# Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex

Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex (c. 1479 – 11 May 1532) was an English noblewoman.

## Family

Elizabeth Stafford was the daughter of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Lady Katherine Woodville, the daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, by Jacquetta of Luxembourg, daughter of Pierre de Luxembourg, Count of St Pol, and was thus a niece of Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort to King Edward IV.
By her father's marriage to Katherine Woodville, Elizabeth Stafford had two brothers, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, and Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, and a sister, Anne, who married firstly, Sir Walter Herbert (died 16 September 1507), an illegitimate son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and secondly, George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon.
After the execution of the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, his widow, Katherine Woodville, married Jasper Tudor, second son of Owen Tudor and King Henry V's widow, Catherine of Valois. After Jasper Tudor's death on 21 December 1495, Katherine Woodville married Sir Richard Wingfield (died 22 July 1525). Katherine Woodville died 18 May 1497. After her death, her widower Sir Richard Wingfield married Bridget Wiltshire, daughter and heiress of Sir John Wiltshire of Stone Castle, Kent.
Elizabeth Stafford's only paternal aunt was Margaret Dayrell who was wife to James Tuchet, 7th Baron Audley. Her maternal uncles included (among others) Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers and Lionel Woodville, Bishop of Salisbury. Her aunts included Elizabeth Woodville and Mary Woodville, married respectively to Edward IV of England and William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.
Her first cousins included (among others) John Tuchet, 8th Baron Audley, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, Richard Grey, Elizabeth of York, Mary of York, Cecily of York, Edward V of England, Margaret of York, Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York, Anne of York, George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Bedford, Katherine of York, Bridget of York and Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness Herbert.
Her father was executed for treason by order of Richard III of England on 2 November 1483. She would remain in the care of her mother until her own marriage.
Elizabeth Stafford died before 11 May 1532, and was buried in Boreham, Essex.

## Marriage and issue

Elizabeth Stafford married, shortly after 23 July 1505, Robert Radcliffe, later the 1st Earl of Sussex, by whom she had three sons:
* Henry Radcliffe, 2nd Earl of Sussex (1507–1542), father of Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, a leading figure at the court of Queen Elizabeth.
* Sir Humphrey Radcliffe (c. 1508/09–13 August 1566) of Elstow, Bedfordshire, who married Isabel Harvey, daughter and heir of Edmund Harvey of Elstow and Margaret Wentworth, daughter of Sir Giles Wentworth, Knight, by whom he had two sons, Edward Radcliffe, 6th Earl of Sussex, and Thomas Radcliffe, and at least three daughters.
* George Radcliffe, who married Catherine Marney, the daughter of John Marney, 2nd Baron Marney.
After Elizabeth Stafford's death, Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex, married secondly, by 1 September 1532, Margaret Stanley, the only daughter of Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby, and Anne Hastings, the daughter of Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings, by whom he had two daughters, Jane, who married Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montague, and Anne, who married Thomas Wharton, 2nd Baron Wharton.
Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex, married thirdly, on 14 January 1537, Mary Arundell (died 20 October 1557), the only child of Sir John Arundell (1474–1545) of Lanherne, Cornwall, and his second wife, Katherine Grenvile, by whom he had two sons, a first-born son who died in infancy and whose name is unknown, and a younger son, Sir John Radcliffe (1539 – 9 November 1568). Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex, died 27 November 1542. His widow, Mary, subsequently married, in 1545, as his second wife, Henry FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel (died 24 February 1580).

