudor.

That Margaret Beaufort is the most famous of the Beauforts, but not many know there was another Margaret Beaufort who lived at the same time and who had an oddly parallel life, up to a certain point. The two Margarets were first cousins. Margaret 1 was the daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and Margaret 2 was the daughter of John’s younger brother, Edmund, who became Duke, after John died in rather unhappy circumstances, with some hints he may have committed suicide. Both girls had mothers bearing the surname Beauchamp, and both married well, one to the half-brother of Henry VI, Edmund Tudor, and the other to Humphrey Stafford, son, and heir to Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham. Margaret 1 also married into the Staffords in her second marriage.

It is the second Margaret that is the subject of my recent novel, and she is not well known at all, despite her father Edmund being one of the main players in the Wars of the Roses. With Humphrey Stafford, she had two sons, Henry and Humphrey. The former was born the very year his father was seriously wounded at the Battle of St Alban’s. The second son must have been born before 1458, for in that year Humphrey died, possibly from the plague, possibly from his injuries (he never seems to appear in records after he was wounded.)

This left Margaret’s eldest son, Henry, as heir to the Duke of Buckingham, and young Henry became Duke when his grandfather was killed at the Battle of Northampton. Being just a child at the time, he ended up in the household of Edward IV’s Queen, Elizabeth Woodville, and married her sister Katherine at the grand old age of ten.

Margaret, like her more famous namesake, promptly married again after Humphrey’s demise, but this time to a little-known knight, Sir Richard Darell or Dayrell. Along with his brother, George, Richard Dayrell was periodically Sheriff of Wiltshire. The family was connected with Littlecote House, now a hotel, but one that allows outside visitors. It has an incredible Roman mosaic and other remains at the far end of the gardens.

Margaret’s life with Richard Dayrell is clouded in mystery. They had a daughter, also called Margaret, but there were rumours that all was not well with Margaret senior. For some time, she went to live with Richard’s mother in order to be ‘cared for’. While it is possible this was for the duration of her pregnancy, there have been later implications that Margaret may have been suffering some form of mental illness. One writer refers to her as an ‘imbecile.’ As she was unlikely to have been so when she married Humphrey Stafford (the Duke of Buckingham had a choice of several Beaufort daughters for his son but chose Margaret, although she was not even the eldest), what might have happened? Margaret lost her father to war, her first husband to illness/injury, and eventually all three of her brothers, again to warfare. Could she have been suffering severe depression, as it was rumoured of John Beaufort, her uncle? What makes the whole thing stranger is that her husband was reluctant to pay out the money his mother, Elizabeth Calston, had spent looking after Margaret. This turned into an ugly family situation. After Elizabeth’s death, her other son Alexander took his brother to court to reclaim the money.

Margaret lived to around 1474-6, so never saw her namesake cousin become ‘the King’s Mother.’ Nor did she, perhaps, fortunately, see her only living son, Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, become a rebel in the tumultuous events of 1483—perhaps wanting to take the throne himself (his claim was better than his kinsman Henry Tudor)—and end upon the block in Salisbury Market Square.

J.P. Reedman

BOOK LINK: THE OTHER MARGARET BEAUFORT

MEDIEVAL BABES series link: MEDIEVAL BABES series

Author Bio:

J.P. Reedman was born in Canada but has lived in the U.K. for 30 years.

Interests include folklore & anthropology, prehistoric archaeology (neolithic/bronze age Europe; ritual, burial & material culture), as well as The Wars of the Roses and the rest of the medieval era. J.P. is a full time author, best known for her works on lesser-known medieval women and on Richard III and Henry, Duke of Buckingham.