Stapleford History Society, 12 May 2026
A talk by Stuart Orme
This was the first talk to the Society by Stuart Orme and, undoubtedly, not the last. The speaker is currently the Curator of the Cromwell Museum at Huntingdon.
The Beauforts, like many who are interested in their family history (e.g. Danny Dyer in “Who do you think you are?”), were descended from Edward III. Lady Margaret was born in 1443 and was the only child of John Beaufort who died before she was one year old. Aristocratic mothers did not bring up their children, so William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, was granted her wardship which gave him financial control of any land and money she had inherited.
Margaret Beaufort was married four times. At seven she was betrothed to her ward’s son, a blatant attempt to enrich the de la Pole family. This union was later annulled and never recognized by Margaret. Her second marriage was to Edmund Tudor when she was twelve, the legally recognized age for marriage at that time. She became a widow at thirteen and, scandalously, gave birth to the future Henry VII after a most difficult and frightening labour which was never to be repeated. Sir Henry Stafford, the son of the Duke of Buckingham, was her third husband with whom she enjoyed a peaceful and childless marriage. Her fourth marriage was to Thomas, Lord Stanley, who was significant in helping his stepson seize the throne after the Battle of Bosworth in which Richard III was killed.
Elizabeth Woodville was a contemporary of Margaret Beaufort’s. She was the commoner wife of Edward IV and mother of the two Princes in the Tower. (The only other commoner to (potentially) achieve this status is Kate Middleton.) Margaret Beaufort, equally known to be ambitious for her only son, was actually impeached and falsely accused of being somehow involved in the disappearance/death of the young boys. Their survival would, of course, have blocked her own son’s accession to the throne as Henry VII.
Margaret Beaufort was a very wealthy and pious woman. We were shown a portrait of her in a nun-like costume. In reality, the portrait emphasises her wealth first and her piety second. Black cloth was very difficult to make until the end of the sixteenth century when dyeing mixtures improved. Her wealth and piety were instrumental in her achievement of great learning and she was the first Englishwoman to have her writings printed. She was a great supporter of the development of the printing press. She also founded a theological college here in Cambridge and was a patroness of Queens’ College, though not a founder like Margaret of Anjou, Queen of Henry VI, and Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of Edward IV.
Although she was never a queen, she was hugely influential locally and nationally, owning many properties including an enormous palace (now disappeared) at Collyweston which was her longest place of continued residence. She was one of the great survivors of the Wars of the Roses, one of the most tumultuous periods in English history, and was the founder of the Tudor Dynasty. She died on June 29 1509, five days after the coronation of her grandson, Henry VIII. Contemporary accounts suggest that she died of food poisoning after eating cygnet at the coronation banquet but others suggest that she died of grief after the death of her son, Henry VII, in April 1509.
Report by Jane Steadman