Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Stafford

Margaret Beaufort (c. 1437 – 1474) was a daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and Lady Eleanor Beauchamp.

Her maternal grandparents were Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and his first wife Elizabeth Beauchamp, 4th Baroness Lisle. Elizabeth was daughter of Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley and Margaret de Berkeley, 3rd Baroness Lisle, becoming the main heiress of her mother.

Marriages

Margaret was first married to Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Stafford. He was the eldest son and prospective heir of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham by his wife Anne Neville. Anne was daughter of Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and his 2nd wife, Joan Beaufort, youngest daughter of John of Gaunt and his mistress / third wife Katherine Swynford. They had only one known child:

• Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (4 September 1454 – 2 November 1483).

Her father led forces loyal to the House of Lancaster in the First Battle of St Albans (22 May 1455) against his main rival Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York. The Earl of Stafford followed his father-in-law into battle. Margaret's father was killed; her husband, Stafford, was wounded. Margaret could no longer count on the support of her father; and she became a widow when her husband died of plague three years later.

She had a second marriage to Sir Richard Dayrell. They were parents to at least one child:

• Margaret Dayrell. She married James Tuchet, 7th Baron Audley and was mother of John Tuchet, 8th Baron Audley.

Ancestry

Sources

• Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books, 2008. ISBN 0-09-953973-X.