Margery Wentworth, also known as Margaret Wentworth (c. 1478 – c. October 1550) was the wife of Sir John Seymour and the mother of Queen Jane Seymour, the third wife

Wives of Henry VIII

The wives of Henry VIII were the six queens consort married to Henry VIII of England between 1509 and 1547. The six women to hold the title 'queens consort' of King Henry VIII were, in order:* Catherine of Aragon ,* Anne Boleyn ,...

 of Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

. She was the grandmother of King Edward VI of England.

Family

Margery was born in about 1478, the daughter of Sir Henry Wentworth

Henry Wentworth

Sir Henry Wentworth of Nettlestead, Suffolk, KB , de jure Lord Despenser, was the grandfather of King Henry VIII's third Queen, Jane Seymour, and the great-grandfather of Jane's son, King Edward VI.-Life:Sir Henry Wentworth was born about 1448, the only son and heir of the courtier Sir Philip...

 and Anne Say, daughter of Sir John Say

John Say

Sir John Say, Kt. was an English courtier, MP and Speaker of the House of Commons.-Life:He was the son of John Say, born before 1445, and his wife Maud...

 and Elizabeth Cheney. Margery's first cousins, Elizabeth and Edmund Howard, were parents to two other of Henry VIII's wives, 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...

 and Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn"....

, respectively.

Early Life

She was given a place in the household of her aunt, Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey, where she met the poet John Skelton

John Skelton

John Skelton, also known as John Shelton , possibly born in Diss, Norfolk, was an English poet.-Education:...

, whose muse she became. She was considered a great beauty by Skelton and others. In poetry dedicated to her he praised her demeanor.

Marriage and children

She married before 1500 Sir John Seymour of Wulfhall

Wulfhall

Wulfhall or Wolfhall is an early 17th century manor house and the site of a deserted medieval village in the civil parish of Burbage , on the edge of Savernake Forest, in the English county of Wiltshire...

 in Savernake Forest

Savernake Forest

Savernake Forest is on a Cretaceous chalk plateau between Marlborough and Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire, England. Its area is approximately .It is privately owned by the Trustees of Savernake Estate, the Earl of Cardigan, and his family solicitor. Since 1939 the running of the forest has been...

, Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, by whom she had a total of nine children:

Apart from Queen Jane, her daughters included Elizabeth Seymour, Marchioness of Winchester, who married Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell

Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell

Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, KB was an English peer.-Early life:Cromwell was born in Putney, then in Surrey, the first child and only son of Thomas Cromwell, later 1st Baron Cromwell and briefly 1st Earl of Essex, and his first wife, the former Elizabeth Wykys.He was tutored by Sir...

, son of Henry VIII's minister, Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex

Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex

Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, , was an English statesman who served as chief minister of King Henry VIII of England from 1532 to 1540....

 and later William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester

William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester

Sir William Paulet was an English Secretary of State and statesman who attained several peerages throughout his lifetime: Baron St John , Earl of Wiltshire , and Marquess of Winchester .-Family origins and early career in Hampshire:William Paulet was eldest son of Sir John Paulet of...

. Her sons included Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....

, who was Lord Protector

Lord Protector

Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...

 of England from 1547 to 1549, and Lord Thomas Seymour

Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley

Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, KG was an English politician.Thomas spent his childhood in Wulfhall, outside Savernake Forest, in Wiltshire. Historian David Starkey describes Thomas thus: 'tall, well-built and with a dashing beard and auburn hair, he was irresistible to women'...

.