Cecily Grey, Marchioness of Dorset

Cecily Grey ("née" Bonville), Marchioness of Dorset (c. 30 June 1460 – 12 May 1529) was an English noblewoman, the suo jure 7th Baroness Harington and 2nd Baroness Bonville, and Marchioness of Dorset by marriage.

Family

Cecily was born on or around 30 June 1460 at Shute, Axminster, Co.Devon, England. She was the only child of William Bonville, 6th Baron of Harington and Katherine Neville, a younger sister of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick known in history as "The Kingmaker". Her paternal grandparents were William Bonville and Elizabeth Harington. The latter was the daughter of William Harington, 5th Baron of Harington and Margaret Hill. Her maternal grandparents were Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury and Alice Montagu. When Cecily was just six months old, both her father and grandfather, William Bonville, were executed following the disastrous Battle of Wakefield on 31 December 1460. The Bonvilles, having fought on the Yorkist side, were shown no mercy from the victorious Margaret of Anjou who headed the Lancastrian faction, and were thus swiftly decapitated on the battlefield. In less than two months, the Yorkists suffered another major defeat at the Second Battle of St Albans on 17 February 1461, and Queen Margaret, in an act of vengeance, ordered the execution of Cecily's great-grandfather, William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (30 August 1393 – 18 February 1461), the next day. [Thomas B. Costain "The Last Plantagenets", pages 315-16] These three executions left Cecily Bonville, the wealthiest heiress in England, having inherited vast estates in the West Country. She succeeded to the title of 7th Baroness Harington, suo jure on 31 December 1460, and the title of 2nd Baroness Bonville, suo jure, on 18 February 1461. In 1462, her mother re-married. Her new husband was William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings a personal advisor to King Edward IV who now sat upon the English throne, due to the resounding Yorkist victory at Towton on 29 March 1461. By Lord Hastings, Katherine had more children.

Marriage

On 18 July 1474, shortly after her fourteenth birthday, Cecily married Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset (c.1455–1501), the son of King Edward's queen consort, Elizabeth Woodville by her first husband, Sir John Grey. It was Thomas's second marriage, and Cecily's first. Their marriage produced a total of fourteen children.

List of Children

#Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset (22 June 1477 – 22 June 1530) Married Margaret Wotton. Lady Jane Grey and Lady Catherine Grey descend from this union.
#Leonard Grey, 1st Viscount Grane (c.1478 – 28 July 1541) Lord Deputy of Ireland. Married Eleanor Sutton.
#Dorothy Grey (1480–1552) Married first: Robert Willoughby, 2nd Baron Willoughby de Broke and secondly, William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy
#Mary Grey (1493 – 22 February 1538). Married Walter Devereaux, 1st Viscount Hereford.
#Elizabeth Grey (c.1497 – after 1530). Married Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare
#Cecily Grey (c.1497-1554) Married John Sutton, 3rd Baron Dudley.
#Edward Grey. Married Anne Jerningham.
#Eleanor Grey. Married John Arundell.
#Margaret Grey. Married Richard Wake.
#Anthony Grey. Possibly died young.
#Bridget Grey. Possibly died young.
#George Grey. Possibly died young.
#Richard Grey. Married Florence Pudney.
#John Grey. Possibly died young.

Later Years

After the death of Thomas Grey in 1501, Cecily re-married Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire on 22 November 1503, however this marriage did not produce any children. Cecily died on 12 May 1529 at Shacklewell, Hackney but is buried at Astley Church in Warwickshire, where her fine effigy can be seen alongside those of Sir Edward Grey and Elizabeth Talbot. She was not quite seventy years old at the time of her death. Cecily Bonville had many notable descendants, including Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth FitzGerald, Countess of Lincoln, Elizabeth Vernon, Sir Winston Churchill, as well as those who are living today which include Prince William of Wales, and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York

In Fiction

There is a historical romance based on the life of Cecily Bonville, entitled "The Summer Queen". It was written by Alice W.Graham, and it takes many liberties with the known facts of Cecily's life, so it is not to be regarded as a biography but instead as a fictional novel.

References

# [http://www.thepeerage.com/p10756.htm#i107551 thepeerage] Accessed July 26, 2008
#Bridie, Marion Ferguson. "The Story of Shute: the Bonvilles and Poles." Axminster, England: Shute School, 1955.
#Fraser, Antonia "The Lives of The Kings and Queens of England", Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1975 ISBN 0-394-49557-4
# [http://www.worldroots.com Worldroots.com] by Leo Van de Pas
#Costain, Thomas Bertram. "The Last Plantagenets." Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1962.

Notes