Helena, Marchioness of Northampton
Encyclopedia
Elin Ulfsdotter Snakenborg, Marchioness of Northampton, also known as Helena, and Helena the Red for her red hair, (c 1549 – 10 April 1635) was a Swedish-born noblewoman, Maid of Honour of Queen Elizabeth I of England
, and titular Marchioness of Northampton
.
, king of Sweden. By all accounts, Helena was a beautiful woman, with large brown eyes, red hair, and a pink and white complexion. She was described as having a strong will and independent mind.
Helena had two brothers and three sisters who survived childhood and had children of their own. Helena was baptized and given the name of her paternal grandmother, Elin Ulfsdotter of the Norwegian house of Sudreim, and her paternal grandfather's grandmother, another Elin Snakenborg. The name Snakenborg was taken from Helena's paternal grandfather's paternal grandmother, the said Elin Henriksdotter Snakenborg, whose patrilineal ancestors were originally from Mecklenburg. Also Helena's mother seems to have been a descendant of Agnes of Borgarsyssel, natural daughter of Haakon V of Norway
.
Contrary to claims presented in some genealogies, Marchioness Helena's ancestry has not been proven to include medieval Viking Earls of Orkney. And also contrary to claims in some genealogies, she seems not to have descended from the sister of St Bridget of Sweden
.
, Margravine of Baden, second-eldest daughter of King Gustav I. Cecilia and her retinue departed Sweden in Autumn 1564 on a voyage to England, at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth I. It was rumoured that Cecilia was journeying to England to press the suit of her half-brother King Eric XIV of Sweden
to marry Queen Elizabeth. Because Denmark-Norway was hostile towards Sweden, they were forced to take a roundabout, land route. They travelled through Finland, Livonia, Poland and Germany, which was a lengthy journey, until they reached Calais
. The party is also reported to have been hampered by bad weather, and the last leg by seasickness. The voyage lasted almost a year until they reached their destination - they arrived on 8 September 1565 at Dover
. Cecilia of Baden was at the time in her ninth month of pregnancy. The welcoming party at Dover was led by Sir William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton
(1513-1571), the only surviving son of Sir Thomas Parr
of Kendal
, and brother of Catherine Parr
.
, who soon started to court her. Lord Northampton presented Helena with many extravagant gifts such as clothes and jewels, and (according to reports) 'being an impressionable and romantic young girl, Helena was swept off her feet by the experienced older man'. Other assessments have pointed that Helena seems to have understood the advantages of a rich, aged husband, and possible wealthy widowhood in near future. Helena's letters sent to her family in Sweden talk about the wealth, high rank, court position and prestige of her suitor, but not about his age or personal character.
Margravine Cecilia, reportedly a wastrel, incurred large debts because of her lavish lifestyle. In April 1566, she left England in order to escape her creditors. Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth appeared to have formed a friendship with Helena, despite the difference in their ages. Cecilia wanted to take Helena with her, but the young lady, reportedly enjoying life in England and having ensnared the wealthy Marquess, was not interested in departing. Helena's keen wish to remain was granted through influence of Queen Elizabeth, who reportedly was attached to the Parr family, the Marquess' sister Catherine Parr, last Queen-Consort of Henry VIII, having been Elizabeth's stepmother and fosterer in the queen's youth.
Lord Northampton hoped to marry Helena but was prevented from doing so because his first, though divorced, wife Anne Bourchier, 7th Baroness Bourchier
was still living. They had divorced in 1552, but the English Church did not acknowledge subsequent marriages of divorced persons until the death of the previous spouse.
of the royal privy chamber. Helena became one the queen's most intimate aides and controlled access to the queen.
Helena was granted many privileges, such as her own lodgings at Hampton Court Palace
, servants, and a horse. However, she was not a waged member of the privy chamber and it is not known how regularly she attended the royal court.
