Kat Ashley

Katherine Ashley (circa 1502–1565) (or Astley), née Katherine Champernowne, was governess to Queen Elizabeth I and became her close friend in later life. She was known to the Queen as "Kat," and it is by the name "Kat Ashley" that she is generally known to history. She should not be confused with her niece Katherine Champernowne, mother successively of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh.

Katherine Champernowne’s parentage is not known for certain, but she was probably the daughter of Sir John Champernowne (1458–1503), lord of the manor of Modbury in Devon (whose alabaster effigy survives in Modbury Church), by his wife Margaret Courtenay (c.1459-1504), a daughter of Sir Philip Courtenay (died 1488) of Molland, Devon, Sheriff of Devon in 1470, the second son of Sir Philip Courtenay (1404–1463) of Powderham by his wife Elizabeth Hungerford. The name derives from the manor of Cambernon in Normandy, the former feudal holding of the de Cambernon family. Kat's niece was Joan Champernowne, who married Sir Anthony Denny, Groom of the Stool and most trusted servant to King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth's father.

After Edward VI's birth, Elizabeth lost her nurse, Lady Bryan, who was transferred to the young Prince's household. She was placed in the care of Blanche Herbert, Lady Troy who remained Elizabeth's Lady Mistress until she retired in late 1545 or early 1546; Elizabeth's household accounts from Hatfield show she sent Lady Troy a pension. Katherine Champernowne was appointed as a waiting gentlewoman to the then Lady Elizabeth in July 1536. In 1537, when Elizabeth was four, Katherine became her governess, and was known to her as "Kat."

...
Wikipedia