Queen Kateryn Parr—Historian Meghan McGath

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

~~Queen Kateryn Parr~~

Queen Katherine Parr: A Royal Legacy begins today

We will spend the next six days exploring the incredible woman behind the familiar royal title.

Activities will include:
- A Katherine Parr Trail around Sudeley's grounds, castle rooms and gardens
- Visit her resting place in the Chapel
- Living History Talks at 12pm and 2pm (Tuesday - Friday)
- Costumed storytellers (Saturday and Sunday)
- Replica letters and prayer book materials to handle

📅 1st - 6th September.
Free entry for Katherines of every spelling with valid ID.

🎟️ Book your visit now ➡️ https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/events/queen-katherine-parr-a-royal-legacy

09/04/2026

I’m sorry I haven’t been posting much lately. I’m in a really difficult spot right now.
But I saw this and wanted to share.

Henry VIII tore England apart and went through six wives just to ensure his legacy lived on through a male heir. Yet, the notion that women could not rule was laughable. Women truly are the backbone of the world. So much of the unpaid labor and political work women do behind the scenes goes completely unacknowledged throughout history. Wives are merely mentioned by name—very few biographies exist for the majority of the women I uncover in my own genealogical research.

Mary and Elizabeth were both present for the Regency of Queen Kateryn Parr, who was known as the Regent of the Realm and Lady Regent during the summer of 1544. Both girls watched a WOMAN rule over England while Henry was away fighting in France.

This, combined with the legacy of Mary’s grandmother, Isabella I of Castile, and her mother, Queen Katherine of Aragon, proved women were more than capable. Henry was notoriously threatened by his first wife because he knew she could muster an army as loyal and capable as her mother did, fighting back against his "Great Matter"—his relentless push to divorce her for her lady-in-waiting (and the future mother of Queen Elizabeth I), Anne Boleyn. And Queen Anne was an absolute match for Henry—a woman who refused to back down and spoke her mind, even when it ultimately cost her her head. All of these women had their lives upended by a man consumed with securing the Tudor line through a male heir.

After Anne's ex*****on, Henry hurried to marry her former lady-in-waiting, Jane Seymour. Henry finally got the heir he wanted in Prince Edward, who eventually ruled as King Edward VI after his father’s death in January 1547.

Although the future of both Mary and Elizabeth was deeply uncertain during Henry's reign, they kept going, never knowing what tomorrow might bring. Henry left them vulnerable by refusing to marry them off or restore their legitimacy. It was Queen Kateryn Parr who ultimately persuaded him to return them to the line of succession through the Act of Succession 1544—placing Mary and Elizabeth right behind Edward. If Edward died without heirs, Mary would ascend. If Mary died without heirs, Elizabeth would become Queen.

No one at the time saw this coming. Their reigns were equally historic, and I believe Mary’s time on the throne served as the trial run for what Elizabeth would eventually become. Elizabeth watched her sister rule, taking note of what worked and what didn’t. Elizabeth was incredibly smart and knew exactly how to navigate the court, staying alive by playing the political tides. In the end, the child of the executed Anne Boleyn became Queen and ruled gloriously for over four decades.

As always, I would appreciate any donations right now — even $10 is something.
CashApp: $mmcgat

09/03/2026

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08/25/2026

The Pierpont (or Pierpoint) family of Maryland shares an ancient Norman lineage with Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, branching off in England generations before the colonization of the American colonies.

The English Root & Branching
Both the ducal line in Nottinghamshire and the colonial American branches trace back to the same Anglo-Norman gentry family centered at Holme Pierrepont.

The Ducal Line: Remained in England, ascending from knights to Earls of Kingston-upon-Hull, and eventually reaching its peak with Evelyn Pierrepont being created the 1st Duke in 1715.

The Maryland Branch: Descends from Henry "the Quaker" Pierpont (1629–1689). Henry immigrated to the Virginia/Maryland region in 1635 and eventually established extensive land holdings in Anne Arundel County, Maryland by 1665 where Rebecca Hawkins’s second husband and my ancestor, Captain Richard Dorsey, had ancestral land. Pierpont holdings included estates like Pierpont’s Lott and Pierpont’s Rocks.

Because they branch off prior to the elevation of the peerage, the Maryland Pierponts are distant cousins to the Duke, representing a cadet branch of the same ancient house.

Entwined Legacies in Maryland Lineages
In Maryland colonial history, the family name became closely enmeshed with other founding gentry families of the region, such as the Dorsey, Larkin, and Warfield families.

The Dorsey Intermarriages: The connection between these lines appears prominently in historical records through marriages like that of Sarah Pierpont to Alexander Warfield, and through subsequent generations where the distinctive family names were preserved or combined.

The Naming Legacy: The prestige of the British peerage line was well known to the American colonists. It was common practice among the colonial gentry to use distinguished family surnames or titles as middle names or double-barrelled associations to honor their ancestral heritage. For instance, my ancestor and revolutionary figure, Captain Richard Dorsey, married Rebecca Hawkins, whose lineage directly carried forward the Pierpont family name, anchoring the heritage of the Holme Pierrepont line deep within Maryland's historical archives.

On 19th March 1616 Henry Pierrepont died aged seventy. Church of St Edmund, Holme Pierrepoint, Nottinghamshire. Designed by John Smythson. Probably carved by Hugh Hall.

08/25/2026

I had no idea the testimony of Princess Elizabeth, written in her own hand, is at Hatfield. 😳
Her testimony includes what happened at Chelsea Manor with her stepmother, Queen Kateryn Parr and her husband, Thomas Seymour, Lord Seymour of Sudeley and the Lord High Admiral.

I’ve always wanted to visit. Is this where the Rainbow Portrait resides?

The situation today would have been seen as predatory. Back then, Elizabeth was of age to be married so the age gap wasn’t illegal as it is today. Today, the behavior would be seen as child abuse.

Kat Ashley and Parry testified to the behavior of Lord Seymour, but why didn’t more servants or ladies in waiting for the Queen like her sister, the Countess of Pembroke, testify? Was the Countess Anne present in her household at Chelsea?

08/24/2026

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