When Anne Bourchier died on 28 January 1571, Northampton and Helena were finally able to marry. The wedding took place in May 1571 in Elizabeth's presence in the queen's closet at Whitehall Palace with pomp and circumstance. The bride was twenty-two and the groom fifty-seven. The couple seemed happy together and divided their time between their houses in Guildford, Surrey, and at Stanstead Hall
, Essex. The marriage came to a sudden end within a few months when the marquess died on 28 October 1571. There were no children. The Dowager Marchioness Helena had received a substantial dower
. According to English custom, as widow of a peer whose title became extinct, she enjoyed the title of Marchioness for the rest of her life. Helena seems to have been also known as the "Good Lady Marquess".
, of Longford, a second cousin of the late Anne Boleyn
, mother of the Queen, and of a noble family, having descended from the first Howard Duke of Norfolk
. The queen was originally in favour of Thomas' courtship of Helena but changed her mind and refused to consent to a marriage, perhaps as a result of her notorious sexual jealousy regarding gentlewomen of her privy chamber or because she had strong views on unequal marriages: Helena was a marchioness, and by marriage the Queen's kinswoman, Gorges yet only a gentleman. Thomas is attributed as honest and not bribable, which led him to various trusted tasks on behalf of his Royal cousin.
Thomas Gorges and Marchioness Helena married secretly about 1576. When Elizabeth learned of their clandestine act , Helena was exiled from the court, and Thomas was incarcerated in The Tower of London
for a brief period. However Helena was later reinstated, possibly with the help of her influential friend, Lord Chamberlain Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex
. Soon Helena was back in the queen's favour.
Helena and Thomas had eight (surviving) children. The couple's first child was born in June 1578 and named Elizabeth (1578-1659) after the queen, who stood as godmother. Their first son, Francis Gorges (d. in or before 1599), was probably born in 1579; and allegedly named after their close friend, Sir Francis Drake
. They had two more daughters, Frances Gorges (1580-1649) and Bridget Gorges (1584-c1634), and four more sons, all of whom became knighted: Edward Gorges, first Baron Gorges of Dundalk
(b 1582/3, d in or before 1652), Theobald Gorges (1583-1647), Robert Gorges (1588-1648), and Thomas Gorges (b 1589, d after 1624).
The couple had their town house at Whitefriars. Helena persuaded Thomas Gorges to rebuild his property at Longford, Wiltshire. The mansion had been damaged by fire when he acquired it and a replacement was completed at great expense by 1591, under the final supervision of John Thorpe
. Longford Castle
was the model for the 'Castle of Amphialeus' in Sir Philip Sidney
's Arcadia
. Thomas Gorges of Longford was knighted in 1586.
Queen Elizabeth granted Helena manors in Huntingdonshire and Wiltshire. The marchioness was still highly regarded by Queen Elizabeth and often acted as her deputy at the baptism of the children of distinguished noblemen, particularly towards the end of the reign, when the queen's health was deteriorating.
It has been reported that Marchioness Helena did not participate in court intrigues, instead she was devoted to her family.
In 1582 Thomas was sent as English envoy to Sweden and met Helena's family members. Helena also had continuous correspondence with relatives in Sweden, as well as Duke Charles of Sudermannia, later king Charles IX, her childhood friend.
In 1584 the queen granted the estate at Sheen
to Helena and Thomas for their life. It was a former monastery directly north from the queen's chief residence, the Richmond Palace
near the City of London. This meant that Thomas and Helena were able to live with their children while also serving at the Royal Court.
Queen Elizabeth died in March 1603. Marchioness Helena was the chief mourner in the royal funeral procession as senior peeress because Arbella Stuart
refused to undertake the role and King James had not yet arrived in London. In the funeral procession, she walked ahead, supported by Chancellor of the Exchequer
and Lord High Admiral of England. This is mentioned as apogee of her career. In July 1603, Helena and Thomas took part in the coronation of the new monarch, James I
and his wife Anne of Denmark
. Shortly afterward, they moved to Longford from plague-ridden London. The accession of James I meant that Helena was demoted from the new queen's privy chamber. However both occasionally served at the new Court and in other royal tasks. Helena brokered the king's relations with Sweden; for example the Swedish attempt to have Princess Elizabeth, the king's eldest daughter, as bride for the Swedish heir, Gustav Adolf, son of Charles IX (which project was prevented by Anne of Denmark, her mother). Sir Thomas Gorges died on 30 March 1610 at the age of seventy-four, after which Marchioness Helena increasingly retreated from public life. She reportedly remained a devoted member of the Church of England. Most of the time she resided at her house of Sheen, near the Court, but in the end retreated to Redlynch in Somerset
, the manor of her son Robert. Letters show that Helena had close contact with her children and grandchildren. Marchioness Helena's last preserved letter, dated 8 September 1634, to her grandson, is signed with a clearly wavering hand.
