1585 Depositions Concerning Oxford’s Legitimacy

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JOHN DE VERE’S  QUESTIONABLE MARRIAGES

The 1585 depositions taken by the Queen’s top legal eagles, (John Popham, Attorney General and Thomas Egerton, Solicitor General) bear witness to the inexplicable confusion of marriages that John de Vere initiated in the years and months directly preceding the birth of his first son, Edward.  At the heart of this testimony, we find Richard Enowes’ blunt admission of the “gut-wrenching” attack he and his fellows perpetrated on Earl John’s clandestine wife, Joan Jockey.

But these twenty circumscribed questions don’t begin to tell a coherent story.  When did Lady Dorothy up and leave her husband?  When did she die?  When did the attack on Joan Jockey take place?  Who instigated the attack?  Who was the vicar of Clare, and how and why did he persuade Earl John to marry Margery Golding?  In the absence of aggressive cross-examination of the witnesses, we’re left facing a phalanx of dreadful suspicions about what really happened.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be reviewing what others have written about this document, revisiting my own early conclusions, and re-assessing what this testimony tells us about Oxford’s birth, and how this disturbing story might have inspired Shakespeare and other Elizabethan writers.   To make it simpler for the reader to follow Popham and Egerton’s line of questioning, and who said what, I’ve divided the document into three parts:

A. THE DOCUMENT’S STATED PURPOSE AND A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE FIVE WITNESSES

B. SIMPLE PARAPHRASE OF THE 16 QUESTIONS RELEVANT TO OXFORD’S BIRTH

 

C. EACH ORIGINAL QUESTION (OR GROUP OF QUESTIONS) FOLLOWED BY ALL FIVE RESPONSES

 

 

A. THE DOCUMENT’S STATED PURPOSE AND A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE FIVE WITNESSES

Interrogatories to be ministered to witnesses on the part & behalf of Richard Masterson gentleman, defendant against Hugh Key complainant.

Examinations taken the 19th day of January in the 27th year of the Reign of our sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth by John Popham, esquire, her majesty’s attorney general and Thomas Egerton esquire, her Majesty’s Solicitor general by virtue of her highness’ Commission unto them in that behalf directed and hereunto annexed.

Five witnesses were called on, here listed with Alan Nelson’s modern spelling of the names, followed by my summary:

A. “Rooke Greene of Little Sampford in the county of Essex, esquire, aged about 62 years”

Born about 1523, Rooke Greene would have been 13 years old in 1537 when John de Vere married Dorothy Neville, and 24 yrs old when Henry VIII died.  John and Dorothy often visited his father’s house in Essex.

“The Greenes were very well-known Essex recusants”, says Daphne Pearson.  Rooke Greene “was fined and imprisoned in Colchester Castle for the fifteen years from 1578 to 1593 until he received the Certificate of Tolerance.  These dates indicate that he was in prison when he made the deposition of 1585.” (Edward de Vere (1550-1604): the Crisis and Consequences of Wardship, p. 111)

B. “John Anson, clerk, parson of Weston Turville in the county of Buckingham, aged about threescore years & somewhat upward”

Born about 1524 or 1525, John Anson was near the same age as Rooke Greene.  He married Dorothy Fosser (or ffosser, Foster), the woman that John de Vere had pre-contracted to marry, after the vicar of Clare persuaded the earl to wed Margery Golding instead.

C. “Richard Enowes (or Enews, Ennews, Enows) of Earl’s Colne in the county of Essex, aged 92 years or thereabouts”

Born about 1493, while Henry VII was still on throne, Richard Enowes was a servant at the wedding of John de Vere and Dorothy Neville in 1536; he was about 55 years old when he participated in the attack on Joan Jockey.

D. “Thomas Knollis (or Knollys) of Cottingham in the county of Northampton, gentleman, aged 58 years & upward”

Born about 1527, Thomas Knollis is the youngest of the deponents, and would have been not quite “of age” at the time Henry VIII died.  He testifies that he knew Lady Dorothy five years before she died and that Earl John himself had told him that he’d married Joan Jockey.  He also knew that the earl paid the vicar of Clare £10 yearly for his “labour” in making the marriage to Margery Golding.  Unfortunately, we do not learn how Knollis came by his acquaintance with the earl.

