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Elizabeth de Vere, Countess of Oxford, formerly Elizabeth Trentham (d. c. December 1612), was the second wife of the Elizabethan courtier and poet
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 155024 June 1604) was an English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after patron of ...
.


Family and early years

Elizabeth Trentham was born at
Rocester Rocester is a village and civil parish in the East Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. Its name is spelt ''Rowcestre'' in the Domesday Book. It is located on the Derbyshire border. Geography The village is about north of Uttoxet ...
,
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, the daughter of Thomas Trentham and Jane Sneyd. Her father's will, made 19 October 1586, mentions his son and heir, Francis, another son, Thomas, and three daughters, Elizabeth, Dorothy and Katherine. Elizabeth's brother Francis married Katherine, the daughter of Ralph Sheldon of
Beoley Beoley is a small village and larger civil parish north of Redditch in the Bromsgrove District of Worcestershire. It adjoins Warwickshire to the east. The 2001 census gave a parish population of 945, mostly at Holt End. The parish includes the ...
, and carried on the family line. Her younger brother, Thomas, died unmarried in 1605. Two of Elizabeth's sisters were already married when Thomas Trentham made his will in 1586, Dorothy to William Cooper of Thurgarton, and Katherine to Sir John Stanhope. Thomas Trentham's reputation in the county is indicated by his appointment by the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
as one of the "principal gentlemen in Staffordshire" to accompany Mary, Queen of Scots from her Staffordshire exile to her trial at Fotheringay Castle in 1586 (a trial at which the 17th Earl of Oxford sat on the jury).


Later years and marriage

Elizabeth Trentham was Maid of Honour to
Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022 ...
for at least ten years. Records indicate that she exchanged New Year's gifts with the Queen in 1584, 1588 and 1589, and she is listed as a Maid of Honour on a subsidy roll dated 10 November 1590. She was known at court as a beauty.
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 155024 June 1604) was an English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after patron of ...
had been in need of an heir and, hence, a wife since 5 June 1588, when his 31-year-old wife
Anne Cecil Anne de Vere (née Cecil), Countess of Oxford (5 December 1556 – 5 June 1588) was the daughter of the statesman William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, chief adviser to Queen Elizabeth I of England, and the translator Mildred Cooke. In 1571 she be ...
died suddenly, leaving him no legitimate male heir. (His son Edward had been born to mistress Anne Vavasour, a maid of honor. She gave birth in the palace after concealing both the long affair and her entire pregnancy. The betrayal of the Queen's trust landed them both in the Tower of London.) Oxford had an immediate need: money. In the summer of 1590, he owed £11,445 to just one of his many impatient creditors: the Crown. The Bank of England's Inflation Calculator values his debt to the Crown at £3,986,734 today or $5.64 million US. Elizabeth Trentham was wealthy. Her father's will bequeathed her a dowry of £1000, payable at the rate of 500 marks a year for three years. It was a generous amount (£352,624.00 or $499,200.98 US today), but it was only a tenth of what Oxford owed the Queen. The wedding of Trentham and Vere "may be dated to 27 December 1591 (at the latest) from a record of the Queen's gift to the new Countess: 'geuen the Countess of Oxforde at her marridge the xxxvij of December Anno 34th." The newly married couple resided at
Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...
, where their son, Henry de Vere, was born on 24 February 1593. On 2 September 1597 the Queen granted licence to the executors of
Sir Rowland Hayward Sir Rowland Hayward (c. 15205 December 1593) was a London merchant, and Lord Mayor of the City in both 1570 and 1591. Through his commercial activities he acquired considerable wealth, and was able to loan money to Queen Elizabeth I and pu ...
to sell King's Place in the Hackney in north London to Elizabeth Trentham, her brother Francis Trentham, her uncle Ralph Sneyd, and her cousin, Giles Yonge.. The acquisition of King's Place by Elizabeth Trentham and her relatives placed it 'beyond the reach of Oxford's creditors'. King's Place was a substantial country manor house with a celebrated great hall, a classic Tudor long gallery, a chapel and "a proper lybrayre to laye bokes in"; the land comprised orchards and fine gardens and some of farmland. It would remain their principal London home until Oxford's death on 24 June 1604. The Countess sold King's Place on 1 April 1609 to Fulke Greville, removing to Canon Row in the parish of
St Clement Danes St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current ...
. In 1591 Oxford had sold Hedingham Castle, the de Vere family seat from the time of William the Conqueror, to his father-in-law, William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, in trust for Oxford's three daughters by his first wife, Anne Cecil, Elizabeth, Bridget and
Susan Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...
. In 1609, Elizabeth Trentham repurchased Castle Hedingham from Oxford's daughters for her son, Henry de Vere (1593–1625), 18th Earl of Oxford. Elizabeth Trentham's letters to
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612), was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart period, Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury s ...
reveal a sharp-minded, independent woman at ease with legal and business matters. According to John Chamberlain she was the custodian of Havering Palace.


Issue

* Henry de Vere, 18th Earl of Oxford (1593–1625, aged 32). On 1 January 1624 he married Diana Cecil, daughter of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter and Elizabeth Drury, a beauty who brought him a fortune of £30,000, but died without issue.


Death

The Dowager Countess died about 1 January 1613,. and was buried 3 January 1613 at Hackney. Her will, dated 25 November 1612, includes generous bequests to her son, close family members, friends, servants, the poor of Hackney and Castle Hedingham, and various London prisons and hospitals. She appoints as executors her brother, Francis Trentham, and her friends Sir Edward More (d.1623) and John Wright of Gray's Inn.The National Archives PROB 11/121, ff. 74–75.


Notes


References

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External links


Will of Thomas Trentham of Rocester, Staffordshire, proved 4 May 1588, National Archives
Retrieved 15 April 2013
Will of Thomas Trentham of Rocester, Staffordshire, proved 14 May 1605, National Archives
Retrieved 15 April 2013
Will of Lady Elizabeth Vere, Countess of Oxford, proved 15 February 1613, National Archives
Retrieved 15 April 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford, Elizabeth Trentham, Countess Of English countesses People of the Elizabethan era Year of birth uncertain 1612 deaths 16th-century English nobility 17th-century English nobility 16th-century English women 17th-century English women Elizabeth People from Rocester