Heads of the House of York

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This article contains information on a list of the Heads of the House of York.

Contents 1 List of heads 1.1 House of York - Dukes of York (1385–1461) 1.2 House of York - Kings of England (1461–1485) 1.3 Head of the House - Dukes of Suffolk (1485–1539) 1.4 Head of the House - Earl of Devon (1539–1556) 1.5 Head of the House - Archbishop of Canterbury (1556–1558) 1.6 Head of the House - Barons Stafford (1558–1693) 1.7 Head of the House - Earls Stafford-Howard (1693–1807) 1.8 Head of the House - Barons Stafford-Jerningham (1807–1913) 1.9 Head of the House - Barons Stafford-Fitzherbert (1913–present) 2 Sources 2.1 References 2.2 Bibliography

[edit] List of heads

[edit] House of York - Dukes of York (1385–1461)

Duke	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Edmund of Langley (House of York founder) 1385–1402		5 June 1341 Kings Langley son of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault	Isabella of Castile 1372 3 children Joan de Holland no children	1 August 1402 Kings Langley aged 61
Edward of Norwich 1402–1415		1373 Norwich son of Edmund of Langley and Isabella of Castile	never married	25 October 1415 Agincourt aged 42
Richard Plantagenet 1415–1460		21 September 1411 son of Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge and Anne de Mortimer	Cecily Neville 1437 13 chilren	30 December 1460 Wakefield aged 42
Edward Plantagenet 1460–1461		28 April 1442 Rouen son of Richard Plantagenet and Cecily Neville	Elizabeth Woodville 1 May 1464 10 chilren	9 April 1483 Westminster aged 40

Edward Plantagenet became king Edward IV of England in 1461, as thus the title Duke of York was merged with the Crown of England.

[edit] House of York - Kings of England (1461–1485)

Monarch	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Edward IV 4 March 1461 – 3 October 1470 11 April 1471–1483[1]		28 April 1442 Rouen son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville[1]	Elizabeth Woodville Grafton Regis 1 May 1464 10 children[1]	9 April 1483 Westminster Palace aged 40[1]
Edward V 9 April–25 June 1483[2]		2 November 1470 Westminster son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville[2]	unmarried	c. 1483 London aged about 12 (traditionally murdered)[3]
Richard III 26 June 1483–1485[4]		2 October 1452 Fotheringhay Castle son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville[5]	Anne Neville Westminster Abbey 12 July 1472 1 son[5]	22 August 1485 Bosworth Field aged 32 (killed in battle)[5]

Since Richard III's son Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales died just a before him, he had no direct heir. However, Richard had named his nephew John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln as his heir to the crown and thus Head of the House of York.^[6] John de la Pole was the son of Richard III's older sister Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk.^[6]

[edit] Head of the House - Dukes of Suffolk (1485–1539)

Head	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
John de la Pole 1485–1487		1462[7] son of John de la Pole and Elizabeth of York	Margaret FitzAlan 1 children	16 June 1487 Battle of Stoke aged 25
Edmund de la Pole 1487–1513		1471[8] son of John de la Pole and Elizabeth of York	Margaret Scrope 10 October 1496 No children	4 May 1513 aged 42
Richard de la Pole ("White Rose") 1513–1525		son of John de la Pole and Elizabeth of York[9]	never married	24 February 1525 Battle of Pavia age unknown
William de la Pole 1525–1539		1478 son of John de la Pole and Elizabeth of York[10]	Katherine de Stourton 1501 No children	October 1539 Tower of London aged 61

William was technically the most senior member during some of Richard de la Pole's period, however as he was put in prison in the Tower of London, Richard de la Pole essentially acted as the free head of the house and actively pretended to the throne of England in the name of the House of York. Richard de la Pole died without legitimate issue; he is said to have had a daughter in the form of Marguerite de la Pole, though he was not known to be married so historians presume it was by a mistress.^[11] William de la Pole was the sole remaining member left who the headship could be placed on after the death of Richard at the Battle of Pavia, this despite William being in the Tower of London. He had married Katherine de Sourton earlier in life but they had no children.^[12][13] With the death of William in 1539, the blood descendents of Richard III's sister Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk were extinct.^[14]

