Jane Howard

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Jane Howard, Countess of Westmoreland (1533/1537 - 1593), daughter of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and Frances de Vere.

Her maternal grandparents were John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford and Dorothy Neville. Dorothy was a daughter of Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland and Catherine Stafford. Catherine was a daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Alianore Percy.

Jane married her first cousin Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland in 1563 or 1565. They were parents to five children:

• Margaret Neville. Married Sir Nicholas Pudsey.
• Anne Neville, daughter of Jane. Married David Ingleby.
• Thomas Neville Westmoreland.
• Catherine Neville. Married Sir Thomas Grey of Chillingham.
• Eleanor Neville.

In the events that preceded the Northern Rebellion, she had more to do with raising the troops than her husband did. She was well educated but perhaps not the most clever of women when it came to understanding political machinations. She was first to urge the rebels to rise up against Elizabeth I of England and yet she expected Elizabeth to pardon her when they failed.

She hoped to arrange the marriage of her brother, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, to Mary I of Scotland and put them both on England's throne. He was executed for treason in 1572 and she lived under house arrest for the rest of her life.

She was buried on 30 June 1593, in Kenninghall, Norfolk.