Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Question from tudor fanatic - Catherine Howard's connections with Dereham and Culpepper

I am a bit confused as the connections that Catherine Howard had with Francis Dereham and Thomas Culpepper. I read in one book that Dereham was a distant relation of Catherine's, and that Culpepper was her first cousin on her mother's side (which I know could be possible in view of the fact that Catherine's mother's maiden name was Culpepper). On the other hand, another book says that Dereham had no connection with Catherine at all and that Culpepper was only very very distantly connected to her. Which is more correct? Does anyone know?


Elizabeth M. said...

Catherine and Thomas Culpeper were distant cousins, not first cousins.
I have seen only one source that says Dereham was a distant cousin to Catherine, but all other sources I have seen mention no relation by blood.

tudor fanatic said...

That's what I thought - I just become a bit doubtful when I realised that Culpepper was Catherine's mother's maiden name. Thanks for the feedback, Elizabeth M!

Elizabeth M. said...

You are very welcome.
If you want more information on Catherine, LAcey Baldwin Smith's biography of her is the standard. It is very old--from the early 1960s. However, you can find copies on Amazon and sometimes eBay. Joanna Denny also has a bio of her, which though not bad, it must be born in mind she was originally a novelist and not a trained historian. But it is a decent read and you get the basic facts. But if you can get a copy of Baldwin's book, that would be the route to go.