The closest to the line Richard III announced and the most senior Yorkist was thus a descendent of his brother; Edward IV of England as seniority in the line of hereditary succession places males as more ideal heads than females, thus skipping the desecents of Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter. In 1539, Edward IV had only one blood descendent remaning in the form of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon.^[15] Courtney's father Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter had been caught up in alleged Yorkist conspiracy the Exeter Conspiracy, to restore not only the Yorkist dynasty to the throne but also the Roman Catholic Church in England which has been dissolved by Henry VIII of England.^[15]

Also linked to the alleged Exeter Conspiracy was Reginald Pole, a high profile Yorkist who was the grandson of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, through his mother Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury who would be martyred and became a saint after her execution at the hands of Henry VIII in 1541. Historians are generally skeptical about the existence of the actual conspiracy due to lack of evidence and put it down to the creation of Thomas Cromwell and Richard Rich, which Henry was more willing to believe after the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion in York just two years earlier. Nevertheless, when Catholic monarch Mary I of England (reigned from 1553 until 1558) took to the throne there was a brief mending of relations between Yorkists and Tudors. Mary released her friend Gertrude Blount's Yorkist son Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon from the Tower of London^[15] as well as making Reginald Pole the Counter-Reformation Archbishop of Canterbury.

[edit] Head of the House - Earl of Devon (1539–1556)

Head	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Edward Courtenay 1539–1556		1527[16] son of Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter and Gertrude Blount	never married	18 September 1556 Padua aged 29

Edward was well aware of his high prominence within Yorkist circles, but because he was a favourite of his Tudor cousin Mary I of England and had a good friendship with her, as it was Mary who created him Earl of Devon and released him from prison in the first place, he never tried to claim the throne for the Yorkists.^[15] The two shared affection for each other and there was even a suggestion of marriage, pushed by Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, but this never came to light.^[15] He was also said to have shared affections with Mary's sister Elizabeth I of England and pushed to marry her by William Paget, though he did not follow through.^[15] Courtenay the last living blood desecendent of Edward IV of England died without heir at a young age, in Padua, Republic of Venice. After partaking in his hobby of falconry, it began to rain and he later died of fever, though some have suggested poisoning this has never been proven.^[15] Due to the Edward IV line of Yorkists now being extinct, the most senior figure and head was the descendent of Richard III's other brother, George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence. Through George's daughter Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury in 1556 the most senior Yorkist figure and heir was Reginald Pole. Margaret did have an older son in Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu, but he had been executed in 1539.

[edit] Head of the House - Archbishop of Canterbury (1556–1558)

Head	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Reginald Pole 1556–1558		March 1500[17] Stourton Castle son of Sir Richard Pole and Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury	never married	17 November 1558 aged 58

[edit] Head of the House - Barons Stafford (1558–1693)

Baron	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Ursula Pole 1558–1570		daughter of Sir Richard Pole and Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury[18]	Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford 16 February 1518 6 children	12 August 1570 age unknown
Edward Stafford 1570–1603		17 January 1535[19] Stafford Castle son of Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford and Ursula Pole	Maria Stanley, Baroness Stafford 23 November 1566 3 children	18 October 1603 aged 68
Edward Stafford 1603–1625		1572[20] son of Edward Stafford and Maria Stanley	Isabel Forster 22 November 1595 2 children	25 September 1625 aged 53
Henry Stafford 1625–1637		24 September 1621[21] son of Edward Stafford and Anne Wilford	never married	4 August 1637 Wraysbury aged 12
Mary Stafford 1637–1693		1619[22] daughter of Edward Stafford and Isabel Forster	William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford 12 October 1637 5 children	13 January 1693 aged 74

