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The Funeral of Jane Guildford - 01 February 1555

thedudleywomen

Updated: 4 days ago

On 01 February 1555, the funeral of Jane Guildford, Duchess of Northumberland, widow of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, was held at Chelsea Old Church.
'Brass Plate Monument of the Duchess of Northumberland and Her Daughters, Chelsea Church'. Artist: Daniel Lyons, 1796-1811 © Yale Center for British Art
'Brass Plate Monument of the Duchess of Northumberland and Her Daughters, Chelsea Church'. Artist: Daniel Lyons, 1796-1811 © Yale Center for British Art
Jane died in January 1555; two dates have been given for her death - 15 January (as given at her PostMortem Inquisition) and 22 January (as recorded on the marble inscription on her tomb).
Jane died at 'Chelsea Manor', also known as 'Chelsea Place', a Tudor manor house located in the village of Chelsea, two miles down river from Westminster, that had previously been rebuilt and modernised by Henry VIII. On the king's death in January 1547, Chelsea was granted to his widow Katherine Parr, who made it her home, with 14 year old her stepdaughter Lady Elizabeth joining her household (Norton, 2015). Having been returned to the crown on the attainder and subsequent execution of her fourth husband Thomas Seymour in March 1549, the house was granted toJohn Dudley, then the Earl of Warwick and a member of the Regency Council, by the young king Edward VI. Ownership was surrended to the couple's eldest son John in 1551, who by then was married to Anne Seymour, the daughter of his father's old friend and now rival, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. By 1553, the lease was granted back to John Dudley, now the Duke of Northumberland and Lord President of the Regency Council. Following John Dudley's arrest and subsequent Act of Attainder in August 1553, Chelsea was one of his many properties that was confiscated and returned to the Crown. However, by 1554, Chelsea had been granted to his widow, Jane, "for life", who subsequently made it her primary residence (British History Online [1], 2025).
'The north front of the Manor House at Chelsea built by King Henry VIII' Artist: Thomas Faulkner, 1810 ©antiquemapsandprints
'The north front of the Manor House at Chelsea built by King Henry VIII' Artist: Thomas Faulkner, 1810 ©antiquemapsandprints
Jane had written her will the previous year, in 1554; in this, which she wrote "with my owen Hande", she set out not only her requests for bequests and settlements of debts, but also her preferences for her body after her death. Jane requested to be buried "in the Parish Church of the House, where I dye", that being Chelsea, appealing to have her debts paid, and her children and servants looked after in the first instance, as "my Bodye that ys but Meate of Wormes". Jane requested not to "have no Cerymony of Openyng" or embalmed after death, commenting "I have not loved to be very bold afore Women, moche more I would be loathe to come into Thandes of any lyving Man, be he Physician or Surgeon". Instead, she requested to be wrapped in cloth and placed in a wooden coffin, in preparation to be "layde into the Grounde...as parteyneth to the Buriall of a Corpse". Jane also requested a simple service, repeatedly petitioning to be buried without "Solempnitie", although asked that her Executors and Overseers, household servants and "those that dwell in London" wear black coats, dressing according to their ranks (Collins, 1746; The National Archives, 2025). In addition to her five surviving children (Ambrose, Robert, Harry, Mary and Katherine), Jane made multiple bequeaths to family members, which included her daughters-in-law: Elizabeth Tailboys, wife of Ambrose, Amy Robsart, wife of Robert, and Margaret Audley, wife of youngest Harry (The National Archives, 2025):
"to my sonne Ambrose's wife": a new gown of plain black velvet furrid with Lizards, and a kirtle of black velvet, ground satten [satin] and sleeves. "to my sonne Robert Dudley's wife": a gown of wrought velvet "to my sonne Henry Dudley's wife": a gown of black pinkt velvet

Anne Seymour, the widow of Jane's son John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick, was not a beneficiary in her former mother-in-law's will, Anne likely having returned to her family following her husband's death the previous October, days after his release from the Tower of London, with a second marriage currently being arranged. Coincidentally, Anne's mother, Anne Stanhope, and her second husband, former steward Francis Newdigate, were granted the lease of Chelsea Manor in 1559 (British History Online [1], 2025). Jane also made bequeaths to her brother-in-law Jerome Dudley, John's younger brother, who was said to suffer from physical and/or intellectual disabilities, and required assistance throughout his life; she granted money to pay for his "Board and his Aaparil, as my Executors shall think proper for him, considering the state of him" (Collins, 1746; Paul, 2022). Contrary to Jane's last wishes set out in her will, an elaborate funeral service hosted by her eldest surviving son and heir Ambrose Dudley, was held on 01 February 1555 at Chelsea Old Church, a short walk away from the manor house. Diarist Henry Machyn recorded the events of the day (Henry Machyn, 2025):
The first day of February was buried the dutchess of Northumberland, at Chelsey, where she lived, with a goodly herse of wax and pensils and escutcheons, two banner of armeſ & four banners of images with mony mornarſ & wt ij harold{s} of armes. There was a mageste & ye valanſ & vj dosen of torches & ij whyt branchyſ & all ye chyrche hangyd in black & armeſ & a canepe borne over her to ye church