E. “William Walforth (or Walforthe) of Finchingfield in the county of Essex, yeoman, aged sixty years & upward

Born about 1524 or 25, William Walforth served John de Vere for twenty years and was the keeper at Hedingham great park at the time that the earl married Margery Golding.  Query: Might not “Walforth” be an alternative spelling of “Walford”?

Of the five witnesses, one (Rooke Greene) was currently a prisoner and one (Richard Enowes) should have been hanged for his confessed crime.

Since the matter of a child’s legitimacy greatly depends on the date of his parent’s marriage, we should note that not one of the five deponents was able to state the exact year of their own birth.

On the first day, Popham and Egerton questioned Greene, Anson and Enews.  The following day they questioned Knollis and Walforth.

 

B. SIMPLE PARAPHRASE OF THE 16 QUESTIONS RELEVANT TO OXFORD’S BIRTH

 

Questions 1-4 address the property issues of the case; you can read these questions in the original spelling here, or in the modern spelling version on Nina Green’s website.  They have no bearing on the issue of Oxford’s legitimacy, so we can safely set them aside for the purposes of this review.

 

The remaining 16 questions, paraphrased:

 

Questions 5-8 establish the facts of John de Vere’s first marriage to Dorothy Neville, sister to Henry Neville, late earl of Westmorland:

1st If they did marry, when?

2nd Were they ever divorced?

3rd Did they have any children?

4th When did Lady Dorothy die?

 

Questions 9 and 10 concern John de Vere’s second marriage to Joan Jockey:

1st Did the earl marry Joan while Dorothy was still living?

2nd When and where did they marry?

3rd Did Joan know that Dorothy was still living?

4th If so, how do you know that Joan knew?

 

Question 11 concerns John de Vere and Anne of Tilbury Hall:

1st Did the earl marry Anne while Dorothy was still living?

2nd If so, when and where was the marriage

3rd Did Anne know that Dorothy was still living?

4th If so, how do you know that she knew?

Question 12: seeks to discover if John de Vere ever married anyone else, before or after Lady Dorothy’s death, other than Joan, Anne, or Margery his last wife.  If so, the same questions as for #11.

Question 13: How long did John, earl of Oxford keep Joan and Anne or any other woman, as his wife or wives?

1st How long did they live with him before Dorothy’s death?

2nd How long did they live with him after Dorothy’s death?

3rd How long did they live apart from Earl John?

4th When and where did each of these women die?

Questions 14 and 15: establish John de Vere’s marriage to Margery Golding:

1st When and where did they marry?

2nd Whose daughter was she?

3rd Who married them and in what manner?

4th Was Dorothy, or any of his “supposed” wives, still alive when he married Margery?

Question 16: concerns John de Vere’s contract of marriage with Dorothy Fosser:

1st Was there a contract and when was it made?

2nd Was there a marriage?

3rd When and where did Dorothy Fosser die?

4th Did the earl make any other pre-contract of marriage, and if so, when?

5th When and where did Dorothy Fosser, (and any others pre-contracted to the Earl) die?

 

Question 17: rephrases or repeats earlier questions concerning Dorothy, Countess of Oxford:

1st Did she live longer than Joan, Anne, and any other wives of John, excepting Margery?

2nd When and where did Lady Dorothy die?

Question 18: concerns the 1563 suit brought by Lord Windsor and Katherine Vere:

1st What claim(s) did they attempt that questioned the lawfulness of John’s marriage to Margery?

2nd What claim(s) questioned the lawfulness of the birth of the said now Earl?

3rd In what Court or other manner was the claim attempted?

Question 19: Who were Lord Windsor’s counsels in bringing the suit?  Were Doctor Dale, Dr. Jones and/or Dr. Aubrey consulted? Were any other “Doctors, proctors or other persons” consulted?

