Re: [Richard III Society Forum] Re: Jane Shore and her probable ch

Marie,

Thank you for this! I have carefully kept a copy of your notes to refer to. It will be useful the next time the More Legend of "Jane" Shore comes up, as it assuredly will do.

For the second time today I find myself unable to quote chapter and verse, but there is a Ricardian article out there somewhere that relates to "Jane's" brass. If memory serves me it's at Hinxworth, Hertfordshire.

Brian W

--- In , "Brian Wainwright"
<Brian@...> wrote:
>
> Marie,
>
> Thank you for this! I have carefully kept a copy of your notes to
refer to. It will be useful the next time the More Legend of "Jane"
Shore comes up, as it assuredly will do.
>
> For the second time today I find myself unable to quote chapter and
verse, but there is a Ricardian article out there somewhere that
relates to "Jane's" brass. If memory serves me it's at Hinxworth,
Hertfordshire.
>
> Brian W

Oh, I'm glad it helped. There is such nonsense still being written
about Mistress Shore, I'd love to lay it flat. People still write
that More saw her in her pitiful old age, and even More never claimed
that. Actually, if More was right about her having been married off
very young, she couldn't have been more than about early 50s when he
wrote.

Consulting my very very old notes, the article is 'The Real Jane
Shore' by Nicholas Barker, published in Etonia, June 1972. There is -
or at least was - a copy in the Society Library which I borrowed what
seems hundreds of years ago. Barker was the man who identified 'Jane'
Shore as Elizabeth Lambert. The thread of the sleuthing runs:-
1) In 1476 an Elizabeth Lambert alias Shore petitioned for the
annulment of her marriage on the grounds that her husband
was 'frigidus et impotens' and she desired to have children.
(This was a bit cheeky, as the Pope would have granted the annulment
so she could marry again, not so she could remain single and bear the
King's bastards.) The same year, Edward bestowed his protection upon
Wiliam Shore, citizen of London.
Edward IV would have been a hard act to follow. Not surprising
William Shore found himself feeling a bit 'impotens' with his wife as
a result.
2) As was already well known, there is an extant letter from Richard
III granting his Solicitor Thomas Lynham permission to marry "the
late wife of William Shore, now being in Ludgate by our commandment"
3) John Lambert's will names his daughter as Elizabeth Lynham and one
of his overseers as "my son Thomas Lyneham, gentleman".

I think Barker identified her tomb as the one in Hinxworth (the
family had land out there).
Now, I'm sorry my notes fail me again here. An image apparently hers
is included on her parents' brass, but I don't think we know for
certain whether she was actually buried there. The style of dress is
very 1480s, and I think it may have been commissioned before she
married Lynom. Wealthy people frequently had their tombs made in
their own lifetime. The brass could possibly have been made after her
father's death, but it would have been very odd for her to have
planned to be buried with her parents when she was only three years
into her marriage.
Her father did request in his will to be buried at Hinxworth. I
really wish I could find where I read it, but I seem to recall that
the brass is inscribed with the names of Elizabeth's parents but not
with her own details despite the inclusion of the second female
image. This suggests to me that it had been planned for her to be
buried with them when the brass was commissioned, but that in the end
this didn't happen. Not surprising if she ended up in Shropshire.
A picture of the image in question is given in Michael Hicks' 'Edward
V' (as illustration no 6 between pages 64 & 65).

If I find out any more I'll let yas know.

If you like the snippets of family info, you might be interested to
know that father John Lambert also owned land around Plumstead in
Kent, and that this was left to his son Robert, but he left his
Hertfordshire property to his wife, to pass on to their son John on
her own death. However, it doesn't seem to have panned out like that,
as when John Jr died in 1511 he left his nephew Robert (presumably
brother Robert's son) "my place in Plumstead".

I've just noticed again a little interesting bit in John Jr's will
(1511). Is he talking about a late wife of his? If so, was she of
noble birth?
"Item I will that my Lady Elyn have a marbyll stone with her armys
myself oon other with the Image with A pylgryme of Jerusalem with a
rede crosse of v ynches and the image to be of my lought". I think
lought was actually what it said - I can't find the actual will now
to check and I transcribed it very hastily - but I think it probably
means likeness. Could his Lady Elyn be identified? It sounded as
though he didn't necessarily want to be buried with her (simply 'my
body to Christian sepulture'), just have his image on her tomb,
wherever it was (possibly Plumstead?).
Also, does this mean John had actually been to Jerusalem, or was this
just part of his image as a "servant of" the Knights of St John?

The Lamberts may originally have come from south Yorkshire, because
John Sr names as his residual heir "the heirs of John Lambert of
Tickhill" near Doncaster. John Jr did likewise, naming as his
residual heir "my cousin John Lamberd of Tickhill in Yorkshire".

The Herts and Kent lands, therefore, may well have been bought with
the profits from business.

Sorry, this has got rather long again.

Marie

PS. Someday perhaps I'll get back to Mistress Shore. I'm sure there's
more that can be discovered, particularly about her later life. I
understand Anne Sutton has just got a major study of the Mercer's
Company published, and I think that would be worth a look at for more
info on the Lamberts.

PPS. It is brother John's will, again, that tells us their maternal
grandfather was Robert Marshall. Barker hadn't studied this
particular will, but it has been picked up by the author of the new
DNB article (sorry, can't remember who it is).