Katherine "Kat" Ashley, governess to Princess Elizabeth Tudor (later Queen Elizabeth I) throughout most of her childhood.

Katherine Ashley was possibly the youngest daughter of Sir John Champernowne and Margaret Courtenay. She married John Ashley, a gentleman of the court and a distant relative of Anne Boleyn, in 1545. She replaced Elizabeth's previous governess, Lady Bryan, and remained with Elizabeth until her death in 1565.

In January 1648/9, she was imprisoned, along with her husband, on the question of Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour's plot to marry the 14-year-old Elizabeth. She finally testified that even during Elizabeth's stay with the dowager Queen Katherine Parr, the Admiral would come to Elizabeth's chamber in the mornings, "in his night-gown and barelegged," and "ax how she did, and strike hir upon the bak or the buttocks famylearly."¹  However, she confessed nothing criminal, and was eventually let go.  Elizabeth also was brought under question; she admitted little, and wrote a letter to the Lord Protector on the Ashleys behalf.

The second time that Katherine Ashley was in peril occurred during the reign of Queen Mary. Suspecting Elizabeth of a treasonous plot (Kingston's Plot) against her, Mary had Katherine Ashley thrown into Fleet Prison and three other ladies-in-waiting to the Tower for some weeks,² while Elizabeth remained under house arrest. Seditious books were discovered in Kat Ashley's possession, but no conclusive proof of treason, and she was eventually let go.

When Elizabeth became Queen in 1558, Kat Ashley's services were rewarded; Elizabeth made her the principal Lady of the Bedchamber. Kat Ashley was the closest perhaps that Elizabeth had ever had to a mother, and she mourned her greatly at her death in 1565.



¹ Haynes, ed. State Papers, 98, 99.
² Wiesener, L. The Youth of Queen Elizabeth. Vol II. C. F. Yong, tr.
London: Hurst and Blackett, 1879. 207.

Article Citation:

Jokinen, Anniina. “Katherine 'Kat' Ashley.” Luminarium.
                21 Jan 2007. [Date when you accessed the page].
                <http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/katashley.htm>

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