Alatheia Talbot Howard, Countess of Arundel
The painting by Peter Paul Rubens at left (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) features Alatheia Talbot Howard, Countess of Arundel, who was married to Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel.
Thomas was the only son of Philip Howard, eldest son and heir of the 4th Duke of Norfolk, who married Mary FitzAllen, daughter and eventual heir of the 19th Earl of Arundel. Philip was imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth for scheming to marry Mary, Queen of Scots and though released from that charge, he was later implicated in and beheaded for the Ridolfi plot to put Mary on the English throne.
Alathea had an interesting ancestry in her own right, being granddaughter to Bess of Hardwick, (Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury) the wealthiest woman in England next to Queen Elizabeth; and to make things even more intriguing, she and her husband were also picked by Queen Elizabeth to act as Mary, Queen of Scots goalers (guardians) from 1569 to 1584. In 1574 Bess married her daughter, Elizabeth, to Charles Stuart, brother of Lord Darnley, one of the husbands of Mary Queen of Scots. The daughter of this union, Arabella Stuart, had a claim to the thrones of Scotland and England.
My research into this family has led me to believe either one or both of two of their son’s, the third and fourth, thought to have died as infants (whose meaning, to my understanding, in the 16th century meant before the age of 21) actually came to America. One, under the name of Mathew Howard, of Virginia and Maryland. I have been publishing my research in serial form in The Howard Historian. It was this event that drove an irreparable wedge between Alatheia and her husband, who died without her presence in Padua, Italy in 1646. The newsletters are available under Howard Genealogy/The Howard Historian
Thomas was the only son of Philip Howard, eldest son and heir of the 4th Duke of Norfolk, who married Mary FitzAllen, daughter and eventual heir of the 19th Earl of Arundel. Philip was imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth for scheming to marry Mary, Queen of Scots and though released from that charge, he was later implicated in and beheaded for the Ridolfi plot to put Mary on the English throne.
Alathea had an interesting ancestry in her own right, being granddaughter to Bess of Hardwick, (Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury) the wealthiest woman in England next to Queen Elizabeth; and to make things even more intriguing, she and her husband were also picked by Queen Elizabeth to act as Mary, Queen of Scots goalers (guardians) from 1569 to 1584. In 1574 Bess married her daughter, Elizabeth, to Charles Stuart, brother of Lord Darnley, one of the husbands of Mary Queen of Scots. The daughter of this union, Arabella Stuart, had a claim to the thrones of Scotland and England.
My research into this family has led me to believe either one or both of two of their son’s, the third and fourth, thought to have died as infants (whose meaning, to my understanding, in the 16th century meant before the age of 21) actually came to America. One, under the name of Mathew Howard, of Virginia and Maryland. I have been publishing my research in serial form in The Howard Historian. It was this event that drove an irreparable wedge between Alatheia and her husband, who died without her presence in Padua, Italy in 1646. The newsletters are available under Howard Genealogy/The Howard Historian
The mtDNA Project
While this project has been very popular among participants, both male and female; I have not heard from anybody about how successful it has been as a genealogy tool. If you are an mtDNA participant I have set up pages for each of you to let others know of your ancestry as well as a blog. Please let us know through the blog about your success/failure in using the mtDNA test, roadblock you have found in your ancestry or of any other genealogy related issues.