 

Question 20: “What other matter or thing have you heard, known or can you say touching the premises or any part thereof or touching the lawfulness or unlawfulness of the birth of the said Edward, now Earl of Oxford?”

 

C. EACH ORIGINAL QUESTION (OR GROUP OF QUESTIONS) FOLLOWED BY ALL FIVE RESPONSES

 

Questions 5-8:

 

5. Item: Whether the said John, late Earl of Oxford, were first of all married to the lady Dorothy Neville, sister to Henry late Earl of Westmoreland deceased, and what day, year and month was that marriage.

6. Item: Whether the said John, late Earl of Oxford & the said lady Dorothy Countess of Oxford his wife, were ever divorced or not, and if any such divorce were, then when where & for what cause was the same divorce, and before what Judge, and if any such divorce were, whether were they after reconciled again or lived together after, and when & where was such their reconciliation.

7. Item: What issue had the said late Earl of Oxford & the said lady Dorothy his first wife between them and whether was that issue borne before the said divorce (if any such were) or after, and whether had they any other issue then the lady Katherine Vere, now lady Windsor, widow.

8. Item: What day year & month and where did the said lady Dorothy, Countess of Oxford his first wife, die.

A.  Rooke Greene of Little Sampford in the county of Essex, esquire, aged about 62 years:

To the 5th interrogatory he saith that John, late Earl of Oxford, was first married to one Dorothy, daughter to one of the Earls of Westmorland, & the same marriage was about fifty years past [=1535], and this he remembereth for that this examinant’s father dwelling near unto the same Earl’s father’s house, this examinant heard his father speak of that match, what a great match it was, and otherwise the certain time he remembereth not.

To the 6th he saith he never heard of any divorce between the said John, Earl of Oxford, & the said Dorothy, but knoweth well that they lived long after the same marriage in good liking together and came often together to this examinant’s father’s house, and more he saith not to that interrogatory.

To the 7th he saith that they never had any issue between them but the Lady Katherine, the now Lady Windsor.

To the 8th he saith that the said Lady Dorothy, Countess of Oxford, died about the second year of King Edward the Sixth [=1548-9], but otherwise he cannot speak of the time in certain, nor where she died.

 

B.  John Anson, clerk, parson of Weston Turville in the county of Buckingham, aged about threescore years & somewhat upward

To the 5th he saith he hath heard that the same Earl of Oxford did marry the said Lady Dorothy, sister to the same Earl of Westmorland, and saith that he knew the same Lady Dorothy & had seen her.

To the 6th he saith he never knew or heard of any such divorce, but hath heard Dorothy Foster say & affirm, who was the said Lady Dorothy’s maid in her house & her goddaughter, that there was never any divorce between the same Earl & Lady Dorothy.

To the 7th he saith the Lady Katherine, now Lady Windsor, was & is the only issue of the body of the same Earl & Lady Dorothy.

To the 8th he saith that, as he hath heard, the said Lady Dorothy died about Salisbury, and that she died in January in the first year of King Edward the Sixth near about Twelfthtide [=January 6, 1547-8].

 

C.  Richard Enowes of Earl’s Colne in the county of Essex, aged 92 years or thereabouts,

To the 5th he saith that John, Earl of Oxford, married with the Lady Dorothy Neville, sister to the Earl of Westmorland, and that he knoweth for that this examinant was at the marriage and waited thereat, to which marriage King Henry the Eight came in the afternoon, and it was about seven years before that the same King went to Boulogne [=1537].

To the 6th he saith that the same Earl of Oxford was never divorced from the same Lady Dorothy by any law although they lived not together somewhat before her death through the unkind dealing of the same Earl, but the Duke of Norfolk caused this examinant to move the same Lady Dorothy to come to the Earl again, but she said she would never go home again amongst such a bad company as were about the Earl of Oxford at that time.

To the 7th he saith that the same Earl & Lady Dorothy had issue the said Lady Katherine, now Lady Windsor, & one other daughter that died in the swaddling-clouts & no more to this examinant’s knowledge.

