Elisabeth Parr, Marchioness of Northampton

Short Biography

Elisabeth Brooke (25 June 1526 – 2 April 1565) was the eldest daughter of George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham of Kent and Anne, his wife. She was the niece of Sir Thomas Wyatt the elder, the courtier-poet credited with bringing the sonnet form into the English language, and Elizabeth Brooke who was associated with Henry VIII of England. Elisabeth openly lived in adultery with William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton and bigamously married him. At times, she was accepted at court as the Marchioness of Northampton. She was the sister-in-law of Catherine Parr, King Henry VIII's sixth queen. She was allegedly the person who began the plot to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne of England instead of Mary I. Her first cousin, Thomas Wyatt the Younger, was the leader of a rebellion against Queen Mary I known as Wyatt's Rebellion. The whole family were implicated. She became one of the most influential courtiers again during the reign of Elizabeth I.