Penelope Blount, Countess of Devonshire

Penelope Blount, Countess of Devonshire (1562 - July 7, 1607) was an English noblewoman.

Born Penelope Devereux, she was the elder daughter of the 2nd Viscount Hereford and the former Lettice Knollys, daughter of Sir Francis Knollys and the former Catherine Carey, and sister of the 1st Earl of Banbury. Lady Knollys was the daughter of the former Lady Mary Boleyn by either her husband Sir William Carey, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, or her lover King Henry VIII.

Upon her father's creation as Earl of Essex in 1572, she became Lady Penelope Devereux. Her brother, Robert, Viscount Hereford, inherited the Earldom of Essex when their father died in 1576. In 1580 their widowed mother married the Queen's favourite, the 1st Earl of Leicester, who died in 1588.

First marriage

In 1581, she married the 3rd Baron Rich (later 1st Earl of Warwick), becoming Lady Rich. They were parents of the following children:

*The Hon. Sir Robert Rich (1587-1658), later styled Lord Rich, later 2nd Earl of Warwick
*The Hon. Sir Henry Rich (1590-1649), later 1st Earl of Holland
*The Hon. Sir Charles Rich (d. 1627), died unmarried and without issue
*Lady Lettice Rich (d. 1619), married firstly Sir George Carey and secondly Sir Arthur Lake
*Lady Penelope Rich, married Sir Gervase Clifton
*Lady Essex Rich, married Sir Thomas Cheeke
*Lady Isabel Rich, married Sir John Smith

Love affair

The marriage was unhappy and by 1595, Lady Rich had begun a secret affair with the 1st Earl of Devonshire. They were parents of the following illegitimate children:

*Mountjoy Blount (1597-1663), later 1st Earl of Newport
*Elizabeth Blount
*John Blount
*Ruth Blount (d. 1690), married Christopher Tilghman

After the execution of Lady Rich's younger brother, the 2nd Earl of Essex, in 1601, Lord Rich had her and her children by Lord Devonshire cast out. Lady Rich moved in with her lover, and the couple began a very public relationship. By 1605, Lord Rich sued for a divorce, and Lady Rich wanted to marry Lord Devonshire and legitimise their children. The divorce was granted but the request for a remarriage in order to legitimise her children was refused. She was forced to leave court and married Lord Devonshire in a ceremony conducted by his chaplain, William Laud, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, on 26 December 1605 at Wanstead House in London, whereupon she became Countess of Devonshire. Lord and Lady Devonshire continued to live together as husband and wife with their children until he died a few months later. Lady Devonshire followed her husband to the grave a year later.

Some critics speculate that she, in part, inspired "Stella" in the work "Astrophel and Stella" (1591) by Sir Philip Sidney, her stepfather Lord Leicester's nephew.

External links

* [http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Penelope,_Lady_Rich 1911 "Encyclopædia Britannica" article]
* [http://www.tudorrosecourt.org/clyde.html Short biography]
* [http://www.tudorplace.com.ar Tudor Place]