Biography
Born Elizabeth Beaumont, she was the eldest child of Sir Thomas Beaumont (brother of Huntingdon Beaumont) and his wife, Catherine. [1] [2] On 27 November 1594 she married John Ashburnham (knighted in 1604) at Stoughton, Leicestershire, and they had ten children including John Ashburnham (MP). Their daughter, Elizabeth, was the first wife of Frederick Cornwallis, 1st Baron Cornwallis. [1] [3]
Sir John's death in 1620 left the family in financial difficulty, but Lady Ashburnham was considerably influential at court due to Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham (mother of King James's favourite, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham) being her cousin. She procured a baronetcy for her son-in-law, Edward Dering, in 1627 and a letter to Buckingham, that year, indicates she enjoyed the company of his wife, Katherine, of Lady Carlisle and of Queen Henrietta Maria. [4] [5]
On 14 December 1626 Lady Ashburnham married Sir Thomas Richardson (later Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales) at St Giles in the Fields. [1] Through his influence, she was created Lady Cramond in the Peerage of Scotland, on 29 February 1628 (with a special remainder to her stepson, Thomas and the issue of his body), an event which elicited 'many gibes and pasquinades...for the amusement of Westminster Hall'. [1] [6] On 9 September 1629, she was granted an annual pension of £300 for the duration of her life. [7]
John Ashburnham was an English courtier, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1640 and 1667. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War and was an attendant on the King.
Elizabeth, Lady Coke, was an English court office holder. She served as lady-in-waiting to the queen consort of England, Anne of Denmark. She was the daughter of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, and Dorothy Neville, and the granddaughter of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. She was the wife of Sir William Hatton and later of Sir Edward Coke.
The title of Lord (of) Cramond was a title in the nobility of Scotland. It was created on 23 February 1628 for Dame Elizabeth Richardson. She was married to Sir Thomas Richardson, the second marriage for both, and had no children together. The remainder for the title was to Sir Thomas's heirs, rather than to her own children from her first marriage. Thus, Lady Cramond's eldest son John Ashburnham was not eligible to succeed his mother.
Sir Thomas Richardson of Honingham in Norfolk, was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1622. He was Speaker of the House of Commons for this parliament. He was later Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and Chief Justice of the King's Bench.
Sir George Villiers was an English knight and country gentleman. He was a High Sheriff of Leicestershire for the year 1591, and later was briefly a Knight of the Shire, a Member of Parliament representing the county of Leicestershire.
Sir Edward Dering, 1st Baronet (1598–1644) of Surrenden Dering, Pluckley, Kent, was an English antiquary and politician.
Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham was a British peeress. She is perhaps best known as the mother of the royal favourite George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. She was the daughter of Anthony Beaumont of Glenfield, Leicestershire, a direct descendant of Henry de Beaumont, and his wife Anne Armstrong, daughter of Thomas Armstrong of Corby.
Frederick Cornwallis, 1st Baron Cornwallis was an English peer, MP and Privy Counsellor. He was Treasurer of the Household 1660–1662. He was the eldest surviving son of Sir William Cornwallis of Brome, Suffolk, and his second wife, Jane. After his father's death, his mother married Sir Nathaniel Bacon.
There have been four baronetcies created for members of the ancient House of Beaumont, all in the Baronetage of England. All four creations are extinct or dormant.
Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis of Eye was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1662 when he inherited the peerage as Baron Cornwallis.
Anne Douglas, Countess of Morton, born Anne Villiers, was an English noblewoman, famed for her beauty, bravery and loyalty to the throne. The first half of the 17th-century closet drama Cicilia and Clorinda was dedicated to her.
Jane, Lady Cornwallis, later Lady Bacon, was an English courtier and letter writer, whose correspondence was published.
Christopher Villiers, 1st Earl of Anglesey, known at court as Kit Villiers, was an English courtier, Gentleman of the Bedchamber and later Master of the Robes to King James I. In 1623 he was ennobled as Earl of Anglesey and Baron Villiers of Daventry.
Thomas Richardson, 2nd Lord Cramond of Honingham Hall, Norfolk was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1674.
John Villiers was an English courtier from the Villiers family. The eldest son of Sir George Villiers and Mary Beaumont, later Countess of Buckingham, he was the brother of King James I's favourite, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.
Sir Thomas Beaumont of Stoughton Grange, Leicestershire, was an English Member of Parliament for Leicester.
Frances Coke, Viscountess Purbeck, was the sister-in-law of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, and the central figure in a notable sex scandal within the English aristocracy of the early 17th century that was known at the time as "the Lady Purbeck’s business".
Villiers is an aristocratic family in the United Kingdom. Over time, various members of the Villiers family were made knights, baronets, and peers. Peerages held by the Villiers family include the dukedoms of Buckingham (1623–1687) and Cleveland (1670–1709), as well as the earldoms of Anglesey (1623–1661), Jersey, and Clarendon. Perhaps the most prominent members of the family were those who received the two dukedoms: George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592–1628) rose to fame and influence as favourite of King James I of England, while Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland (1640–1709) became a mistress of King Charles II of England, by whom she had five children.
Sir Ambrose Turvile, (1581-1628), Courtier and cupbearer to Anne of Denmark.
