Dorothy Kitson

Dorothy Kitson (1531 – 1577) later, Dorothy, Lady Pakington, was the daughter of Sir Thomas Kitson, a wealthy London merchant and the builder of Hengrave Hall in Suffolk. Her first husband was Sir Thomas Pakington, by whom she was the mother of Queen Elizabeth I's favourite, Sir John "Lusty" Pakington. After Sir Thomas Pakington's death she married Thomas Tasburgh. She was one of the few women in Tudor England to nominate burgesses to Parliament and to make her last will while her husband, Thomas Tasburgh, was still living. Her three nieces are referred to in the poems of Edmund Spenser.

Dorothy Kitson
Born1531
Died1577 (aged 45–46)
Spouse(s)Sir Thomas Pakington
Thomas Tasburgh
ChildrenSir John Pakington
Henry Pakington
Robert Pakington
Thomas Pakington
Margaret Pakington
Katherine Pakington
Mary Pakington
Parent(s)Sir Thomas Kitson, Margaret Donnington

Family
Hengrave Hall, built by Dorothy Kitson's father, Sir Thomas Kitson

Dorothy Kitson was the daughter of Sir Thomas Kitson by his second wife, Margaret Donnington (d. 12 January 1561), the only child of John Donnington (d.1544) of Stoke Newington, a member of the Worshipful Company of Salters,[1][2] and Elizabeth Pye.[3] By her father's first marriage to a wife whose name is unknown she had a half sister, Elizabeth Kitson, who was the first wife of Edmund Croftes (d. 14 February 1558) of Westow Hall in Little Saxham, Suffolk.[4]

By her father's second marriage she had a brother and three sisters:

After Sir Thomas Kitson's death, Dorothy's mother, Margaret, married secondly Sir Richard Long (d.1546) of Wiltshire, Great Saxham and Shingay, Cambridgeshire, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to King Henry VIII, by whom she had a son, Henry Long, and three daughters, Jane, Katherine and Mary.[3] She married thirdly, in 1548, John Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Bath (d.1560), by whom she had two daughters, Susan and Bridget.[11]

Life

Dorothy Kitson required a dispensation to marry her first husband, Sir Thomas Pakington (died 2 June 1571) of Hampton Lovett, Worcestershire, the son of Robert Pakington (d.1536) and Agnes Baldwin. The dispensation was granted 20 September 1546.[12]

Sir Thomas Pakington inherited the lordship of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, from his maternal grandfather, John Baldwin, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. The nomination of Members of Parliament for the borough of Aylesbury was thus in Sir Thomas Pakington's control during his lifetime, and after his death Lady Dorothy, as his widow, 'exercised the full powers of lordship herself' by nominating Thomas Lichfield and George Burden to Parliament on 4 May 1572.[13] As Carter points out, although Lady Dorothy's nomination was not unique, 'returns of MPs by widows were extremely rare in early modern England', and were of concern to the authorities, who were torn between their reluctance to allow widows to exercise this property right, and their reluctance to restrict property rights in any way, even in the case of widows.[12]

Lady Dorothy's eldest son, Sir John Pakington, was for a time a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, who invited him to court after he had been presented to her during her visit to Worcester in 1572.[14]

In addition to being one of the few widows to nominate Members of Parliament, Lady Dorothy was also among the few women of the Tudor period to make a last will and testament while her husband was still living. Having obtained the consent of her second husband, Thomas Tasburgh, before taking this unusual step, she made her will on 30 April 1577. It was proved on 21 June 1577.[12]

Lady Dorothy is buried in the parish church at Hawridge, where there is a monumental brass to her memory.[15][16]

Marriages and issue

Dorothy Kitson married firstly Sir Thomas Pakington (died 2 June 1571) of Hampton Lovett, Worcestershire. He was the son of Robert Pakington (d.1536), a London merchant who was shot to death on the morning of Monday 13 November 1536 while on his way to church. His murderer was never found. An account of his death, which was later interpreted as martyrdom, is given in John Foxe's Acts and Monuments.[17][18]

Dorothy Kitson and Sir Thomas Pakington had four sons, Sir John Pakington, Henry, Robert and Thomas, who married Anne, the daughter of Sir William Pelham, and three daughters: Mary, who married, as his first wife, Sir Walter Long of Draycot, Wiltshire;[19][lower-alpha 1] Katherine, who married firstly John Davis, esquire, secondly Sir Jasper More, and thirdly a knight surnamed Mompesson; and Margaret, who married Thomas Lichfield, esquire, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Queen Elizabeth.[20]

She married secondly Thomas Tasburgh (c.1554–c.1602) of Hawridge, Buckinghamshire, a lawyer and Teller of the Exchequer, by whom she had no issue.[12][21]

