Ethelreda Malte
Encyclopedia
Ethelreda Malte, also sometimes named as Audrey Malte (born c. 1527), was a lady at the court of Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

. She married John Harington
John Harington (treasurer)
John Harington was an English official working for Henry VIII, and husband to one of his reputed illegitimate children, Ethelreda Malte.-Life:...

 and gave birth to a daughter, which they named Hester. She had previously been engaged. Ethelreda owned properties previously belonging to Shaftsbury Nunnery.

According to some reports, she was the illegitimate daughter of the King. Her mother, Joan Dingley, was the royal laundress , whom may have slept with the King, resulting in the birth of Ethelreda. Henry VIII did not acknowledge her publicly, but did however bribe his tailer, John Malte, with land and properties, to acknowledge her as his illegitimate daughter. Although John Malte was not married to her mother he did leave Ethelreda money in his will.
After Ethelreda was born, Joan Dingley abandoned her with John, and married a man named Dobson. Later marrying a man named Richard Rich, and gave birth to his children, 1st Baron Richard Rich, Lord Chancellor of England and Hugh Rich.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK