Isabel of Cambridge, Countess of Essex

Isabel of Cambridge, Countess of Essex, was born in 1409 as the only daughter of Richard, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, and Anne de Mortimer. She was a great-grandchild of Edward III of England and sister to Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York. Her father was executed for his involvement in the Southampton Plot against King Henry V, but as he was not attainted, her brother became his heir.

Isabel was initially betrothed and married to Sir Thomas Grey, with whom she had a son, Thomas Grey. After his death, she married Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, with whom she had at least eleven children. Following her second husband’s death in 1483, Isabel lived as a widow until her own death on 2 October 1484. Both Isabel and her husband were initially buried at Beeleigh Abbey but were later reinterred at Little Easton, Essex.