Chelsea Old Church © rareoldprints
Chelsea Old Church © rareoldprints
Jane's corpse was taken from the manor house, where in accordance with her will, her body had been wrapped in cloth and placed in a wooden coffin. A wax funeral effigy sat on top of the hearse, which was covered in a canopy, this being popular at the time as a method of commemorating the recently deceased. Machyn reported that many mourners being present at the service, in addition to two heralds of arms. He described the church being decorated with candles, tapers, white branches, banners of 'images', as well as Jane's own banners of arms. The church decorations, including images of saints, had regained popularity with the reintroduction of Catholic traditions on Mary I's accession to the English throne in 1553 (Day, 2000; Henry Machyn, 2025).
Jane's surviving sons Ambrose, Robert and Harry Dudley had been released from the Tower of London some months previously, having been imprisoned since July 1553 for their part in the attempted coup led by their father, in attempting to place their sister-in-law Lady Jane Grey on the English throne, with all being found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death. Following their release, the brothers were all pardoned by Mary I on 22 January 1555, exactly one year following the conviction of Robert, and one of the suggested dates of Jane's death. However, the brothers were all still subject to attainment, and so were unable to lawfully inherit lands and property at the time of their mother's death; it would take another year of petitions to Mary before the brothers could claim their inheritance, and not until 1558 when the surviving Dudley siblings were 'restored by blood' by an Act of Parliament. In early 1555 therefore, Ambrose, as Jane's eldest son, heir and executor of her will, therefore had to borrow money to fund his mother's funeral (Paul, 2022).
Jane Guildford, Duchess of Northumberland's Tomb, More Chapel, Chelsea Old Church ©little_miss_sunnydale [Flickr]
Jane Guildford, Duchess of Northumberland's Tomb, More Chapel, Chelsea Old Church ©little_miss_sunnydale [Flickr]
Jane was buried in the south-west corner of the 'More Chapel', originally built in 1528 by Sir Thomas More, Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor (1529-1532) as a private place for prayer and reflection, being close to his own waterside home, Chelsea House. An impressive tomb dedicated to the Dowager Duchess was erected, with plaques commemorating her own life and ancestry, although this has been 'mutilated' over time. Matching brass plates depicting herself and her children were made, although only the one depicting her and her daughters survive. Jane's youngest surviving daughter Katherine, Countess of Huntingdon, was buried alongside her mother following her own death at 'Chelsea' in August 1620 (British History Online [2], 2025). A marble stone, placed within the tomb, is engraved with the following inscription:
Here lyeth interred the Right, Noble, and Excellent Princess, Lady Jane Guildford, late Duchess of Northumberland, Daughter and sole Heir of the Right Honourable Sir Edward Guildford, Knight, Lord Warden of the five Ports. The which Sir Edward was Son to the Right Honourable Sir Richard Guildford, sometime Knight and Companion of the most Noble Order of the Garter; and the said Duchess was Wife to the High and Mighty Prince, John Dudley, late Duke of Northumberland, by whom she had Issue eight Sons and five Daughters; and after she had lived forty six Years, she departed this transitory World, at her Mannor of Chelsea, the twenty second Day of January, in the second Year of the Reign of the Soveraign Lady Mary the First, and in the Year 1555. On whose Soul Jesus have Mercy.

 
Bibliography: 'Landownership: Chelsea manor'. British History Online [1]. [website]. Available at: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol12/pp108-115#h3-s5  (Accessed 27 Jan 2025). 'Chelsea Old Church: Monuments in the More Chapel'. British History Online [2]. [website]. Available at: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol7/pt3/pp32-40 (Accessed 30 Jan 2025). Collins, A. (ed.) (1746). The Sydney Papers, Volume 1. London: T.Osborne. Day, J.F.R. (2000). 'The Heraldic Funeral'. The Heraldic Society'. Available at: https://www.theheraldrysociety.com/articles/the-heraldic-funeral/#:~:text=There%20was%20a%20set%20choreography,to%20the%20officers%20of%20arms. (Accessed 29 Jan 2025). A London Provisioner's Chronicle, 1550–1563, by Henry Machyn: Manuscript, Transcription, and Modernization ['Henry Machyn'] [website]. Available at: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/machyn/5076866.0001.001/1:8.6/--london-provisioners-chronicle-1550-1563?rgn=div2;view=fulltext (Accessed 27 Jan 2025). 'Will of Jane Dudley Duchess of Northumberland of Chelsea, Middlesex'. The National Archives [website]. Available at; https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D954000 (Accessed 27 Jan 2025) Norton, E. (2015). The Temptation of Elizabeth Tudor. London: Head of Zeus Ltd. Paul, J. (2002). The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England. London: Penguin.
 

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