Margaret Courtenay
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Margaret Courtenay (c. 1499 – before 1526) was the only daughter of William Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon and Catherine of York. Her maternal grandparents were Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville.
Margaret was a younger sister of Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter. Their maternal first cousins included among others Arthur, Prince of Wales, Margaret Tudor, Henry VIII of England, Elizabeth Tudor, Mary Tudor, Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset and Katherine Tudor.
She was married to Henry Somerset, elder son and heir of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester and Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness Herbert. Local tradition at Devon mentioned her choking on a fishbone at Holcombe in 1512. An inscription on her tomb would seem to confirm this.
However there is information of her still living in Richmond after that date. She is mentioned attending to her young first cousin, once removed Mary Tudor on July 2, 1520. Which seems to be the last record mentioning her alive. Her husband became Earl of Worcester in 1526. But by this time his Countess was his second wife Elizabeth Browne. Margaret seems to have died in the 1520s but no more specific date is known.
Because there is no certain record of birth it is not certain which of the eight children of Henry Somerset were born by Margaret and which by Elizabeth. Either way they would not be considered heirs-male to her father and would have no rights on the Earldom of Devon. The eight children were:
- William Somerset, 3rd Earl of Worcester (d. 21 February 1589).
- Francis Somerset (d. September 10, 1547).
- Charles Somerset.
- Thomas Somerset.
- Lady Anne Somerset (d. September 8, 1591). Married Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland.
- Lady Eleanor Somerset. Married first Sir Roger Vaughan and secondly Henry Johns.
- Lady Jane Somerset. Married Sir Edward Mansel.
- Lady Lucy Somerset (d. February 23, 1583). Married John Neville, 4th Baron Latimer.
