Mary Scudamore ( Shelton; c. 1550 – 1603) was a courtier to Elizabeth I.Rayne Allison, 'Mary Scudamore', Carole Levin, Anna Riehl Bertolet, Jo Eldridge Carney, A Biographical Encyclopedia of Early Modern Englishwomen (Routledge, 2017), pp. 521-522.
Life and career She was a daughter of Sir John Shelton of Shelton Hall, Norfolk and his wife, Margaret Parker. She joined the household of Queen Elizabeth around the year 1567,Susan Doran, Elizabeth I and Her Circle (Oxford, 2015), p. 200. and was appointed a chamberer of the privy chamber on 1 January 1571.William J. Tighe, "Courtiers and Politics in Elizabethan Herefordshire", Historical Journal, 32:2 (June 1989), p. 276.
Her family reached the zenith of their influence during the reign of Henry VIII, when Mary's grandparents, Sir John Shelton and Anne Shelton were entrusted with the custody of the future queens Mary I and Elizabeth I, in part because Anne Shelton was the aunt of Anne Boleyn. Also, Mary's aunt, poet Mary Shelton, was the King's mistress.Kelly Hart. The Mistresses of Henry VIII (1 June 2009), The History Press; (), pp. 120-128
Mary Scudamore married another courtier, the gentleman usher, Sir John Scudamore of Holme Lacy, Herefordshire.Anna Whitelock, Elizabeth's Bedfellows: An Intimate History of the Queen's Court (Bloomsbury, 2013). She married him secretly. and their marriage was revealed early in 1575.Simon Adams. "Scudamore, Mary, Lady Scudamore (c. 1550–1603)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Accessed 24 November 2022. Elizabeth I was apparently extremely angry that this had been done without her consent, and allegedly attacked Mary, breaking her finger.Courtney Erin Thomas, If I lose Mine Honour I Lose Myself (Toronto, 2017), p 108: Tracy Borman, Elizabeth's Women (Vintage, 2010), p. 314.
A courtier Eleanor Bridges wrote that Elizabeth was liberal both with blows and evil words to Mary Shelton.Tracy Borman, Elizabeth's Women (Vintage, 2010), p. 219: Johanna Rickman, Love, Lust, and License in Early Modern England: Illicit Sex and the Nobility (Ashgate, 2008), p. 49: HMC Duke of Rutland, 1 (London, 1888), p. 107. Eight years later Mary, Queen of Scots, claimed that Bess of Hardwick had told her that Elizabeth had broken Mary Scudamore's finger with a candlestick.William J. Tighe, Court into Country: John Scudamore of Holme Lacy, Dale Hoak, Tudor Political Culture (Cambridge, 1995), p. 163.Rhona Brown, "The Battle for Memory", Steven J. Reid, Afterlife of Mary, Queen of Scots (Edinburgh, 2024), p. 149: John Daniel Leader, Mary Queen of Scots in captivity (Sheffield, 1880), pp. 555–556.
Costume at the Elizabethan court In 1571, Mary, as a chamberer, was given an allowance of clothing including satin for a gown, velvet to border and the gown, and sarcenet silk for its lining. Sarcenet was a fine translucent silk fabric. She was to receive similar fabric every year. Some of her clothes were gifts from the queen, made by her tailor Walter Fyshe.Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (Maney, 1988), pp. 100, 101.Clive Edwards, "Sarcenet", Encyclopedia of Furnishing Textiles, Floorcoverings and Home Furnishing Practices, 1200–1950 (Lund Humphreys, 2007), p. 184.
In October 1574, Elizabeth I gave her, "Mistress Mary Skydmore", a gift of a forepart or skirt front.Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (Maney, 1988), p. 101. A wardrobe book recorded that she was given for the use of the Queen's dwarf (perhaps Thomazina Muliercula) in October 1579.Janet Arnold, Lost From Her Majesties Back (Costume Society, 1980), p. 65 no. 275. On 18 February 1584, Elizabeth gave Mary Scudamore a doublet of "spotted satin called sops of wine, cut and embroidered with small flowers and spangles of gold and silver".Janet Arnold, Lost From Her Majesties Back (Costume Society, 1980), p. 78 no. 369.
As a New Year's Day gift to the Queen in January, 1599, John and Mary Scudamore jointly gave a "loose gown" or night gown of ash-coloured wrought velvet, edged with ermine.Janet Arnold, Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (Maney, 1988), p. 340.
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