Is this as frustrating as it gets?

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:56 pm

Hi Anne
Wow! Exciting stuff...

Surprisingly he managed to survive not only the fall of his original patron, Thomas Cromwell, but also the reigns of 4 monarchs, to die in his bed aged 80 in 1587

That must have taken some doing - how clever of him to have survived ...against the odds! (and I'm sure it would have taken quite a bit of "cleverness" in those days in high positions - his survival was almost certainly not down to luck, I'd bet)

Best wishes
Lesley

Post by **joette** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:43 pm

Yes particulary as Thomas Cromwell was well known for letting his friends/staff take the fall for him.

To have outlived Henry,Mary,Mary & still been sufficiently in favour with Elizabeth to have retained his wealth then he was a "wiley creature".

Post by **AnneM** » Tue Jun 24, 2008 6:32 pm

Indeed he was a remarkable character because he failed in probably his most important mission, to bring about a marriage between Mary Queen of Scots as a small girl and the future Edward VI and as a result to stop the infant Mary falling into the hands of the French contingent of her mother Mary of Guise. Despite this he went on to prosper and get more jobs. I suppose the lesson from that was that he may have been wily but the Scots were wilier!

He also had a bigamous marriage. His wife's first husband was still alive though he allegedly deserted her and she believed him to be dead. He understandably crawled out of the woodwork at a later date, no doubt with an eye to the main chance. Sir Ralph had to get a private act of parliament to legitimate his 3 sons and 4 daughters, the seven surviving children out of the 9 born to him and his wife. He also had the obligatory natural son, this one called Richard.

Anne