Notes
  1. Sir Walter Long's brother, Henry, was killed in the Longs' feud with the Danvers brothers, Charles and Henry.
  1. Rowe 2004.
  2. Baggs, Bolton & Croot 1985, pp. 178–184.
  3. Welch & Archer 2008.
  4. Rokewode 1838, pp. 135–136.
  5. Hasler 1981, Cavendish, Sir....
  6. Corder 1981, pp. 60–61.
  7. Thorpe 1982, Spencer, Sir ....
  8. Corder 1981, p. 61.
  9. Child 1866, p. 399.
  10. Corder 1981, p. 61; Burke & Burke 1838, p. 510.
  11. Corder 1981, pp. 61–2.
  12. Carter 2008.
  13. Carter 2008; Lipscomb 1847, p. 8; Gibbs 1888, pp. 310–11.
  14. Wright 2007.
  15. Gibbs 1888, p. 311.
  16. JMC, Department of Antiquities 1999, Monumental Brass ....
  17. Marshall 2008.
  18. Foxe 1570, p. 1330.
  19. Bindoff 1981, Long, Sir ....
  20. Phillimore 1888, p. 103; Lipscomb 1847, p. 14; Corder 1981, p. 61.
  21. Mimardière & Hasler 1981, Tasburgh, Thomas....
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References
  • Baggs, A P; Bolton, Diane K; Croot, Patricia E C (1985). "Stoke Newington: Other estates". In Baker, T F T; Elrington, C R (eds.). A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes. British History Online. pp. 178–184.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Bindoff, S. T. (1981). Hasler, P.W. (ed.). Long, Sir Walter (1560-1610), of Wraxhall, Wilts. The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603. Boydell and Brewer.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Burke, John; Burke, John Bernard (1838). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England. London: Scott, Webster and Geary. p. 510. Retrieved 28 April 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Carter, P. R. N. (January 2008) [2004]. "Tasburgh , Dorothy [other married name Dorothy Pakington, Lady Pakington] (1531–1577)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/68014.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Child, Francis J. (1866). The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser. IV. Boston: Little Brown and Company. p. 399. Retrieved 28 April 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Corder, Joan, ed. (1981). The Visitation of Suffolk, 1561. I. London: Whittaker and Co. pp. 58–62. Retrieved 28 April 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Foxe, John (1570) [1563]. "The Death of Robert Packington". John Foxe’s The Actes and Monuments Online. p. 1330. Retrieved 28 April 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Gibbs, Robert (1888). Worthies of Buckinghamshire. Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire: Robert Gibbs. pp. 309–12. Retrieved 28 April 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Hasler, P. W. (1981). Hasler, P.W. (ed.). Cavendish, Sir Charles (1553-1617), of Welbeck Abbey, Notts. The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603. Boydell and Brewer.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Howard, Joseph Jackson, ed. (1868). The Visitation of Suffolk. II. London: Whittaker and Co. pp. 83–108. Retrieved 28 April 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • JMC, Department of Antiquities (30 November 1999). "Monumental Brass Rubbings for England, Buckinghamshire,". Ashmolean Museum of Art & Archaeology. Retrieved 28 April 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Lipscomb, George (1847). The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham. II. London: J. & W. Robins. pp. 8–9, 14. Retrieved 28 April 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Marshall, Peter (October 2008) [2004]. "Pakington, Robert (b. in or before 1489, d. 1536)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/96818.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Mimardière, A. M.; Hasler, P. W. (1981). Hasler, P.W. (ed.). Tasburgh, Thomas (c.1554-1602), of Hawridge; later of Beaconsfield, Bucks. The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603. Boydell and Brewer.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Phillimore, W.P.W., ed. (1888). The Visitation of the County of Worcester Made in the Year 1569,. XXVII. London: Harleian Society. p. 103. Retrieved 28 April 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Rokewode, Joseph Gage (1838). The History and Antiquities of Suffolk; Thingoe Hundred. London: Samuel Bentley. pp. 134–136. Retrieved 28 April 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Rowe, Joy (2004). "Kitson family (per. c.1520–c.1660)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/73910.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  • Thorpe, S. M. (1982). "Spencer, Sir John (1524-86), of Althorp, Northants. and Wormleighton, Warws.". In Bindoff, S.T. (ed.). The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558. Boydell and Brewer.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Welch, Charles; Archer, Ian W. (reviewer) (January 2008) [2004]. "Kitson, Sir Thomas (1485–1540)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15833.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) The first edition of this text is available at Wikisource: "Kytson, Thomas" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  • Wright, Stephen (May 2007) [2004]. "Pakington, Sir John (1549–1625)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21145.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link) (Subscription or UK public library membership required.) The first edition of this text is available at Wikisource: "Pakington, John (1549-1625)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
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