Mother of the Maids was a position at the English royal court. The Mother of the Maids was responsible for the well-being and decorum of maids of honour, young gentlewomen in the household of a queen regnant or queen consort. [1]
Anne of Cleves brought a household with her to England, [2] and in 1540 "Mother Lowe" was the mother of the "Dowche Maydes". [3] Anne Poyntz was given a "billiment" head dress to wear at the coronation of Mary I of England, and took part in the Royal Entry. [4] At the coronation of Elizabeth I in 1559 there were six maids of honour under the Mother of the Maids. [5]
In 1632, the Mother of Maids, Ursula Beaumont, and six maids of honour at the court of Henrietta Maria took part in the masque The Shepherd's Paradise . [6] When one of the maids, Eleanor Villiers, a daughter of Edward Villiers, was pregnant, she, her partner Henry Jermyn, and Beaumont, Mother of the Maids, were imprisoned in the Tower of London. [7]
Jane Seymour was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was accused by King Henry VIII of adultery after failing to produce the male heir he so desperately desired. Jane, however, died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of her only child, the future King Edward VI. She was the only wife of Henry to receive a queen's funeral; and he was later buried alongside her remains in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, was the daughter of the Scottish queen dowager Margaret Tudor and her second husband Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and thus the granddaughter of Henry VII of England. She was the grandmother of James VI and I.
Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland, KB, PC was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1601 to 1622. He was created Viscount Falkland in the Scottish peerage in 1620. He was Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1622 until 1629.
William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh was an English courtier. As brother-in-law of the royal favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, he became involved in major political, military and diplomatic events during the latter part of the reign of James I and under Charles I.
Sir George Carew was an English diplomat, historian and Member of Parliament.
A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts.
Susan Michelle Doran FRHistS is a British historian whose primary studies surround the reign of Elizabeth I, in particular the theme of marriage and succession. She has published and edited sixteen books, notably Elizabeth I and Religion, 1558-1603, Monarchy and Matrimony and Queen Elizabeth I, the last part of the British Library's Historic Lives series.
Sir Edward Villiers was an English nobleman from Leicestershire and member of the Villiers family, whose younger half-brother George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, was a favourite of both James VI and I and his son Charles. Through his influence, Sir Edward gained various positions, including Master of the Mint, Member of Parliament for Westminster and Lord President of Munster. He died in Ireland in September 1626.
Joan Vaux, Lady Guildford, also known as Mother Guildford, was an English courtier who was the Lady Governess to the Princesses Margaret Tudor and Mary Tudor. She accompanied Mary Tudor to France when she married King Louis XII in 1514.
The Honourable Walter Stewart was a Scottish courtier, physician, and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1624 to 1625. He was the father of Frances Stewart, Duchess of Richmond, otherwise known as "La Belle Stuart".
John Poyntz was an English courtier and politician, Member of Parliament for Devizes in 1529.
Cecilia Crofts, courtier and maid of honour to Henrietta Maria, subject of poems.
George Kirke was a Scottish-born courtier and Member of Parliament for Clitheroe.
Anne Killigrew was a Lady in Waiting to Queen Henrietta Maria, and the first wife of George Kirke who was Groom of the Chamber to Charles I of England.
Thomazine or Thomasina or Thomasine Carew was an English courtier.
An inventory of the jewels of Mary I of England, known as Princess Mary or the Lady Mary in the years 1542 to 1546, was kept by her lady in waiting Mary Finch. The manuscript is now held by the British Library. It was published by Frederic Madden in 1831. Some pieces are listed twice. Two surviving drawings feature a ribbon with the inscription, "MI LADI PRINSIS". The British Library also has an inventory of the jewels she inherited on coming to the throne in 1553.
The coronation of Mary I as Queen of England and Ireland took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Sunday 1 October 1553. This was the first coronation of a queen regnant in England, a female ruler in her own right. The ceremony was therefore transformed. Ritual and costume were interlinked. Contemporary records insist the proceedings were performed "according to the precedents", but mostly these were provisions made previously for queens consort.
A chamberer was a female attendant of an English queen regnant, queen consort, or princess. There were similar positions in aristocratic households.
Margery Lyster or Lister, nee Horsman was an English courtier. She is known as a member of the households of three queens of England; Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.
Anne Poyntz was an English courtier who owned a significant collection of jewellery.