Helena died at the age of 86 on 10 April 1635 at Redlynch, Somerset, the residence of her son Sir Robert Gorges, and was buried on 14 May in Salisbury Cathedral
. It has been claimed that Helena had no fewer than ninety-two direct descendants at the time of her death.
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, and titular Marchioness of Northampton
Marquess of Northampton
Marquess of Northampton is a title that has been created twice.-William Parr:First creation, 1547–1571The title was created for the first time in the Peerage of England in 1547 in favour of William Parr, brother of Catherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII. The title was forfeited...
.
Family and lineage
She was born in Sweden, as Elin Ulfsdotter of Fyllingarum in the province of Ostrogothia, in either 1548 or 1549, as a younger daughter of Ulf Henriksson, lord of Fyllingarum (d. c. 1565), of the Bååt (Booaat) family. Senator of Sweden, and his wife Agneta Knutsdotter, heiress of Norrnes. Her father was a supporter of Gustav IGustav I of Sweden
Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....
, king of Sweden. By all accounts, Helena was a beautiful woman, with large brown eyes, red hair, and a pink and white complexion. She was described as having a strong will and independent mind.
Helena had two brothers and three sisters who survived childhood and had children of their own. Helena was baptized and given the name of her paternal grandmother, Elin Ulfsdotter of the Norwegian house of Sudreim, and her paternal grandfather's grandmother, another Elin Snakenborg. The name Snakenborg was taken from Helena's paternal grandfather's paternal grandmother, the said Elin Henriksdotter Snakenborg, whose patrilineal ancestors were originally from Mecklenburg. Also Helena's mother seems to have been a descendant of Agnes of Borgarsyssel, natural daughter of Haakon V of Norway
Haakon V of Norway
Haakon V Magnusson was king of Norway from 1299 until 1319.-Biography:Haakon was the younger surviving son of Magnus the Lawmender, King of Norway, and his wife Ingeborg of Denmark. Haakon was descended from king Saint Olav and is considered to have been the last Norwegian king in the Fairhair...
.
Contrary to claims presented in some genealogies, Marchioness Helena's ancestry has not been proven to include medieval Viking Earls of Orkney. And also contrary to claims in some genealogies, she seems not to have descended from the sister of St Bridget of Sweden
Bridget of Sweden
Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden Bridget of Sweden (1303 – 23 July 1373; also Birgitta of Vadstena, Saint Birgitta , was a mystic and saint, and founder of the Bridgettines nuns and monks after the death of her husband of twenty years...
.
Journey to England
Helena was one of six young Swedish noble ladies who were Maids of Honour in the retinue of Princess Cecilia of SwedenPrincess Cecilia of Sweden
Cecilia of Sweden, , was Princess of Sweden as the daughter of King Gustav I and his second queen, Margareta Leijonhufvud, a Swedish noble and Margravine of Baden-Rodemachern through marriage with Christopher II, Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern...
, Margravine of Baden, second-eldest daughter of King Gustav I. Cecilia and her retinue departed Sweden in Autumn 1564 on a voyage to England, at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth I. It was rumoured that Cecilia was journeying to England to press the suit of her half-brother King Eric XIV of Sweden
Eric XIV of Sweden
-Family and descendants:Eric XIV had several relationships before his marriage. With Agda Persdotter he had four daughters:#Margareta Eriksdotter , married 1592 to Olov Simonsson, vicar of Horn....
to marry Queen Elizabeth. Because Denmark-Norway was hostile towards Sweden, they were forced to take a roundabout, land route. They travelled through Finland, Livonia, Poland and Germany, which was a lengthy journey, until they reached Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
. The party is also reported to have been hampered by bad weather, and the last leg by seasickness. The voyage lasted almost a year until they reached their destination - they arrived on 8 September 1565 at Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
. Cecilia of Baden was at the time in her ninth month of pregnancy. The welcoming party at Dover was led by Sir William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton
William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton
William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton, 1st Earl of Essex and 1st Baron Parr, KG was the son of Sir Thomas Parr and his wife, Maud Green, daughter of Sir Thomas Green, of Broughton and Greens Norton...
