Alice Norreys
Encyclopedia
Alice, Lady Norreys (c. 1405 – c. 1450) was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...

.

Alice was probably born at Yattendon Castle
Yattendon Castle
Yattendon Castle was a fortified manor house located in the civil parish of Yattendon, in the hundred of Faircross, in the English county of Berkshire.-History:...

, her family's Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

 seat. She was the daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Merbrook of Yattendon
Yattendon
Yattendon is a village and civil parish northeast of Newbury, Berkshire. The M4 motorway passes about south of the village.-Geography:Yattendon stretches from Everington in the west to the hamlet of Burnt Hill in the east and the woodland just east of Yattendon Court, including Mumgrove Copse,...

. She married Sir John Norreys around 1425 and the couple inherited Yattendon Castle
Yattendon Castle
Yattendon Castle was a fortified manor house located in the civil parish of Yattendon, in the hundred of Faircross, in the English county of Berkshire.-History:...

 about 1440. As well as Yattendon and Ockwells Manor in Bray
Bray, Berkshire
Bray, sometimes known as Bray on Thames, is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It stands on the banks of the River Thames, just south-east of Maidenhead. It is famous as the village mentioned in the song The Vicar of Bray...

, they spent much of their life resident in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 where Sir John was Master of the Wardrobe
Wardrobe (government)
The wardrobe, along with the chamber, made up the personal part of medieval English government known as the king's household. Its chief officer went under the title of Master or Keeper of the Great Wardrobe. As a result, the wardrobe often appropriated large funds from the exchequer, the main...

 to King Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...

. They had four children:
  • Sir William Norreys (1433-4 January 1507)
  • John Norreys, Sheriff
    High Sheriff
    A high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...

     of Oxfordshire
    Oxfordshire
    Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

     and Berkshire
    Berkshire
    Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

  • Agnes Norreys, married William Bulstrode of Upton
    Upton, Slough
    Upton is a suburb of Slough in Berkshire, England. Until the local government reforms of 1974 it was in Buckinghamshire. It was one of the villages that developed into the town.-History:...

     in Buckinghamshire
    Buckinghamshire
    Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

  • Lettice Norreys, married Sir John Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt
    Stanton Harcourt
    Stanton Harcourt is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about southeast of Witney and west of Oxford.-Archaeology:Within the parish of Stanton Harcourt is a series of paleochannel deposits buried beneath the second gravel terrace of the river Thames...

     in Oxfordshire


Alice was created a Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...

 in 1448. She died sometime after 1448 and was probably buried alongside her husband in the Norreys Chapel (of St. Nicholas) in Bray Church
Bray, Berkshire
Bray, sometimes known as Bray on Thames, is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It stands on the banks of the River Thames, just south-east of Maidenhead. It is famous as the village mentioned in the song The Vicar of Bray...

 in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

.

See also

  • List of Ladies of the Garter
  • Norreys
    Norreys
    Norreys may refer to various members of, or estates belonging to, a landed family chiefly seated in the English counties of Berkshire and Lancashire and the Irish county of Cork....

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