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Cofferer to Lady Margaret Beaufort, also named as treasurer of the chamber from 1506.

Leonardo Frescobaldi was a Florentine merchant and member of the Frescobaldi family, a prominent noble family of bankers and merchants active in Florence from the thirteenth century onwards. He was the son of Girolamo di Leonardo Frescobaldi (d.1518) and was based in London during the early sixteenth century. Together with Giovanni Cavalcanti, Frescobaldi served as a guarantor for Pietro Torrigiano in 1511 for his work on the tomb of Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Pietro Torrigiano was a fifteenth-century Florentine sculptor who played an important role in introducing Renaissance art to England. In the account of his life given by Giorgio Vasari, Torrigiano was born in Florence in 1472 and studied art in Florence as a young man under the patronage of Lorenzo de’ Medici. He came to England c.1509 and in 1511, was commissioned to create the monument for the tomb of Lady Margaret Beaufort. He went on to receive appointments for a number of other royal works, including a commission to create a terracotta bust of King Henry VII and the monument and effigies of Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth of York. The monument and effigies may still be seen in the Henry VII Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey and were completed c.1517. Torrigiano spent the later years of his life in Spain, especially at Seville. He died in 1528.

Florentine merchant and guarantor for royal works completed by Pietro Torrigiano.

Thomas Thomson was Master of Christ’s College, Cambridge, 1510-1517, and Vice-Chancellor, 1510-1512. Other notable appointments include Vicar of Gateley, Norfolk, 1520- 1530, and Vicar of Enfield, Middlesex, from 1505 to his death c.1540. An early benefactor to St. John’s College, Thomson helped to support the income of two fellowships and contributed, through a donation of rents in Cambridge, to the construction of a chantry on the south side of the College Chapel in 1524.

Born in Ufford, Northamptonshire around 1475, George Quarles served as Royal Auditor to both King Henry VII and King Henry VIII of England.

Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, 1545-1552.

Architect, English courtier, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster under Henry VII, from 1486-1503. Bray was born c. 1440 in the parish of St. John Bedwardine, near Worcester, and was educated at the Royal Grammar School Worcester. From 1467 onwards, he assumed an important role in Lady Margaret Beaufort’s household as receiver-general, primarily to Lady Margaret Beaufort and Sir Henry Stafford until 1471, and then subsequently to Lady Margaret and Thomas Stanley. He remained in the service of Lady Margaret until c.1499 and held principal responsibility for managing lands granted to her in 1487.

Other notable appointments include Knight of the Bath, and subsequently, Knight of the Garter; and Steward of the University of Oxford (1496).

In his work as an architect, Bray designed both St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle and Henry VII’s Chapel at Westminster. Together with John Alcock, he also played a key part in the construction of Jesus College, Cambridge, founded in 1496.

Bray married Katherine Hussey (d.1506) around 1475 and died without issue. He was buried at Windsor in St. George’s Chapel.

Geoffrey Blythe was educated at Eton College and King’s College, Cambridge, the latter of which he is recorded as having entered in 1483. He was ordained as a priest on 4th April 1496. From 1503 until his death, Blythe served as the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. He was appointed president of the Council of Wales and the Marshes from 1512 to 1524.

Clerk of works at Collyweston and member of Lady Margaret Beaufort’s household.

Born at Eltham Palace, Greenwich in 1479, Katherine of York was the daughter of King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville, and later sister-in-law to Henry VII. In October 1495, she married William Courtenay (1475-1511) and the couple had three children – Henry, Edward and Margaret. After her husband’s death, Katherine took a vow of celibacy and never remarried. She died at Tiverton Castle in 1527.

A trusted official in the household of Lady Margaret Beaufort, treasurer to Thomas Wolsey, and bailiff of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire and possibly also of Kimbolton in Huntingdon. Bedell married Cecily Crathorne around 1506. He died in July 1518 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. In his will, Bedell attributed all of his wealth to Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Yeoman of the wardrobe, 1498-1509.

A family photographic firm based in Cambridge. Thomas and Eliza Louise Stearn advertised their photography studio located in 72 Bridge St., Cambridge in 1867. They had 10 children, one of their sons, Frank became a photographic assistant in his parents' studio. For more information see http://www.fadingimages.uk/photoSte.asp.

John Sante was elected as abbot of Abingdon on 29 November 1468. It is not known when and where he was born, nor at what point he entered the Abingdon Abbey as a Benedictine monk. From 1468 onwards, however, Sante was active in a number of important diplomatic and administrative assignments, both on behalf of the English crown and, from the mid-1470s, the papal curia. He was made papal nuncio and commissary to England, Ireland and Wales, and in 1477, appointed to the highest rank of papal legate by Pope Sixtus IV. Sante served both Edward IV and Henry VII of England, but in 1489, was accused of conspiracy against the king in having sought to further the rebellion of John de la Pole, earl of Lincoln, two years earlier. As a result of this, Sante’s property as abbot was confiscated. He was pardoned in 1493.

Cofferer to Lady Margaret Beaufort, 1494 and 1498-9.

Lord Stanley was an English nobleman and the third husband of Lady Margaret Beaufort. He married Lady Margaret in 1472, following the death of his first wife, Eleanor Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury.

A powerful magnate and politician, Stanley inherited a number of significant estates and offices, including the suzerain title King of Mann, by which he assumed certain authoritative powers and control over the Isle of Man. He was made 1st Earl of Derby by his stepson, Henry VII of England, in 1485, and also served as Lord High Constable of England (1483-1504) and High Steward of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Over the course of his life, Stanley advanced his influence both within the English royal court and in the north-west of England, where he held vast estates in Cheshire and Lancashire. He died at Lathom in Lancashire in 1504.

Sir Ralph Shirley was the husband of Lady Anne Shirley, daughter of Sir Henry Vernon of Haddon, Derbyshire. He served as Sheriff of Leicestershire and as bailiff to Lady Margaret Beaufort at Ware.

Elizabeth Scrope (née Neville) was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 1464. She was the daughter of Sir John de Neville, Earl of Northumberland, and Isabel Neville Norreys. Elizabeth married her first husband, Thomas le Scrope, 6th Lord Scrope of Masham, in 1486. She married her second husband, Sir Henry Wentworth, in 1494, following the death of her first husband in 1493. Elizabeth was widowed again after the death of Sir Henry c.1500. She died in 1517 and was buried beside Thomas le Scrope at Ludgate, London.

Sir Richard Wentworth, 5th Lord le Despenser, was born circa 1480 at Nettlestead, Kent. He was the son of Sir Henry Wentworth by his first wife, Anne (Saye) Wentworth, and married Anne Tyrrell around 1499. He served as Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk. On his death in October 1528, Sir Richard was buried at Ipswich in Suffolk.