(1513-1571), the only surviving son of Sir Thomas Parr
Sir Thomas Parr
Sir Thomas Parr was an English knight, courtier and Lord of the Manor of Kendal in Westmorland during the Tudor period. He is best known as the father of Catherine Parr, queen consort of England and the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII.-Life:Thomas was the son of Sir William Parr of Kendal...
of Kendal
Kendal Castle
Kendal Castle is situated on a mound-like hill, known as a drumlin, to the east of the town of Kendal, Cumbria, in northern England.- History :The castle was probably built in the late 12th century as the home of the Lancaster family who were Barons of Kendal...
, and brother of Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr ; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen consort of England and Ireland and the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She was the fourth commoner Henry had taken as his consort, and outlived him...
.
Marchioness of Northampton
In London they settled at Bedford House. On their arrival many prominent members of the English nobility received the party, including Queen Elizabeth. Helena Snakenborg caught the interest of the elderly Marquess of NorthamptonWilliam Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton
William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton, 1st Earl of Essex and 1st Baron Parr, KG was the son of Sir Thomas Parr and his wife, Maud Green, daughter of Sir Thomas Green, of Broughton and Greens Norton...
, who soon started to court her. Lord Northampton presented Helena with many extravagant gifts such as clothes and jewels, and (according to reports) 'being an impressionable and romantic young girl, Helena was swept off her feet by the experienced older man'. Other assessments have pointed that Helena seems to have understood the advantages of a rich, aged husband, and possible wealthy widowhood in near future. Helena's letters sent to her family in Sweden talk about the wealth, high rank, court position and prestige of her suitor, but not about his age or personal character.
Margravine Cecilia, reportedly a wastrel, incurred large debts because of her lavish lifestyle. In April 1566, she left England in order to escape her creditors. Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth appeared to have formed a friendship with Helena, despite the difference in their ages. Cecilia wanted to take Helena with her, but the young lady, reportedly enjoying life in England and having ensnared the wealthy Marquess, was not interested in departing. Helena's keen wish to remain was granted through influence of Queen Elizabeth, who reportedly was attached to the Parr family, the Marquess' sister Catherine Parr, last Queen-Consort of Henry VIII, having been Elizabeth's stepmother and fosterer in the queen's youth.
Lord Northampton hoped to marry Helena but was prevented from doing so because his first, though divorced, wife Anne Bourchier, 7th Baroness Bourchier
Anne Bourchier, 7th Baroness Bourchier
Anne Bourchier was the suo jure 7th Baroness Bourchier, suo jure Lady Lovayne, and Baroness Parr of Kendal. She was the first wife of William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton, Earl of Essex, and the sister-in-law of Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII of England.She created a scandal in...
was still living. They had divorced in 1552, but the English Church did not acknowledge subsequent marriages of divorced persons until the death of the previous spouse.
Maid of Honour
Queen Elizabeth was fond of young Helena and appointed her a Maid of Honour from about 1567, before promoting her to gentlewomanGentlewoman
A gentlewoman in the original and strict sense is a woman of good family, analogous to the Latin generosus and generosa...
of the royal privy chamber. Helena became one the queen's most intimate aides and controlled access to the queen.
Helena was granted many privileges, such as her own lodgings at Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Palace is a royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Greater London; it has not been inhabited by the British royal family since the 18th century. The palace is located south west of Charing Cross and upstream of Central London on the River Thames...
, servants, and a horse. However, she was not a waged member of the privy chamber and it is not known how regularly she attended the royal court.
