Edward BOROUGH

(2nd B. Borough of Gainsborough)

Born: ABT 1461, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England

Died: 20 Aug 1528 / ABT 1529

Father: Thomas BOROUGH (1° B. Borough of Gainsborough)

Mother: Margaret De ROS (B. Borough of Gainsborough)

Married 1: Anne COBHAM (B. Cobham) (b. 1467, Sterborough, Surrey, England - d. 26 Jun 1526) (dau. of Thomas, B. Cobham, and Anne Stafford) (w. of Edward Blount, 2° B. Mountjoy) 1477

Children:

1. Thomas BOROUGH (3° B. Borough of Gainsborough)

2. Humphrey BOROUGH

3. George BOROUGH

4. Henry BOROUGH

5. Elizabeth BOROUGH

Married 2: Catherine PARR (Queen of England) ABT 1526, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England

Eldest son of Thomas, first Lord Borough of Gainsborough, by his wife, Margaret De Ros.

In 1477 Sir Thomas Borough finalised the marriage agreement (having borrowed funds from the Abbot of Thornton, Lincs to clinch it) between his eldest son , Edward (aged 13) and the heiress of the Cobham family, Anne, Lady Mountjoy (aged 9). Lady Anne had been "affianced" to Edward Blount, 2nd Lord Mountjoy, who had died, aged 8, in 1475. Her father Sir Thomas Cobham, died in 1471 leaving his wife, Anne a daughter of Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham, to try and arrange another suitable match. The last Lord Cobham had died in 1446, and the family had been beset with problems. Eleanor Cobham, a daughter of Lord Reginald, married the Duke of Gloucester, brother to Henry V, and caused uproar and scandal when she was discovered to have been using magic and witch craft to forecast the death of King Henry VI - treason. Eleanor was divorced  from the Duke (who could do nothing to save her), made to do penance of walking through London in her shift, and then imprisoned for life, being moved from one hell hole castle to another until her death. The Cobhams were also connected to Sir William Oldcastle, the dangerous "lollard" (religious dissenter), who was burned for heresy after escaping the Tower of London and carrying out a terror campaign till finally captured.

For Sir Thomas Borough the marriage of his eldest son brought glittering prizes; Starborough Castle, near Lingfield, the Cobhams chief residence, was a major prize in itself, located within beautiful Kentish parklands, with a fairy tale moat and French like towers, the castle, although small, was an ideal southern home for the Burghs. Along with Starborough Castle came other Cobham manors; Cowden Leighton, Chiddinstone, Bogeshill, Tyehurst, and widespread rents in places like Hever, all bringing considerable income from their lands, tenements, parks and courts. Sir Thomas wasted no time at all, and by the end of 1477 (Michaelmas) his Bailiff, Edward Baynebrigge, had supplied a detailed account roll, giving the income of the new estate, down to the last penny.

Edward was knighted at the battle of Stoke Field in 1487. Two kings had visited Old Hall, his residence in Gainsborough, Richard III in 1485 and Henry VIII in 1509. In the early 1500's had led to huge fines being imposed by a suspicious Henry VII, for his good behaviour. Although the manor house at Gainsborough in Lincolnshire remained the main family home, Starborough Castle, being closer to court, (Westminster and Windsor) slowly became the preferred southern family residence. Starborough provided excellent hunting for visitors and the neighbours, at Penshurst and Igtham Mote were of the local gentry.

A year after Henry's visit, Lord Borough had been described as being 'distracted of memory'; it is not clear whether or not he ever recovered, nor was mental disturbance considered in the sixteenth century to be an impediment to marriage. (Alison Weir, The Wives of Henry VIII, New York: Ballantine Books, 1991). When Lord Edward became ill, Starborough Castle would have ben the ideal place for him to stay. Quiet scented gardens, well appointed and decorated rooms - a secure home cum hospital for keeping Edward safe, and it's proximity to London allowing the doctors and apothcaries to visit and apply their "dreadful" quack remides.

There is a controversy about who is the Edward who married Catherine Parr. Some sources states that he was the second Lord Borough, a man in his late fifties. Other sources says that she married the eldest son of Thomas, 3rd Lord Borough, so he was not old - and he never became Lord Borough either.

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