To the 8th he saith that the said Lady Dorothy died at a parsonage about half a mile from Salisbury in King Edward’s time before the rebellion in Norfolk [=1549] & very shortly after the Christmas holidays, and was buried at Salisbury, at which burial Mr Clare & one Jasper Jones, the Earl’s officers, by the same Earl’s appointment were.

 

D.  Thomas Knollis of Cottingham in the county of Northampton, gentleman, aged 58 years & upward

To the 5th & 6th interrogatories he saith he knew the Lady Dorothy, wife of John, late Earl of Oxford, five years before she died, and that until about two years before her death she lived with the same Earl as his wife, and she was sister to the late Earl of Westmorland, but never heard or knew of any divorce that was between the same Earl of Oxford & Lady Dorothy, and saith that she separated herself from him upon some unkindness, as he hath heard, and this examinant served in house with the same Earl one Mr Colt.

To the 7th he never knew any issue that the said Earl of Oxford had by the same Lady Dorothy but the Lady Katherine, now Lady Windsor.

To the 8th he saith that the same Lady Dorothy died near about this time 37 years [=1548] at a parsonage besides Sarum.

E.  William Walforth of Finchingfield in the county of Essex, yeoman, aged sixty years & upward

To the 5th, 6th , and 7th he saith he knew that the same Earl of Oxford was married to the said Lady Dorothy for that this examinant served the same Earl 20 years in his lifetime, & never knew or heard of any divorce between the same Earl and Lady Dorothy, and that they had issue between them the Lady Katherine, now Lady Windsor.

To the 8th he saith the said Lady Dorothy died about 37 years now past at this Twelfthtide [=January 6, 1548] about Sarum, as he hath heard, and more saith not to that interrogatory.

 

9. Item: Whether did the said John late Earl of Oxford, in the life of the said lady Dorothy his first wife marry one Joan Jockey or not? And what day month & year & where was the said marriage between the said Earl & the said Joan.

 

10. Item: Whether did the said Joan Jockey (at the time of the pretended marriage with the said  Earl of Oxford) know or understand that the said lady Dorothy the first wife of the said Earl of Oxford was then living, and by what reasons or arguments do you know that the said Joan had knowledge thereof.

A. Rooke Greene
To the 9th
he cannot depose but by report that he was married to the same Joan Jockey, but when it was he remembereth not.

To the 10th he cannot depose.

B. John Anson
To the 9th & 10th
he saith that he heard the said Earl of Oxford married with the said Joan Jockey about two years before the said Lady Dorothy died, and this he knoweth by the report of the said Dorothy Fosser, with whom this examinant after married, and by her report, to this examinant’s remembrance, the same Joan Jockey knew that the said Lady Dorothy was living at the time she married the said Earl.

C. Richard Enowes
To the 9th
he saith that the same Earl married with the said Joan Jockey about Corpus Christi tide at White Colne Church in the lifetime of the said Lady Dorothy, the which the said Lady Dorothy took very grievously, and it was about half a year after the Lady Dorothy departed from the said Earl.

To the 10th, that Joan Jockey did know that the said Dorothy was living at the time of her marriage with the Earl, for she dwelled in Earl’s Colne, and after that marriage the Lady Dorothy wrote to Mr Tyrrell, then the same Earl’s comptroller, to know if it were true that the said Joan were married to the same Earl.

D. Thomas Knollis
To the 9th and 10th
he heard the same Earl of Oxford say he had married the said Joan Jockey and that it was in the life of the said Lady Dorothy, and thinketh the same Joan knew that the said Lady Dorothy was living at the time that the same Joan married the same Earl for that her father dwelt in the said town of Earl’s Colne where the Earl dwelt.

E. William Walforth

To the 9th & 10th he saith the same Earl of Oxford married with the same Joan Jockey in the life of the said Lady Dorothy, and thinketh the same Joan must needs know that the same Lady Dorothy was living when she married the Earl for that she dwelled in the same town of Earl’s Colne where the said Earl dwelt.

