Lady Margaret Wotton Medley Grey, Marchioness and Baroness of Dorset

• BIRTH 1486 Boughton Malherbe, Maidstone Borough, Kent, England
• DEATH 6 Oct 1535 (aged 48–49) England
• BURIAL St. Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Astley, North Warwickshire Borough, Warwickshire, England
• MEMORIAL ID 51789976 Pictures added by Plantagenet Crown Dynasty & Lynda

. She married They had one child during their marriage. She died on October 6, 1535, in Yorkshire, England, at the age of 49.

Lady Margaret Wotton, Marchioness of Dorset, Baroness Grey was born in 1485 was born in 1486 in Dorset, England as the daughter of Sir Robert Wotton of Boughton and Anne Belknap. Not much is known of her early life; she was 1st married to William Medley, esquire, in 1505, and this union produced one son, George. Not long after the death of her first husband she 2nd married Sir Thomas II DeGrey ( 2nd Marquess of Dorset, Baron Grey of Harington, KG, KB ) on February 14, 1509, in England, when she was 23 years old.

She is the mother of nine of his children and is more often remembered for the many quarrels she engaged in during the minority of her son Henry, over money and his allowance. In October 1530, her husband died, and she was given custody of all his property to preside over until their son, Henry, reached maturity. Her lack of generosity towards Henry shocked her peers as unmotherly and inappropriate behaviour towards a high-ranking nobleman and relative of King Henry VIII of England.

In June of 1533, Margaret rode in Anne Boleyn's coronation procession from the Tower of London to Westminster Abbey, and three months later, in September, she stood as one of the godmothers of the future Queen Elizabeth I of England. Despite enjoying favour at court in 1534, she was compelled to answer the charges that she was an "unnatural mother." These charges came about from a long series of quarrels with her son, who had succeeded to the Marquessate of Dorset in 1530, when he was forced to pay a fine of £4000 for breach of contract after he had renounced his betrothal to Katherine Fitzalan, daughter of the Earl of Arundel.
As a result, she tried to restrict his allowance throughout his minority, which caused much consternation from her peers, who labelled her actions "unmotherly" and inappropriate behaviour towards a nobleman. Margaret only agreed to Henry's marriage with Lady Frances Brandon, niece of the King, on the condition that her father, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, would support the couple until her son reached adulthood.
In answer to the charges that she was "an unnatural mother," she offered to contribute to her son's advancement "as my small power is and shall be."

Several years later, when he came of age, Henry brought his quarrel with his mother before the Kings' Council, where she belatedly admitted that her son's allowance was not "meet or sufficient to maintain his estate," and she offered to increase it. Henry was not appeased, therefore she moved out of the Grey family seat at Bradgate House; however, Henry would not let her remove her personal property, so in April 1539 she wrote a letter to Thomas Cromwell, pleading with him to order her son to release her goods.
Her son Henry obtained the reversion of the estates she had held during her widowhood on July 12, 1539, which indicates she must have passed away sometime between April and July of that year.
Portrait of Margaret after Hans Holbein

She married first, in 1505, William Medley, by whom she had a son, George of Tilty, Essex. Soon after Medley death, in Feb 1509, she married as his second wife Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquis of Dorset (b. 22 Jun 1477 - d. 10 Oct 1530), the eldest son of Thomas Grey, 1st Marquis of Dorset, and Cecily Bonville, Baroness Harington and Bonville. She was styled as Marchioness of Dorset upon her marriage.

Margaret and her husband were part of the group who accompanied Princess Mary Tudor to France in the autumn of 1514, for the latter's wedding to King Louis XII of France.

Together, Thomas and Margaret had eight children: Elizabeth Grey, married firstly Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden and secondly George Norton; Catherine Grey, married Henry Fitzalan, 18th Earl of Arundel; Anne Grey, married Sir Henry Willoughby; Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, married Frances Brandon, by whom he had three daughters, Jane, Catherine and Mary; John Grey of Pirgo; Thomas Grey; Leonard Grey and Mary Grey. In Oct 1530, her husband died and she was given custody of all his property during their eldest son, Henry's minority.

By 1534 Margaret was openly engaged in a dispute with her son, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 3rd Marquess of Dorset (1517 - 1554),[5] a rift that would ruin her reputation. She first quarrelled with her son, who had succeeded to the Marquisate in 1530, when he was forced to pay a fine of £4000 for renouncing his betrothal to Katherine Fitzalan, daughter of the Earl of Arundel. As a punishment, she tried to restrict his allowance as he was technically still a minor, only agreeing to his marriage to his preferred choice, Lady Frances Brandon, niece of the King, on the condition that the bride’s father, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, supported the couple until her son came of age. In 1534 she finally offered to contribute ‘as my small power is and shall be’, but nonetheless Henry brought their dispute before the Kings’ Council, forcing her to admit that his allowance was not ‘meet or sufficient to maintain his estate’, and to offer to increase it. Embittered by the experience, she moved out of the Grey family seat at Bradgate House and died in 1541 at the age of fifty-four. [8]

Lady Margaret Wotton, Marchioness of Dorset, Baroness Grey died on October 6, 1535, in Yorkshire, England, when she was 49 years old. Her husband Sir Thomas II passed away on October 10, 1530, in Astley, Warwickshire, England, at the age of 53. They had been married 21 years.

Notes

Alternate Spellings of Maiden Name: Wotton, Wooton, Watton, Ooton, Wauton, de Wotton, de Wauton.
Henry Grey was father to Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537 – 1554), whose brief claim to the throne lasted a mere nine days before her summary execution.

Parents
Sir Robert Wotton 1455–1524
Anne Belknap Wotton unknown–1522

Spouse
Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, Baron of Harington, KG, KB 1477–1530 m 14 Feb 1509, Age 23

Siblings
Rev Nicholas Wotton 1497–1567
Edward Wotton unknown–1551

Children9x some born in Groby Castle, Leicestershire, England
George Medley 1508–1562
Lord Thomas Grey III 1510–1555
Elizabeth Grey Norton 1510–1561
Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk 1517–1554
Lady Anne Grey Willoughby, Baroness1513–1548
Sir Lord John Grey of Pirgo 1523–1564
Katherine Grey
Leonard Grey
Mary Grey.

References

1. http://thepeerage.com/p10501.htm#i105003

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Wotton

3. http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/MargaretWotton(MDorset).htm

4. http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/MargaretWotton(MDorset).htm

5. Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth, Volume 1, Lucy Aikin, p. 9

6. Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of Henry VIII, Volume 14

7. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51789976/margaret_medley_grey

8. http://www.weissgallery.com/paintings/lady-margaret-wotton-marchion...

9. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Vol. II (2nd ed.), Douglas Richardson

10. English Aristocratic Women, 1450–1550: Marriage and Family; Property and Careers, Harris, Barbara Jean, p. 115