Church of St Laurence, Upminster Church of St Laurence, Upminster The church of St Laurence, Upminster, is the Church of England parish church in Upminster, England. It is a Grade I listed building. It is the historic minster or church from which Upminster derives its name, meaning 'upper church', probably signifying 'church on higher ground'. The place-name is first attested as 'Upmynster' in 1062, and appears as 'Upmunstra' in the Domesday Book of 1086. Alice Perrers, mistress of King Edward III, was buried in the church or churchyard in 1400. There is no memorial to mark her grave. She had three illegitimate children by the
Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk - pursued the unsuccessful Yorkist claim to the throne against Henry VII. Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk Alice de la Pole, Duchess of Suffolk (1404–1475) was a granddaughter of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Married three times, she eventually became a Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, an honour granted rarely to women and marking the friendship between herself and her third husband William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk (d.1450) with King Henry VI and his wife Margaret of Anjou. She was born as Alice Chaucer, a daughter of Thomas Chaucer by his wife Matilda