## Ancestry

Ancestors of Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex :

## Footnotes

* ↑ Cokayne 1959, p. 738; Richardson IV 2011, p. 82; Dockray 2004.
* ↑ According to Davies she may have had another brother, Humphrey Stafford, who died young.
* ↑ Harris 2002, p. 145.
* ↑ Richardson II 2011, p. 374; Richardson IV 2011, p. 82; Davies 2008.
* ↑ Richardson IV 2011, pp. 82–3; Davies 2008.
* ↑ Richardson I 2011, p. 374.
* ↑ Richardson I 2011, p. 374.
* ↑ Bindoff III 1982, p. 169.
* ↑ Harvey, William; Cooke, Robert; Owen, George; Saint-George, Richard; Blaydes, Frederick Augustus (1884). The Visitations of Bedfordshire, Annis Domini 1566, 1582, and 1634. Made by William Harvey, Esq., Clarencieulx King of Arms, Robert Cooke, Esq., Clarencieulx King of Arms, and George Owen., Esq, York Herald, as Deputy for Sir Richard St. George, KT., Clarencieulx King of Arms. Together With Additional Pedigrees, Chiefly From Harleian MS. 1531; and an Appendix Containing a List of Pedigrees Entered at the Visitation of 1669; Also Lists of Bedfordshire Knights and Gentry Taken From Lansdowne MS. 887. 1st ser. Vol. 19. Harold B. Lee Library. London: Publications of the Harleian Society. p. 48.
* ↑ "Parishes: Elstow | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2025. Above the monument is a shield of Radcliffe impaling Harvey. Behind the capital of the left column are the arms of Robert Radcliffe, first Earl of Sussex, the father of Sir Humphrey Radcliffe of Elstow, impaling two coats. The first is France quartered with England, (2) Bohun of Hereford, (3) Bohun of Northampton, (4) Stafford, which are the arms of his first wife Elizabeth Stafford, daughter of Henry second Duke of Buckingham. The second is Azure a bend, which is perhaps a repainted coat of Stanley, for his second wife Margaret daughter of Thomas second Earl of Derby. Behind the capital of the right column is a similar shield, with the arms of Edmund Harvey of Elstow, Lady Radcliffe's father, impaling Wentworth differenced with a molet, for her mother Margaret, daughter of Sir Giles Wentworth, kt.
* ↑ Bindoff III 1982, p. 169; Grummitt 2004.
* ↑ Margaret had three brothers, John, Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby, and Henry.
* ↑ Grummitt mentions Anne, but not Jane, and states that Sir John Radcliffe (died 1568) was the son of Robert Radcliffe's second marriage to Margaret Stanley, whereas Stanton states that Sir John Radcliffe (died 1568) was the son of Robert Radcliffe's third marriage to Mary Arundell.
* ↑ Cokayne 1953, pp. 519–20; Richardson I 2011, p. 374; Richardson IV 2011, pp. 94–5; Stanton 2004; Grummitt 2004
* 1 2 3 4 Tait, James (1898). "Stafford, Humphrey, first Duke of Buckingham (1402–1460)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Tait, James (1898). "Stafford, Henry, second Duke of Buckingham (1454?–1483)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
* ↑ Tait, James (1894). "Neville, Ralph, first Earl of Westmorland (1364–1425)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 40. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
* 1 2 3 Kingsford, Charles Lethbridge (1911). "Somerset, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
* ↑ Pollard, Albert (1901). "Beaufort, John, first Earl of Somerset and Marquis of Dorset and of Somerset (1373?–1410)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). Vol. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
* ↑ Gairdner, James (1885). "Beauchamp, Richard de, Earl of Warwick (1382–1439)" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 4. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
* 1 2 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rivers, Richard Woodville, Earl" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
* 1 2 Geoffrey H. White, ed. (1949), "Rivers", The Complete Peerage, vol. XI, London: The St. Catherine Press, p. 19, retrieved 5 May 2018
* 1 2 3 4 Lefèvre, Sylvie (2006). Antoine de la Sale: la fabrique de l'œuvre et de l'écrivain (in French). Librairie Droz. p. 289: Tableau 3. Archived from the original on 20 February 2025.
* 1 2 Baldwin, David (2010). Elizabeth Woodville: Mother of the Princes in the Tower. The History Press. Shown on Table 4, page vi.