 

11. Item: Whether did the said John, Earle of Oxford likewise in the life of the said lady Dorothy his first wife marry one other woman called by the name of Anne or by any other name which woman he kept at Tilbury hall in Essex or whom one Phillips after married and what was the name of that woman and what day year & month & where was this marriage so had & made; and whether did she then know that the said lady Dorothy, the said Earl’s first wife was then living as you know or have heard, and how know you this to be so.

A. Rooke Greene
To the 11th
he saith that about forty years past [=1545] he saw a woman near Tilbury Hall of whom it was then reported to this examinant that the said John, Earl of Oxford, kept her, but more or otherwise he cannot depose to the same interrogatory.

B. John Anson
To the 11th
he saith that one Phillips married one that the same Earl of Oxford had before kept, but whether the same Earl ever married the same woman or what her name was he knoweth not, and the acquaintance that the said Earl had with that woman also was in the lifetime of the said Lady Dorothy, and the same woman, as this examinant hath heard & doth verily believe, knew that the said Lady Dorothy was living when the same Earl did accompany with her, and saith all these women were shaken off by the same Earl of Oxford by the advice & working of his council before the said Lady Dorothy died, as this examinant heard the said Dorothy Foster say.

C. Richard Enowes
To the 11th
he saith that the woman that the same Earl kept at Tilbury Hall was never married to the same Earl of Oxford, but that woman’s name this examinant remembereth not.

D. Thomas Knollis
To the 11th
he saith he knew one other woman which the same Earl of Oxford kept at Tilbury Hall who was called Anne, sometime servant to one Mr Cracherode, and that she was never married to the said Earl.

E. William Walforth

To the 11th he knew the woman called Anne which the Earl kept at Tilbury Hall, which Anne had before served Master Cracherode, but saith that the Earl was never married to that woman.

 

 

12. Item: Whether did the said John, Earl of Oxford ever marry any other woman either in the life time of his said first wife, or after her decease, other than the said Joan Jockey & the woman called Anne (or by any other name) that was kept at Tylbery or which was after wife to the said Philips and the lady Margery his last wife, and if any such other marriage or marriages were, what day year & month and where were the same marriage or marriages so made. And whether did any of the said women so by him married then know that the said Earl’s said first wife was then living, as you know or have heard, and how you know this to be so.

 

A. Rooke Greene
To the 12th
he saith he doth not know or hath heard of any that the said Earl married but the said Dorothy, his first wife, & Margery, his last wife, other than that he heard as aforesaid that he had also married the said Joan Jockey, and more saith not to that interrogatory.

B. John Anson
To the 12th
he saith he never heard or knew that the said Earl of Oxford married any other than the said Lady Dorothy & Margery, his last wife, save the same Joan Jockey in the lifetime of his said first wife.

C. Richard Enowes
To the 12th
he saith the same Earl of Oxford never married any other woman than the said Lady Dorothy & Margery save the said Joan Jockey whom he married in the lifetime of the said Lady Dorothy, as is aforesaid.

D. Thomas Knollis
To the 12th
he saith he never heard or understood that the same Earl was ever married to any other woman but to the said Lady Dorothy, his first wife, and the Lady Margery, his last wife, save the said Joan Jockey whom he married in the lifetime of the same Lady Dorothy.

E. William Walforth

To the 12th he saith in everything as Thomas Knollys, the former examinant, hath said to the same interrogatory.

 

13. Item: How long did the said John, late Earle of Oxford, keep the said Joan Jockey and the other woman called Anne (or otherwise) whom he kept at Tilbury (or which was after wife of the said Phillips) or any of the said other women, as his wife or wives, and how long did they live so with him in the life of his said first wife, and how long after her death, and how long lived they from him and when & where and at what several times died they.

A. Rooke Greene
To the 13th
he can say nothing otherwise than as he hath said already.

B. John Anson
To the 13th
he saith he never heard or understood that the said Earl of Oxford kept any of the said women after the death of the said Lady Dorothy, but saith as before he hath heard that they were put from him in the said Lady Dorothy’s lifetime, and to the rest thereof he cannot depose otherwise than as he hath before deposed.

