Notes:

Isabel of Cambridge, Countess of Essex (1409 – 2 October 1484) was the only daughter of Richard, 3rd Earl of Cambridge and Anne Mortimer. She was the sister of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and like him a great-grandchild of Edward III of England.

Early life
Isabel of York, the only daughter of Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, and Lady Anne de Mortimer, was born about 1409.[1] On her father's side she was the granddaughter of King Edward III's fourth surviving son, Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, and his first wife, Isabella of Castile. On her mother's side she was the granddaughter of Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March (grandson of Lionel of Antwerp) and Lady Alianore Holland (granddaughter of Lady Joan of Kent, Princess of Wales).

Isabel's father, Richard, Earl of Cambridge, was beheaded on 5 August 1415 for his part in the Southampton Plot against King Henry V, and although the Earl's title was forfeited, he was not attainted,[2] and Isabel's brother, Richard, then aged four, was his father's heir.[3] Moreover within a few months of his father's death, Richard's childless uncle, Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, was slain at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415, and Isabel's brother was eventually his uncle's heir as well.

Marriages and issue
In 1412, at three years of age, Isabel was betrothed to Sir Thomas Grey (1404 – d. before 1426), son and heir of Sir Thomas Grey (c.1385-1415) of Heaton in Norham, Northumberland, and his wife, Alice Neville, the daughter of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland. They had one son.[4]

She married secondly, before 25 April 1426, the marriage being later validated by papal dispensation, Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, by whom she had seven sons and one daughter, Isabel.[5]

William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier (d. 1480), who married Anne Woodville, daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, parents of Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex and Cecily Bourchier, wife of John Devereux, 8th Baron Ferrers of Chartley;
Sir Henry Bourchier (d. 1462), who married Elizabeth Scales, 8th Baroness Scales.
Humphrey Bourchier, 1st Baron Cromwell (d. 14 April 1471), slain at the Battle of Barnet.
John Bourchier, 6th Baron Ferrers of Groby (d.1495), who married firstly Elizabeth Ferrers, and secondly Elizabeth Chichelle.
Sir Thomas Bourchier (b. prior to 1448 d. 1492), who married Isabella Barre.
Edward Bourchier (d. 30 December 1460), slain at the Battle of Wakefield.
Fulk Bourchier, died young.
Isabel Bourchier, died young.[6]

Death
Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, died on 4 April 1483. Isabel remained a widow and died on 2 October 1484.[7] A manuscript calendar records her death on VI Non Oct in 1484. Both were buried at Beeleigh Abbey near Maldon, Essex, but later reburied at Little Easton, Essex.[8]

Footnotes[edit]
1. Richardson IV 2011, pp. 400–404.
2. Cokayne states that he was attainted.
3. Harriss 2004.
4. Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th Edition, Charles Mosley Editor-in-Chief, 1999 Page: 15, 1222
5. Richardson IV 2011, pp. 401–3.
6. Weir states that there were three additional children, Laura Bourchier (b.1440), who married John Courtenay, 7th Earl of Devon; Florence Bourchier (d. 1525); and Hugh Bourchier, died young.
7. Richardson IV 2011, pp. 401–3.
8. Richardson IV 2011, pp. 401–3.

Family/Spouse: Sir Thomas Grey. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabel married Lord Henry Bourchier, 5th Baron Bourchier, 2nd Count of Eu, 1st Viscount Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex before 25 Apr 1426. Henry (son of Lord William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu and Lady Anne Plantagenet, of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford and Eu) was born in 1406; died on 4 Apr 1483; was buried in Little Easton Church, Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Fulke Bourchier died in died young.
2. Isabel Bourchier was born in 1431; died in died young.
3. Sir Humphrey Bourchier, Lord Cromwell was born in 1433 in Great Totham, Essex, England; died on 14 Apr 1471 in Battle of Barnet, Hertfordshire, England; was buried in Westminster Abbey, London, England.
4. William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier was born about 1435 in Great Totham, Essex, England; died on 26 Jun 1480.
5. Henry Bourchier was born about 1437 in Great Totham, Essex, England; died on 12 Aug 1458.
6. Thomas Bourchier was born in 1440; died on 26 Oct 1491; was buried in Ware, hertfordshire.
7. Sir John Bourchier, 6th Baron Ferrers of Groby was born in 1438; died in 1495.
8. Florence Bourchier died about 1525.
9. Hugh Bourchier died in died young.
10. Sir Edward Bourchier died on 30 Dec 1460.
11. Laura Bourchier, Countess of Devon was born in 1440.

Notes:

Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (c. 20 July 1375 – 5 August 1415) was the second son of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, and Isabella of Castile. At the age of forty he was beheaded for his part in the Southampton Plot, a conspiracy against King Henry V. He was the father of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and the grandfather of King Edward IV and King Richard III.

Richard + Anne Mortimer. Anne died on 21 Sep 1411; was buried in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377) was King of England from 25 January 1327 until his death; he is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II. Edward III transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe. His long reign of fifty years also saw vital developments in legislation and government—in particular the evolution of the English parliament—as well as the ravages of the Black Death.

Edward was crowned at age fourteen after his father was deposed by his mother and her lover Roger Mortimer. At age seventeen he led a successful coup against Mortimer, the de facto ruler of the country, and began his personal reign. After a successful campaign in Scotland he declared himself rightful heir to the French throne in 1337 but his claim was denied due to the Salic law. This started what would become known as the Hundred Years' War.[1] Following some initial setbacks the war went exceptionally well for England; victories at Crécy and Poitiers led to the highly favourable Treaty of Brétigny. Edward's later years, however, were marked by international failure and domestic strife, largely as a result of his inactivity and poor health.

Edward III was a temperamental man but capable of unusual clemency. He was in many ways a conventional king whose main interest was warfare. Admired in his own time and for centuries after, Edward was denounced as an irresponsible adventurer by later Whig historians such as William Stubbs. This view has been challenged recently and modern historians credit him with some significant achievements.

Edward married Philippa, of Hainault on 24 Jan 1328. Philippa was born on 24 Jun 1314; died on 15 Aug 1369. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Philippa of Hainault, LG or Philippa of Holland (24 June[1] 1314 – 15 August 1369) was Queen of England as the wife of King Edward III.[2] Edward, Duke of Guyenne, her future husband, promised in 1326 to marry her within the following two years.[3] She was married to Edward, first by proxy, when Edward dispatched the Bishop of Coventry "to marry her in his name" in Valenciennes (second city in importance of the county of Hainaut) in October 1327.[4] The marriage was celebrated formally in York Minster on 24 January 1328, some months after Edward's accession to the throne of England. In August 1328, he also fixed his wife's dower.[5]

Philippa acted as regent on several occasions when her husband was away from his kingdom and she often accompanied him on his expeditions to Scotland, France, and Flanders. Philippa won much popularity with the English people for her kindness and compassion, which were demonstrated in 1347 when she successfully persuaded King Edward to spare the lives of the Burghers of Calais. It was this popularity that helped maintain peace in England throughout Edward's long reign.[6] The eldest of her fourteen children was Edward, the Black Prince, who became a renowned military leader. Philippa died at the age of fifty-five from an illness closely related to dropsy. The Queen's College, Oxford was founded in her honour.