Joan (Beaufort) de Neville LG (1379 - 1440)

Ancestors

Wife of Ralph Neville KG — married before 29 Nov 1396 in Anjou, France [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 13 Nov 1440 at about age 61 in Howden, Yorkshire, England

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Liz Shifflett [send private message]

Biography

Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland (c. 1379 – 13 November 1440) was the fourth of the four illegitimate children (and only daughter) of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and his mistress, later wife, Katherine Swynford; and, in her widowhood, a powerful landowner in the North of England.

Early life and marriages

She was probably born at the Swynford manor of Kettlethorpe in Lincolnshire. Her surname probably reflects her father's lordship of Beaufort in Champagne, France, where she might also have been born. In 1391, at the age of twelve, Joan married at Beaufort-en-Vallée, Anjou, Robert Ferrers, 5th Baron Boteler of Wem, and they had two daughters before he died in about 1395.

Legitimation

Along with her three brothers, Joan had been privately declared legitimate by their cousin Richard II of England in 1390. Her parents were married in Lincoln Cathedral in February 1396. Joan was already an adult when she was legitimized by the marriage of her mother and father with papal approval. The Beauforts were later barred from inheriting the throne by a clause inserted into the legitimation act by their half-brother, Henry IV of England, although it is not clear that Henry IV possessed sufficient authority to alter an existing parliamentary statute by himself, without the further approval of Parliament. Soon after the legitimation, on 3 February 1397, when she was eighteen, Joan married Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, who had also been married once before.

Inheritance

When Ralph de Neville died in 1425, his lands and titles should, by law of rights, have passed on to his grandson through his first marriage, another Ralph Neville. Instead, while the title of Earl of Westmorland and several manors were passed to Ralph, the bulk of his rich estate went to his wife, Joan Beaufort. Although this may have been done to ensure that his widow was well provided for, by doing this Ralph essentially split his family into two and the result was years of bitter conflict between Joan and her stepchildren who fiercely contested her acquisition of their father's lands. Joan however, with her royal blood and connections, was far too powerful to be called to account, and the senior branch of the Nevilles received little redress for their grievances. Inevitably, when Joan died, the lands would be inherited by her own children.

Death

Death: Joan died on 13 November 1440 at Howden in Yorkshire. ^[1]

Burial

Rather than be buried with her husband Ralph (who was not buried with his first wife, though his monument has effigies of himself and his two wives) she was entombed next to her mother in the magnificent sanctuary of Lincoln Cathedral, Lincolnshire - known in full as The Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln or sometimes St. Mary's Cathedral. Joan's is the smaller of the two tombs; both were decorated with brass plates – full-length representations of them on the tops, and small shields bearing coats of arms around the sides — but those were damaged or destroyed in 1644 by Roundheads during the English Civil War. A 1640 drawing of them survives, showing what the tombs looked like when they were intact, and side-by-side instead of end-to-end, as they are now.^[2]

Research Notes

DNA: Two comments posted to this profile speak of DNA:

• Richard Hellstrom, 21 August 2019: "She's noted as being my 18th as well. Mom's and My KIT matched both kits at David Clounch's Site as well...."
• David Clounch, 10 December 2017: "According to wikitree "Joan is the 18th great grandmother of David" (me). My gedmatch kit is M333884 if anybody would like to compare au just for grins. I have found 10 people in this trail that I share small amounts of au DNA with. People say DNA only matches 3 generations back, but they are not talking about triangulation within genealogical time. It is worth looking at matches just to gather data on triangulation within family groups. Please message me upon findig anything interesting. Thanks."

These (and other comments that just note a relationship) have been archived. Click the "Show Archived Comments" button (below) to see them.

Detached Profile: Profile for Havisia (Neville) Heslarton was detached as her daughter (by Ralph) for lack of support.

Sources

1. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), volume III, page 246 NEVILLE 8. Online: Google Books, "snippit view".
2. ↑ Wikipedia: Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland, database online (accessed 12 March 2015), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.

See also:

• Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of Public Records. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode (1883), pp. 525-527.
• Browning, Charles H. Americans of Royal Descent, page 668. Porter & Coates, Philadelphia, PA, 1891.
• Lewis, Marlyn. Entry for Joan Beaufort, Our Royal, Titled, Noble, and Commoner Ancestors (free database online). Note: Useful for leads; see cautions about use on the Magna Carta Project Reliable Sources page.
• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013.
  • Volume III, pages 492, 500
  • Volume IV, page 233
  • Volume V, page 340
• Roberts, Gary Boyd. The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants to the American Colonies. Genealogical Publishing Company. Baltimore, 2008. Ancestry, database online, "Note: Royal Ancestry of Thomas Jefferson".
• Stuart, Roderick W. Royalty for Commoners: The Complete Known Lineage of John of Gaunt, Son of Edward III, King of England, and Queen Phillipa, fourth edition. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2002.