When Anne Bourchier died on 28 January 1571, Northampton and Helena were finally able to marry. The wedding took place in May 1571 in Elizabeth's presence in the queen's closet at Whitehall Palace with pomp and circumstance. The bride was twenty-two and the groom fifty-seven. The couple seemed happy together and divided their time between their houses in Guildford, Surrey, and at Stanstead Hall
Stansted Mountfitchet
Stansted Mountfitchet is a village and civil parish in the county of Essex, England, near the Hertfordshire border, north of London. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 5,533. The village is served by Stansted Mountfitchet railway station....
, Essex. The marriage came to a sudden end within a few months when the marquess died on 28 October 1571. There were no children. The Dowager Marchioness Helena had received a substantial dower
Dower
Dower or morning gift was a provision accorded by law to a wife for her support in the event that she should survive her husband...
. According to English custom, as widow of a peer whose title became extinct, she enjoyed the title of Marchioness for the rest of her life. Helena seems to have been also known as the "Good Lady Marquess".
Second marriage
Fairly soon Marchioness Helena captivated another admirer, Thomas GorgesThomas Gorges
Thomas Gorges , an Elizabethan courtier and Groom of the Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I, a second cousin of Queen Anne Boleyn, the mother of Queen Elizabeth I all descendants of the first Howard Duke of Norfolk.His father was Sir Edward Gorges of Wraxall,and his mother one of Sir Edward's...
, of Longford, a second cousin of the late Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
, mother of the Queen, and of a noble family, having descended from the first Howard Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk
The Duke of Norfolk is the premier duke in the peerage of England, and also, as Earl of Arundel, the premier earl. The Duke of Norfolk is, moreover, the Earl Marshal and hereditary Marshal of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the...
. The queen was originally in favour of Thomas' courtship of Helena but changed her mind and refused to consent to a marriage, perhaps as a result of her notorious sexual jealousy regarding gentlewomen of her privy chamber or because she had strong views on unequal marriages: Helena was a marchioness, and by marriage the Queen's kinswoman, Gorges yet only a gentleman. Thomas is attributed as honest and not bribable, which led him to various trusted tasks on behalf of his Royal cousin.
Thomas Gorges and Marchioness Helena married secretly about 1576. When Elizabeth learned of their clandestine act , Helena was exiled from the court, and Thomas was incarcerated in The Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
for a brief period. However Helena was later reinstated, possibly with the help of her influential friend, Lord Chamberlain Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex
Earl of Sussex
Earl of Sussex is a title that has been created several times in the Peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. The early Earls of Arundel were often also called Earls of Sussex....
. Soon Helena was back in the queen's favour.
Helena and Thomas had eight (surviving) children. The couple's first child was born in June 1578 and named Elizabeth (1578-1659) after the queen, who stood as godmother. Their first son, Francis Gorges (d. in or before 1599), was probably born in 1579; and allegedly named after their close friend, Sir Francis Drake
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
. They had two more daughters, Frances Gorges (1580-1649) and Bridget Gorges (1584-c1634), and four more sons, all of whom became knighted: Edward Gorges, first Baron Gorges of Dundalk
Baron Gorges of Dundalk
Baron Gorges of Dundalk was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 13 July 1620 for Sir Edward Gorges, 1st Baronet. He had already been created a Baronet, of Langford in the County of Wiltshire, in the Baronetage of England on 25 November 1611...
(b 1582/3, d in or before 1652), Theobald Gorges (1583-1647), Robert Gorges (1588-1648), and Thomas Gorges (b 1589, d after 1624).
The couple had their town house at Whitefriars. Helena persuaded Thomas Gorges to rebuild his property at Longford, Wiltshire. The mansion had been damaged by fire when he acquired it and a replacement was completed at great expense by 1591, under the final supervision of John Thorpe
John Thorpe
John Thorpe or Thorp was an English architect. Little is known of his life, and his work is dubiously inferred, rather than accurately known, from a folio of drawings in the Sir John Soane's Museum, to which Horace Walpole called attention, in 1780, in his Anecdotes of Painting; but how far these...
