Anne St Leger
| Anne St Leger | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 January 1476 |
| Died | 21 April 1526 (aged 50) |
| Spouse(s) | George Manners, 11th Baron de Ros |
| Children |
Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland ... and 10 others |
| Parent(s) |
Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter Sir Thomas St. Leger |
| Relatives |
Edward IV of England (uncle) Richard III of England (uncle) |
Anne St Leger (later Baroness de Ros; 14 January 1476 – 21 April 1526) was a niece of two Kings of England, Edward IV and Richard III. Before she was 8, she had inherited a vast fortune and been disinherited of it. Married at 14, she had 11 children, and is a link in the maternal line that was used to identify the remains of Richard III.
Anne St Leger was born on 14 January 1476, during the reign of her maternal uncle, King Edward IV. Her mother, Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, died the same day of complications surrounding the birth. Her father was the Duchess of Exeter's second husband, Sir Thomas St Leger. Lady Anne Holland, her maternal half-sister fathered by Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, died before she was born. According to the 1467 grant, the Duchess of Exeter inherited the estate which her elder daughter had inherited from her father, the Duke of Exeter. The grant stipulated that most of the Exeter inheritance was to pass to the Duchess' heirs of the body, even if fathered by a subsequent husband. Anne inherited the enormous estate at birth, as it coincided with her mother's death.
A much desirable bride since her birth, Anne was contracted to marry Lord Ferrers of Groby. He was the eldest son of Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, who had been married to her older half-sister and whose mother was her aunt, King Edward IV's wife Elizabeth Woodville. Queen Elizabeth was determined to secure the Exeter inheritance for her descendants by her first marriage, and in 1483, St Leger was declared heiress to the entire estate of her father by an Act of Parliament. The arrangement, detrimental to the interests of the surviving descendants of the Holland family, resulted in a growing unpopularity of King Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth. Anne was disinherited and her father executed by her other maternal uncle, King Richard III, immediately after his accession in 1483. Following the Battle of Bosworth Field, in which Richard III was killed, the match between St Leger and Ferrers was discarded.
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