Elizabeth Blount

Elizabeth Blount, d. October 27, 1593, was the daughter of Sir Walter Blount of Blount's Hall, Staffordshire. She married three times. Her first husband was Sir Anthony Beresford or Basford of Bentley, Derbyshire, by whom she had a son, John Beresford. On January 1, 1541, she became the third wife of Sir Thomas Pope of Tittenhanger, Hertfordshire (c.1507-January 29, 1558/9). According to Pope's entry in the Oxford DNB, Elizabeth was "ambitious and intelligent." In 1546, they were living in Bermondsey. In 1547, they moved to Clerkenwell. From 1556-1558, Sir Thomas was the guardian of Elizabeth Tudor, Queen Mary’s sister and heir, at Hatfield. At first, he entertained the princess with masques, pageants, and plays, but the queen put a stop to these amusements, calling them “follies.” By 1555, Sir Thomas had begun planning what was to become Trinity College, Oxford and after his death Elizabeth continued to be influential during the foundation’s early years. Shortly after Pope's death, Elizabeth was courted by Francis Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury. He visited her at Tittenhanger in 1559 but in December she sent back the ring he had given her. He agreed he would no longer court her, but when he was ill in April 1560, she wrote to him and the negotiations for marriage resumed. She demanded her own way concerning furniture, household stuff, and jewelry and her late husband's debts complicated matters. In the end, there was no wedding. Shrewsbury died on September 25, 1560. As her third husband, Elizabeth married Sir Hugh Paulet of Hinton St. George (1500-December 6, 1573) on November 12, 1560. She was his second wife.