[edit] Head of the House - Earls Stafford-Howard (1693–1807)

Related to: Dukes of Norfolk and Earls of Arundel

Earl	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Henry Stafford-Howard 1693–1719		1648[23] son of Mary Stafford and William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford	Claude-Charlotte de Gramont 3 April 1694 No children	27 April 1719 aged 71
William Stafford-Howard 1719–1733		1690[24] son of John Stafford-Howard and Mary Southcott	Anne Holman 1718 1 child	January 1733 France aged 43
William Matthias Stafford-Howard 1733–1750		24 February 1718[25] son of William Stafford-Howard and Anne Holman	Henrietta Cantillon 8 July 1743 No children	28 February 1750 Jermyn Street aged 32
John Paul Stafford-Howard 1750–1762		26 June 1700[26] son of John Stafford-Howard and Mary Southcott	Elizabeth Mary Michael Ewens 1738 2 children	1 April 1762 aged 62
Anastasia Stafford-Howard 1762–1807		21 November 1722[27] daughter of John Paul Stafford-Howard and Elizabeth Mary Michael Ewens	nun, never married	27 April 1807 aged 85

[edit] Head of the House - Barons Stafford-Jerningham (1807–1913)

Baron	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
William Jerningham 1807–1820		7 March 1736[28] son of Mary Plowden and George Jerningham, 5th Baronet of Cossey	Frances Dillon 16 June 1767 4 children	1 October 1820 aged 84
George William Stafford-Jerningham 1820–1851		27 April 1771[29] son of William Jerningham and Frances Dillon	Henrietta Sulyarde 26 December 1799 8 children Elizabeth Caton 26 May 1836 No children[30]	4 October 1851 aged 80
Henry Valentine Stafford-Jerningham 1851–1884		2 January 1802[31] son of George William Stafford-Jerningham and Henrietta Sulyarde	Julia Howard 12 February 1829 No children Emma Eliza Gerard 13 September 1859 No children[32]	30 November 1884 aged 82
Laura Maria Jerningham 1884–1886		15 January 1811[33] daughter of George William Stafford-Jerningham and Henrietta Sulyarde	Robert Edward Petre 21 July 1829 No children[33]	24 June 1886 aged 75
Augustus Frederick FitzHerbert Stafford-Jerningham 1886–1892		28 June 1830[34] son of Edward Stafford-Jerningham and Marianne Smyth	never married	16 February 1892 aged 62
FitzHerbert Stafford-Jerningham 1892–1913		17 July 1833[35] son of Edward Stafford-Jerningham and Marianne Smyth	never married	12 June 1913 aged 80

[edit] Head of the House - Barons Stafford-Fitzherbert (1913–present)

Baron	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Francis Edward Fitzherbert-Stafford 1913–1932		28 August 1859[36] son of Basil Thomas Fitzherbert and Emily Charlotte Stafford-Jerningham	Dorothy Hilda Worthington 20 April 1903 No children[36]	18 September 1932 aged 73
Edward Stafford Fitzherbert 1932–1941		17 April 1864[37] son of Basil Thomas Fitzherbert and Emily Charlotte Stafford-Jerningham	never married	28 September 1941 aged 77
Basil Francis Nicholas Fitzherbert 1941–1986		7 April 1926[38] son of Thomas Charles Fitzherbert and Helen Beryl Frances Brougham	Morag Nada Campbell 16 June 1952 6 children[38]	1986 aged 60
Francis Melfort William Fitzherbert 1986–present		13 March 1954[39] son of Basil Francis Nicholas Fitzherbert and Morag Nada Campbell	Katherine Codrington 28 June 1980 4 children[39]	current

[edit] Sources

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

• Marquis of Ruvigny and Raineval Staff (1994). The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal, being a complete table of all the descendants now living of Edward III, King of England. Genealogical Publishing Company. ISBN 080631432X.