Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon

1484 - 1544  (60 years)

 Set As Default Person

• Gender	Female
  Born	1484
  Biography	Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (née Lady Anne Stafford) (c. 1483–1544) was the daughter of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Lady Katherine Woodville. She was the wife of Sir Walter Herbert, and George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, and served in the household of King Henry VIII's daughter, Princess Mary, the future Queen Mary I. Family Lady Anne Stafford, born around 1483, the year her father was executed for treason by order of King Richard III, was the daughter of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Katherine Woodville, sister to Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort of King Edward IV. By her father's marriage to Katherine Woodville, Anne Stafford had two brothers, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, and Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, and a sister, Elizabeth, who married Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex. After the execution of Anne's father, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, her mother, Katherine Woodville, married Jasper Tudor, uncle of King Henry VII. When Anne's first husband, Sir Walter Herbert, died in 1507, Anne, then only 20 years of age, turned over control of her jointure, which included Raglan Castle in Wales, to her brother, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. Anne resided in her brother's household at Thornbury Castle until her second marriage to George Hastings in 1509. Scandal In 1510, shortly after her second marriage, Anne was the subject of scandal when her sister, Lady Fitzwalter, reported to their brother Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, that Anne's behaviour with Sir William Compton was bringing shame on the Stafford family. Edward Stafford then found Compton in Anne's chamber. After a heated exchange during which Buckingham is reported to have told the pair that "women of the Stafford family are no game for Comptons, no, nor for Tudors, either." Compton was forced to take the sacrament to prove that he and Anne had not committed adultery, and Anne's husband, the Earl of Huntingdon, sent Anne away to a convent 60 miles distant from the court. There is no extant evidence establishing that Anne and Sir William Compton were guilty of adultery. Speculation ran high that Compton had been soliciting Anne’s favors on behalf of King Henry VIII, and that Anne was the king’s mistress, but whatever the truth of that relationship, William Compton himself seems to have developed a strong bond of affection with Lady Hastings. In his will, made in March 1522, he left Anne a life interest in property in Leicestershire and founded a chantry where prayers would be said daily for her soul. The latter provision was one usually made only for one’s self and close family members. Despite this scandal, Anne and her second husband, the Earl of Huntingdon, appear to have enjoyed a close and loving relationship, as evidenced by a letter written to Anne by the Earl in 1525 which has been described as 'one of the most affectionate and charming letters of the period'. It begins "Mine own good Anne, with all my whole heart, I recommend me unto you as he that is most glad to hear that you be merry and in good health." He was in London and had been ill. She had offered to come to him to nurse him, and he now wrote to assure her that he was "well amended over that I was" and to urge her to remain where she was, saying that "rather than I would wish you to take such a journey upon you, considering your feebleness and also the foul way, I ensure you I would be glad to come home afoot." Marriages & Children In 1503 Anna married Sir Walter Herbert, son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke. The marriage was childless. She married secondly, in December 1509, George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon. They had five sons and three daughters. References A lot of this information was extracted from the Wikipedia page "Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon". These notes should not be considered fact - please refer to the original Wikipedia article and the references contained therein. Additional information on the 'scandal' was taken from the online update to Wives and Daughters: The Women of Sixteenth-Century England by Kathy Lynn Emerson.
  Died	1544 Stoke Poges, South Bucks District, Buckinghamshire, England
  Age	60 years
  Buried	St Giles Churchyard, Stoke Poges, South Bucks District, Buckinghamshire, England   [1]
  Person ID	I270 Family Tree | Hastings Branch
  Last Modified	20 Feb 2017

  
  

  Spouse / Partner	3rd Baron Hastings George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon,   b. Abt 1488, Leicestershire, England ,   d. 25 Mar 1544, Stoke Poges, South Bucks District, Buckinghamshire, England  (Age ~ 56 years)
  Married	25 Mar 1544  [2]
  Children	8 children
  + 1. Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon,   b. Abt 1514, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England ,   d. 20 Jun 1560, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England  (Age ~ 46 years)   2. Sir Thomas Hastings,   b. 1515,   d. 1558  (Age 43 years)   3. Henry Hastings   4. William Hastings + 5. Lady Dorothy Hastings,   b. 1519   6. Edward Hastings, 1st Baron Loughborough,   b. 1520,   d. 5 Mar 1571  (Age 51 years)   7. Lady Mary Hastings,   b. Abt 1532   8. Katherine Hastings
  Last Modified	17 Feb 2017
  Family ID	F76 Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Died - 1544 - Stoke Poges, South Bucks District, Buckinghamshire, England  Buried - - St Giles Churchyard, Stoke Poges, South Bucks District, Buckinghamshire, England   = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Sources

  [S38] Find A Grave, (www.findagrave.com), http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=59273300&ref=acom, 16 Feb 2017. [S77] Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, Privy Council and Order of Precedence 99th Edition, Page 1052, 16 Feb 2017.