. Longford Castle
Longford Castle
Longford Castle is located on the banks of the River Avon south of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.In 1573 Thomas Gorges, of Langford acquired the manor , which was originally owned by the Cervingtons. Prior to this the existing mansion house had been damaged by fire...
was the model for the 'Castle of Amphialeus' in Sir Philip Sidney
Philip Sidney
Sir Philip Sidney was an English poet, courtier and soldier, and is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan Age...
's Arcadia
Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia
The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, also known simply as the Arcadia or the Old Arcadia, is a long prose work by Sir Philip Sidney written towards the end of the sixteenth century, and later published in several versions. It is Sidney's most ambitious literary work, by far, and as significant in...
. Thomas Gorges of Longford was knighted in 1586.
Queen Elizabeth granted Helena manors in Huntingdonshire and Wiltshire. The marchioness was still highly regarded by Queen Elizabeth and often acted as her deputy at the baptism of the children of distinguished noblemen, particularly towards the end of the reign, when the queen's health was deteriorating.
It has been reported that Marchioness Helena did not participate in court intrigues, instead she was devoted to her family.
In 1582 Thomas was sent as English envoy to Sweden and met Helena's family members. Helena also had continuous correspondence with relatives in Sweden, as well as Duke Charles of Sudermannia, later king Charles IX, her childhood friend.
In 1584 the queen granted the estate at Sheen
Sheen
Sheen could mean:Places:*In south west London, England:** Sheen or West Sheen, an alternative name for Richmond, London** East Sheen** North Sheen** Sheen Priory* Sheen, Staffordshire, United Kingdom...
to Helena and Thomas for their life. It was a former monastery directly north from the queen's chief residence, the Richmond Palace
Richmond Palace
Richmond Palace was a Thameside royal residence on the right bank of the river, upstream of the Palace of Westminster, to which it lay 9 miles SW of as the crow flies. It it was erected c. 1501 within the royal manor of Sheen, by Henry VII of England, formerly known by his title Earl of Richmond,...
near the City of London. This meant that Thomas and Helena were able to live with their children while also serving at the Royal Court.
Queen Elizabeth died in March 1603. Marchioness Helena was the chief mourner in the royal funeral procession as senior peeress because Arbella Stuart
Arbella Stuart
Lady Arbella Stuart was an English Renaissance noblewoman who was for some time considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I on the English throne....
refused to undertake the role and King James had not yet arrived in London. In the funeral procession, she walked ahead, supported by Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
and Lord High Admiral of England. This is mentioned as apogee of her career. In July 1603, Helena and Thomas took part in the coronation of the new monarch, James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
and his wife Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I.The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I...
. Shortly afterward, they moved to Longford from plague-ridden London. The accession of James I meant that Helena was demoted from the new queen's privy chamber. However both occasionally served at the new Court and in other royal tasks. Helena brokered the king's relations with Sweden; for example the Swedish attempt to have Princess Elizabeth, the king's eldest daughter, as bride for the Swedish heir, Gustav Adolf, son of Charles IX (which project was prevented by Anne of Denmark, her mother). Sir Thomas Gorges died on 30 March 1610 at the age of seventy-four, after which Marchioness Helena increasingly retreated from public life. She reportedly remained a devoted member of the Church of England. Most of the time she resided at her house of Sheen, near the Court, but in the end retreated to Redlynch in Somerset
Redlynch, Somerset
Redlynch is a village in the civil parish of Bruton within the South Somerset district of Somerset, England.In the mid 12th century Redlynch belonged to Henry Lovel of Castle Cary.Redlynch was part of the hundred of Bruton....
, the manor of her son Robert. Letters show that Helena had close contact with her children and grandchildren. Marchioness Helena's last preserved letter, dated 8 September 1634, to her grandson, is signed with a clearly wavering hand.
Helena died at the age of 86 on 10 April 1635 at Redlynch, Somerset, the residence of her son Sir Robert Gorges, and was buried on 14 May in Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....
. It has been claimed that Helena had no fewer than ninety-two direct descendants at the time of her death.