C. Richard Enowes
To the 13th
he saith that both the said Joan Jockey and also the woman that the same Earl of Oxford kept at Tilbury Hall were put from the said Earl in the lifetime of the said Lady Dorothy, and for the said Joan Jockey, in the absence of the Earl the Lord Darcy and Lord Sheffield came to Earl’s Colne, and this examinant & two more with him brake open the door where the same Joan was and spoiled her, and this examinant’s fellow, John Smith, cut her nose, and thereupon after she was put away.

D. Thomas Knollis
To the 13th
he saith the said Joan Jockey was rid away from the same Earl in the lifetime of the same Lady Dorothy, and so he taketh that the said Anne was also, and that it was by the means of the Lord Darcy & others, but they overlived the said Lady Dorothy, but what is become of them this examinant knoweth not, neither whether they be dead or not.

E. William Walforth

To the 13th he saith that both the said Joan Jockey and Anne were rid from the Earl in the lifetime of the said Lady Dorothy, and that the same Joan Jockey was disfigured by one John Smith, the Earl’s servant.

 

14. Item: At what day year time and place did the said John, late Earl of Oxford, marry the said lady Margery, and whose daughter was she, and by whom & in what manner was the said marriage.

15. Item: Whether did the said John, late Earl of Oxford, marry the said lady Margery during the life of the said lady Dorothy his first wife or during the life of any other of his supposed wives or not.

 

 

A. Rooke Greene
To the 14th
he saith the marriage between the said Margery and John, late Earl of Oxford, was, as this examinant hath heard, at Pauls Belchamp about the third year of King Edward the Sixth [=1549-50], and sure he is it was after the death of the said Dorothy, his first wife, & in the summertime, which Margery was the sister of Sir Thomas Golding, but what her father’s name was this examinant knoweth not, and more he cannot say to that interrogatory.

To the 15th he saith that the same Earl married the said Margery after the death of the said Dorothy, his first wife, and doth not know of any other wife that the same Earl had living at the time of the marriage between the said Earl and Margery.

B. John Anson
To the 14th
he saith that the said Earl of Oxford was married unto the said Margery Golding about St. James tide next after the death of the said Lady Dorothy, as this examinant understood it commonly reported at that time, and the said Dorothy Fosser told this examinant that the same Earl was married to the same Margery on a Tuesday in the morning at Belchamp Hall in the house late Sir Thomas Golding’s, and that the same Earl had appointed with the same Dorothy Fosser to have married with her, the same Dorothy, the next day, being the Wednesday following, at Haverhill, and saith he hath heard that the vicar of Clare, being chaplain & almoner  to the same Earl of Oxford, did marry the same Earl & Margery as aforesaid.

To the 15th he saith the same Earl of Oxford married the said Margery after the death of the said Lady Dorothy & not in her lifetime, but whether any other his supposed wife was then living or not he cannot say, but he saith & verily believeth that he had no lawful married wife living at the time that he, the same Earl, married the said Margery Golding.

C. Richard Enowes
To the 14th & 15th
he saith the same Earl did marry the said Margery Golding after the death of the said Lady Dorothy at Pauls Belchamp, Mr Golding’s house, as this examinant heard, and it was in the summertime about St. James tide, and this examinant was one of them that with the rest of the Earl’s men did fet the same Margery after the marriage to Hedingham Castle, and that the same Earl had no other wife living at the time of the marriage between him & the said Margery Golding.

D. Thomas Knollis
To the 14th & 15th
he saith that the Lady Margery was married unto the said Earl of Oxford after the death of the said Lady Dorothy in August about 36 years past [=1548] and saith that marriage was wrought by the vicar of Clare who had £10 yearly of the same Earl for his labour, and this marriage was, as he taketh it, at Mr Golding’s her brother’s house, and saith the said Earl of Oxford had no lawful wife living at the time of his marriage with the same Margery that was known or understood in the same Earl’s house.

E. William Walforth

To the 14th & 15th he saith that in or near about August next after the death of the said Lady Dorothy the said Earl of Oxford married with the said Lady Margery, sister to Mr Golding, and that this marriage was at Pauls Belchamp, and this he knoweth & remembereth for that this examinant killed a buck at Hedingham great park, where this examinant was then keeper, for the same marriage, and saith this marriage was brought to pass by the vicar of Clare, and that the same Earl had no other lawful wife living at the time of his marriage with the same Margery.

