Anne Say


Anne Say was an English baroness through her marriage to Sir Henry Wentworth in until her death. She was the daughter of Sir John Say and his wife Elizabeth Cheney, Lady Say. She was the maternal grandmother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII of England, and a great-grandmother of Edward VI.

Early life and family

Anne Say was born to Sir John Say and Elizabeth Cheney, Lady Say, the daughter of Sir Lawrence Cheney and his wife, Elizabeth Cockayne daughter of John Cokayne and Ida de Grey. Ida was a daughter of Welsh Marcher Lord Reginald Grey, 2nd Baron Grey de Ruthyn and Eleanor Le Strange of Blackmere. Through her mother, Ida was a direct descendant of Welsh Prince Gruffydd II ap Madog, Lord of Dinas Bran.
Anne's father represented Hertfordshire in several Parliaments from 1453 to 1478 and was chosen to serve as speaker from 1463 to 1465 and again 1467 to 1468. From 1455 to 1478, he held the post of under-Treasurer of the Exchequer and from 1476 that of Keeper of the Great Wardrobe. Through her mother's first marriage to Sir Frederick Tilney, of Ashwellthorpe, Norfolk, and Boston, Lincolnshire, Anne was the half sister to Elizabeth Tilney. Both sisters would be the grandmothers to three of King Henry VIII's wives, Elizabeth being the grandmother to Anne Boleyn and her cousin, Catherine Howard, and Anne being the grandmother to Jane Seymour.
Anne had six other siblings. They were:
  • Sir William Say, MP and Sheriff
  • Thomas Say, of Liston Hall, Essex
  • Leonard Say, clerk, Rector of Spaxton, Somerset
  • Mary Say, married Sir Philip Calthorpe
  • Margaret Say, married Thomas Sampson
  • Katherine Say, married Thomas Bassingbourne

    Marriage and issue

On about February 25 1470, Anne married Henry Wentworth, of Nettlestead, Suffolk. He was the only son and heir of the courtier Philip Wentworth of Nettlestead, Suffolk, beheaded after the Battle of Hexham, and Mary Clifford. The couple had six children:

Anne's exact year of death remains a mystery. She was last mentioned in 1484, and her husband Henry Wentworth married his second wife Elizabeth Neville on October 22, 1494. Therefore it is evident that she had died between 1484 and 1494. She is believed to be buried at Newsham Abbey, Lincolnshire, England, where her husband would later join her in.

Royal relatives and descendants

Ancestry

Works cited

Category:1450s births
Category:15th-century deaths
Category:Year of birth uncertain
Category:Year of death uncertain
Category:15th-century English nobility
Category:15th-century English women
Category:English baronesses by marriage
Category:Women of the Tudor period