Margery Norris (1521–1599) was a courtier to

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

. She, her husband and her six sons all served the crown and they have a huge monument in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

Life

Norris was born in 1521 and she was the daughter of John Williams, 1st Baron Williams of Thame and Elizabeth Edmonds. Norris had three brothers, John, Henry and Francis, and a sister, Isabel, who married Sir Richard Wenman. She married

Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys Henry Norris (or Norreys), 1st Baron Norreys ({{circa, 1525{{spaced ndash27 June 1601){{sfn, Fuidge, 1981 of Rycote in Oxfordshire, was an English people, English politician and diplomat, who belonged to an old Berkshire family, many members of wh ...

sometime between December 1542 and 26 August 1544. Henry had recovered some of his father's lands as they had been forfeit when his father was beheaded for allegedly having sex with

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the Wives of Henry VIII, second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading ...

. Her father was a supporter of her husband who was not in favour under Queen Mary. Her father introduced the two of them to the future Queen Princess Elizabeth. Rycote played host to Elizabeth as her father was one of her guardians and she became close to Norris and her husband. In 1572 the Queen made her husband Baron Norreys. Some detail is known of the Ryecote Entertainment of 1592.Elizabeth Zeman Kolkovich, ''The Elizabethan Country House Entertainment'' (Cambridge, 2016), p. 79. Norris was the mother of seven children. Their six sons all distinguished themselves as soldiers. * Sir John Norreys (1547 – 3 July 1597) who as known as "Black Jack" * Sir William Norreys (1548 – 27 December 1579

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

) who was Marshal of Berwick. * Sir Edward Norreys (c. 1550 – October 1603 Englefield), Governor of

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

in 1590. * Catherine Norreys (c. 1553 – ), married Sir

Anthony Paulet Sir Anthony Paulet (1562–1600) of Hinton St George, Somerset, was Governor of Jersey from 1588 until his death in 1600. Origins He was born at Hinton St George, Somerset the eldest son of Amyas Paulet, Sir Amias Paulet (1532–1588) by his wife ...

, Governor of the Isle of Jersey about 1583 in Rycote, Oxfordshire. * Sir Henry Norreys (1554–1599), fought in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and then in

, where he died. * Sir

Thomas Norreys Sir Thomas Norris (1556–1599) was an English soldier. He sat in the Irish House of Commons, and was made Lord President of Munster in Ireland. His last name is sometimes spelt Norreys. Family He was the fifth of the six sons of Henry Nor ...

(1556–1599),

Lord President of Munster The post of Lord President of Munster was the most important office in the English government of the Irish province of Munster from its introduction in the Elizabethan era for a century, to 1672, a period including the Desmond Rebellions in Munste ...

died in Ireland * Maximilian Norreys (c. 1557 – 1591), buried in St Helier town church, Jersey. Her son, Edward was relieved of his post in Ostend by Queen Elizabeth. She sent him home as all of his brothers had died as soldiers and Elizabeth wanted her friend Margery to have one of her sons by her. Margery died soon afterwards in 1599 and the Queen wrote off £2,000 of their debt. She was buried in the church at

Rycote Rycote is a Hamlet (place), hamlet southwest of Thame in Oxfordshire. The Oxfordshire Way long-distance path passes through. Saint Michael's chapel Richard and Sybil Quartermayne, lord of the manor, lord and lady of the Manorialism, manor of ...

and her husband joined her in 1601.

Monument

She and her husband are commemorated by a huge eight metre high monument to them and their six sons in St. Andrew's Chapel in

. The monument is by Isaac James (born Isaac Haastregt) and it was created in or after 1606. Life-size

effigies An effigy is a sculptural representation, often life-size, of a specific person or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certain ...

of Lord and Lady Norreys lie beneath an elaborate canopy supported by marble pillars and they are surrounded by large kneeling figures of their sons. Five of them have their heads bowed and Edward, who survived them, does not.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Margery 1521 births category:1599 deaths Court of Elizabeth I English courtiers Daughters of barons