 

16. Item whether did the said John, late Earl of Oxford, make a contract of marriage with one Dorothy Fosser, and when was that contract so made.  And whether any marriage ensued between them thereupon.  And when & where died the said Dorothy Fosser. And whether the said late Earl made any other pre-contract of marriage with any other woman or women, And if so, when & where were the said pre-contract or pre-contracts made. And when & where died the said woman or women so pre-contracted.

A. Rooke Greene
To the 16th
he saith that by the appointment of the said Earl the same Dorothy Fosser was at this examinant’s father’s house attending on the said Katherine, now Lady Windsor, about the second year of King Edward [=1548-9], after which they were both sent for away by the appointment of the Duke of Somerset, after which the same Dorothy Fosser returned to this examinant’s father’s house, and the Duke of Somerset, understanding that the said Earl had good liking unto the same Dorothy, gave order to this examinant’s father that the Earl should not be suffered to have access to the same Dorothy at his house, who took as much care thereunto as he might, and yet nevertheless the same Earl by his servants got her to be taken away to th’ intent that the said Earl might have married the same Dorothy, but in the meantime, before the said Earl met with the said Dorothy, the same Earl in his way toward the place where the same Dorothy was went to the house of the said Margery Golding’s brother, where seeing the same Margery he grew into such a present liking of her as he presently married her, whereupon the same Dorothy Fosser returned to this examinant’s father’s house and found herself greatly grieved with the said Earl in that he had married the said Margery & not herself, the same Dorothy, and saith that the same Dorothy did never to this examinant’s knowledge affirm that she was either married or contracted to the same Earl but that he had deceived her in not marrying with her as he had promised whereupon she had had her banns once asked in the church, and saith hereupon the same Dorothy complained to the Council of the Earl’s abuse towards her, who thereupon was awarded to pay her ten pound yearly during her life, and thereupon the same Dorothy after returned & within a year or thereabouts after married with one John Anson, then this examinant’s father’s clerk, and more saith not to that interrogatory.

B. John Anson
To the 16th
he saith that, as this examinant hath heard, the same Dorothy Fosser was contracted unto the said Earl of Oxford at Sir Edward Greene’s at Sampford Hall, but saith that there followed no marriage upon that contract for that after the banns asked and a licence for the marriage obtained, the day before the marriage should have been accomplished the same Earl married with the said Margery Golding, and this [+this] examinant understood by the report of the same Dorothy herself, with which Dorothy this examinant after married, and for any other contract with any other woman made by the same Earl this examinant never heard of, and saith that the said Dorothy Fosser died at Felsted in Essex about the fourth year of the late Queen Mary [=1556-7].

C. Richard Enowes
To the 16th
he saith Dorothy Fosser he knew very well, and that she was the said Lady Dorothy’s god-daughter & waited on the same Lady Dorothy, and knoweth not of any contract between the said Earl & the same Dorothy Fosser, but saith there was a time appointed that the same Earl should have married the same Dorothy, before which time by the means of the vicar of Clare he was drawn to Mr Golding’s where he married the said Margery Golding, and never heard that he was pre-contracted with any other woman.

D. Thomas Knollis
To the 16th
he saith he heard there was a contract between the said Dorothy Fosser & the said Earl, but he married her not, for the day before the same Earl should have married with the same Dorothy he married with the said Margery, whereupon afterwards the same Dorothy Fosser in the life of the same Earl of Oxford married with John Anson, now parson of Weston Turville in the county of Buckingham, but never understood that the same Earl was after the death of the said Lady Dorothy contracted to any other than to the said Dorothy Fosser as aforesaid.

E. William Walforth

To the 16th he saith he heard it reported that the same Earl of Oxford was contracted to the said Dorothy Fosser and a time appointed for her marriage, but he saith that before the day in which that marriage should have been the said Earl married the said Margery Golding as is aforesaid by him, and that thereupon afterwards the said Dorothy married with John Anson, now parson of Weston Turville, in the life of the same Earl.

