There is no doubt that Margaret Plantagenet (if we may call her that) existed. She married Thomas Lumley (1462-1502) the son and heir of George, Lord Lumley (1445-1507). Though her name is given as ‘Elizabeth’ in some sources, contemporary documentation reveals that she was in fact ‘Margaret’.
What is less certain is who her mother was. Professor Hicks believes that she was Margaret FitzLewis, who was ‘persuaded’ by Edward IV to come to his bed in return for his assistance over the matter of her dower rights. However, as far as I am aware, Hicks has not produced any clear evidence to demonstrate this, though it is possible he has evidence he has not chosen to reveal to the public. On present knowledge, it is probably fair to call this a ‘theory’. Not that there is anything wrong with historical theories. We all have them. whether we are but a mere amateur historical tyro, the most distinguished of academics, or something in between.
Two thoughts occur to me. First, the name Margaret is suggestive. (However, Margaret Plantagenet could as well have been named after her principal godmother, or, come to that, the King’s sister.) Second, Margaret FitzLewis was ‘Lady Lucy’. Since that title has come down to us through the years, not least via Thomas More, as the name of one of Edward’s mistresses it is certainly food for thought. It would be something of a stretch (though not entirely impossible) for Edward to have two mistresses, both called ‘Lady Lucy’.
Margaret FitzLewis was the third wife of Sir William Lucy. (His previous wives had been a Neville and a Percy, but that’s another story.) He was very much Margaret’s elder, having been born about 1404. Margaret was born in 1439. (Confusingly, her father had another daughter of the same name who seems to have died unmarried.)
Margaret FitzLewis was the daughter of Sir Lewis John and Anne Montagu. Anne was Sir Lewis’s second wife and both Margaret’s parents were relatively advanced in years at the time of her birth. That being said, her mother was to marry again. Why Margaret was known as ‘FitzLewis’ rather than ‘John’ does not appear.
Sir William Lucy was killed at the Battle of Northampton in 1460. It is said that he was struck down by a man called John Stafford who hated Lucy and loved Margaret. It has been suggested that this man was a Stafford of Grafton. It is not at all clear whether Margaret married this fellow, but if by any chance she did, he did not keep her long. He was killed at Towton.
Margaret FitzLewis then married, circa 1465, John Wake, Esq., Escheator of Huntingdonshire & Cambridgeshire, Justice of the Peace for Cambridgeshire, son of Thomas Wake. She had previously agreed to marry another man, which led to an awkward legal case in an area with which Edward IV must have been familiar. However, her marriage to Wake was allowed to stand. She died in 1466, apparently in childbirth.
There is some heraldic evidence that the lady married a third time, but the third husband, if he existed, cannot be identified with certainty as the arms in question are not those of Stafford.
A useful account of Sir William Lucy’s death.
Ricardian Article on Margaret Lumley’s Paternity by Marie Barnfield and Stephen Lark.
See also this very complex and interesting discussion. It involves such genealogical heavyweights as Douglas Richardson and Brad Verity and reveals the complexity of the whole matter.
murreyandblue 