Ancestral Trails 2016 » Cecily NEVILLE (1415-1495)

Personal data Cecily NEVILLE 

• Alternative name: Duchess of York (also known as / alias)
• She was born on May 31, 1415 in Castle Raby, Raby With Kevers, Staindrop, County Durham.
• She died on May 31, 1495 in Berkhamstead Castle, Hertfordshire, she was 80 years old.
• A child of RALPH NEVILLE and JOAN BEAUFORT

Household of Cecily NEVILLE

She is married to Richard PLANTAGENET.

They got married before October 18, 1424 at Yorkshire.

Child(ren):

1. Thomas PLANTAGENET  1451-????
2. Henry PLANTAGENET  -1441
3. William PLANTAGENET  1447-????
4. Edmund PLANTAGENET  1443-1460
5. John PLANTAGENET  1448-????
6. Ursula PLANTAGENET  1455-????
7. Margaret of YORK  1446-1503
8. Richard III PLANTAGENET  1452-1485 
9. Anne of YORK  1439-???? 
10. George PLANTAGENET  1449-???? 
11. Elizabeth of YORK  1444-1504 
12. Edward IV PLANTAGENET  1442-1483 

• The couple has common ancestors.



Notes about Cecily NEVILLE

Cecily Neville was the eighteenth child of Ralph Neville, 1st earl of Westmorland (c.1364-1425). Her mother was his second wife, Joan Beaufort (d.1440).

By October 1429, she had married Richard, duke of York (1411-x. December 30, 1460), who had been her father's ward. They had been betrothed before she reached her tenth year.

They had at least twelve children between 1439 and 1452, seven of whom survived to adulthood: Anne (1439-January 1476), Edward (1442-1483), Edmund (x.1460), Elizabeth (1444-1503/4), Margaret (May 3, 1446-November 22, 1503), George (d.1478), and Richard (1452-1485).

Cecily went with her husband to France, where he was governor, and to Ireland, where he was lieutenant. He was attainted in 1459 and executed the following year as part of the conflict between the houses of Lancaster and York.

Cecily's eldest surviving son, Edward, became King Edward IV. She is said to have disapproved of his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, his lowborn queen. It was during Edward's reign, in 1470, that Cecily's younger son, George, duke of Clarence, started the rumor that Cecily had been unfaithful to her husband and that Edward was illegitimate.

This story resurfaced after Edward's death, when Cecily's youngest son, Richard of Gloucester, deposed her grandson, Edward V, and had himself crowned Richard III. What Cecily thought of this is unknown, but Richard launched his campaign for the throne from her London house.

In spite of the frequent upheavals during the conflict between the houses of Lancaster and York, Cecily never suffered financially. In 1460, she was briefly placed in the custody of her sister, the duchess of Buckingham, but otherwise enjoyed both her freedom and the income from extensive property. Henry VII, who defeated Richard, married Cecily's granddaughter, Elizabeth of York, and thus was inclined to support her. In 1486, he gave her an annuity and renewed her license to export wool. Biography: entry in the Oxford DNB under "Cecily [Cicely; née Cecily Neville], duchess of York."

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Timeline Cecily NEVILLE

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