 

17. Item: Whether did the said lady Dorothy, Countess of Oxford, first wife of the said late Earl, over live the said Joan Jockey & the said woman called Anne (or otherwise) that was kept at Tylbery or which was after wife unto the said Phillips, and all the other wives of the said late Earl, if any other were, except the said lady Margery, and when & where died the said lady Dorothy his first wife.

A. Rooke Greene

To the 17th he cannot otherwise depose than he hath already deposed to the former interrogatory.

B. John Anson
To the 17th
he saith that he verily thinketh that the said Joan Jockey & the other woman that Phillips married overlived the said Lady Dorothy, and for the rest he saith no otherwise than as he hath before deposed.

C. Richard Enowes
To the 17th
he saith Joan Jockey overlived the said Lady Dorothy, and for the rest of that interrogatory he can say no more than he hath said before.

D. Thomas Knollis
To the 17th
he saith that the said Joan Jockey & Anne overlived the said Lady Dorothy, which Lady Dorothy died besides Salisbury, as he hath said before.

E. William Walforth

To the 17th he saith he thinketh the same Joan Jockey is yet living, and for the said Anne, she overlived the same Lady Dorothy, but what is become of her he knoweth not, and more saith not but as he hath before said for those matters.

18. Item: What suit, entree, claim or demand did Edward, lord Windsor lately deceased, who married the said lady Katherine Vere, daughter of the said late Earl, and the said lady Katherine his wife now widow or either of them at any time heretofore attempt against the said Edward now Earl of Oxford, to bring in question the lawfulness or unlawfulness either of the marriage between the said late Earl and the said lady Margery his wife or of the birth of the said now Earl, and in what Court or place or in what other manner was any such suit or suits, entree, claim or demand so attempted.

 

 

19. Item: Who were of Counsel with the said late lord Windsor in the said suit claim or demand, and whether Doctor Dale, Dr. Jones & Dr. Aubrey were of his Counsel, and what other Doctors, proctors or other persons were of his Counsel or towards him therein.

 

A. Rooke Greene
To the 18th & 19th
he saith that the late Lord Windsor, deceased, writ to this examinant to know whether this examinant could speak anything of any marriage or contract had between the said Earl and Dorothy Fosser, who did answer that he knew of no such marriage or contract, but that the said Earl caused her to be taken away from this examinant’s father’s house and after married the said Margery Golding, after which the said Lord Windsor meeting this examinant said he would put the matter in suit, but otherwise he cannot say to any of these interrogatories.

B. John Anson
To the 18th & 19th
interrogatories he saith he never knew of any such suit presented by the said Lord Windsor, but doth remember that there was a consultation had with Doctor Dale, Doctor Jones, Doctor Aubrey, Mr Vaughan, & Proctor Biggs about the contract pretended to have been between the same Earl of Oxford and Dorothy Fosser, who gave advice to sue a commission to prove that contract, affirming if it were proved that then the marriage of the Earl with the said Margery was matrimonium clandestinum, after which this examinant heard no more of the matter.

C. Richard Enowes
To the 18th & 19th
he cannot depose.

D. Thomas Knollis
To the 18th & 19th
he cannot depose.

E. William Walforth

To the 18th 19th & 20th he can say no more than he hath before deposed.

 

20. Item: What other matter or thing have you heard, known or can you say touching the premises or any part thereof or touching the lawfulness or unlawfulness of the birth of the said Edward, now Earl of Oxford.

A. Rooke Greene
To the 20th
he can say no more than he hath said but that the now Earl is the lawful issue of the said late Earl of Oxford for anything that this examinant ever knew or heard of.

B. John Anson
To the 20th
he can say no more than he hath already before deposed in this matter.

C. Richard Enowes
To the 20th
he can say no more than he hath deposed already.

D. Thomas Knollis
To the 20th
he can say no more than he hath before already deposed.

E. William Walforth

To the 18th, 19th & 20th he can say no more than he hath before deposed.

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