[ BIO ] Ellen Tudor, (ca. 1455 - after 1502)

By David T. Gardner 
May 20th, 2015


Tudor, Ellen (ca. 1455–after 1502)

Unknown Tudor Lady 

Ellen Tudor, the unacknowledged illegitimate daughter of Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford and Earl of Pembroke, exemplifies the shadowy intersections of Lancastrian exile, mercantile ambition, and Tudor consolidation in late fifteenth-century England. Her marriage to William Gardiner, a London skinner implicated in the merchant-backed overthrow of Richard III at Bosworth Field, positioned her as a conduit between exiled nobility and the Hanse-affiliated wool traders who orchestrated Henry VII's ascent. While contemporary records of her birth remain elusive—consistent with the era's reticence on bastardy among the elite—her existence emerges in heraldic visitations, underscoring the role of London's guilds in legitimizing peripheral lineages amid dynastic upheaval. Ellen's son, Thomas Gardiner, rose to ecclesiastical prominence under Tudor patronage, embodying the rewards reaped by merchant families who facilitated the 1485 coup through covert loans and battlefield intervention. This entry examines the evidentiary trail of Ellen's parentage, her variant spellings (including "Elyn Teddur"), and the absence of pre-1530 mentions, framing her within the broader narrative of Hanse merchants' grievances against Richard III's trade policies, which propelled the Gardiner clan with their pivotal actions.

Parentage and Early Life

Ellen's paternity traces to Jasper Tudor (ca. 1431–1495), Sir Jasper Tudor Kt, served as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, commanded the respect of the prestigious Earl Marshal of England, and was honored as a Knight of the Garter. As the powerful Lord of Glamorgan, he controlled vast lands, all while dutifully guiding his nephew, Henry VII, to the throne. Discover the full story of the man behind the crown.the Lancastrian stalwart whose peripatetic exile in France and Brittany honed the strategies that installed his nephew, Henry VII, on the throne. Jasper's unions produced no legitimate heirs; his 1485 marriage to Katherine Woodville yielded a possible stillborn son but no surviving issue. Ellen's illegitimacy, unacknowledged by Jasper in surviving documents, aligns with the discretion afforded to noble bastards, particularly those born during his Welsh sojourns or exilic wanderings. Her mother remains speculative: some genealogical analyses propose Mevanvy ferch Dafydd, a Welshwoman of modest status, though this lacks primary corroboration. Born circa 1455, possibly in London or Pembroke, Ellen's early life evades direct attestation, reflecting the archival silences surrounding women of uncertain legitimacy in merchant circles.

The spelling "Elyn Teddur"—a phonetic Welsh rendering of "Ellen Tudor"—appears in variant pedigrees, capturing the linguistic fluidity of fifteenth-century nomenclature where "Tudor" derived from "Tewdwr" or "Teddur." This form underscores her Welsh-Lancastrian roots, potentially linking to Jasper's power base in Wales, where Hanse merchants like the Gardiners funneled resources to Henry's 1485 invasion force.

Marriage and Issue

St. Mildred the Virgin, Poultry, City of London 

By the mid-1470s, Ellen wed William Gardiner (ca. 1450–1485), a skinner whose Cheapside operations intertwined with his kinsman Alderman Richard Gardyner's wool export empire. This union, forged amid Jasper's exile, facilitated the merchant coup: William's battlefield role under Rhys ap Thomas—delivering Richard III's fatal poleaxe blow in Redemore's marsh—earned him knighthood from Henry VII, while Richard's loans to Richard III masked allegiances to the Tudor cause. The marriage produced five children, all minors at William's post-Bosworth death: Thomas (ca. 1479–1536), Philippa, Margaret, Beatrix, and Anne. Thomas, the sole son, ascended as king's chaplain to Henry VII, chamberlain of Westminster Abbey, and prior of Tynemouth for life, impaling Tudor arms in heraldic displays—a tacit nod to his maternal lineage.

Ellen's remarriage to William Sybson (or Sibson) by 1502 further embedded her in London's mercantile fabric, though chancery disputes over Thomas's inheritance highlight the contested nature of her Tudor ties. Her daughters' fates remain obscure, emblematic of the era's patriarchal archival biases. According to the last will of William Gardener, Ellen was to be laid to rest beside William Gardiner before the holy mother in crypt designed for the purpose on the northside of St Mildreds on the Poultry, London. Destroyed in the great fire of 1666. Rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren it was destroyed by fire and demolished in 1872.

Evidentiary Origins and Historiographical Debates

No contemporary fifteenth-century records mention Ellen Tudor, a lacuna attributable to her illegitimacy and the Hanse merchants' preference for discretion amid Richard III's trade restrictions. The earliest attestation surfaces in Thomas Tonge's Heraldic Visitation of the Northern Counties in 1530, where Thomas Gardiner asserted his mother's descent from "Jasper Duc of Bedford" and grandmother from "Quene Kateryn," Catherine of Valois. This self-reported pedigree, preserved in Harleian manuscripts, served to bolster Thomas's ecclesiastical claims under Henry VIII, reflecting the post-1485 elevation of merchant families who backed the Tudor coup.

Douglas Richardson's Magna Carta Ancestry (2011) endorses this lineage, confirming Ellen as Jasper's sole known bastard and debunking Victorian conflations with Bishop Stephen Gardiner's mother. Earlier historiographers, including the Dictionary of National Biography (1885–1900), erroneously linked Ellen to Stephen, a myth perpetuated until Richardson's corrections. Speculative additions, such as a purported sister Joan Tudor, lack substantiation and stem from later genealogical embellishments.

Ellen's narrative illuminates the Hanse merchants' orchestration of Richard III's fall: grievances over wool tariffs and Calais monopolies drove alliances like the Gardiners', channeling funds to Jasper's exilic network and culminating in Bosworth's merchant-financed victory.

Notes

1. Bayani, Debra. Jasper Tudor: Godfather of the Tudor Dynasty. Stroud: Amberley Publishing, 2015, 45–47. Bayani's analysis draws on Welsh chronicles to contextualize Ellen's birth during Jasper's Welsh campaigns, emphasizing her role in binding merchant and noble spheres.
2. Griffiths, Ralph A., and Roger S. Thomas. The Making of the Tudor Dynasty. Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1985, 112–114. This work posits Ellen's conception amid Jasper's 1450s Welsh activities, aligning with Hanse trade routes exploited by the Gardiners.
3. Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. 2nd ed. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Douglas Richardson, 2011, 2:558–560. Richardson's exhaustive pedigree traces Ellen's descent, citing the 1530 Visitation as the foundational source while refuting Bishop Gardiner links.
4. Tonge, Thomas. Heraldic Visitation of the Northern Counties in 1530. Edited by W. Hylton Dyer Longstaffe. Durham: Surtees Society, 1863, 71–72. The original pedigree entry: "Thomas Gardyner, Prior of Tynemouth, son of William Gardyner and Ellen, daughter of Jasper Duc of Bedford."
5. Sutton, Anne F. The Mercery of London: Trade, Goods and People, 1130–1578. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005, 558–560. Sutton details Hanse merchant grievances, including Richard Gardiner's justice role, as catalysts for the 1483–1485 coup.
6. The Crowland Chronicle Continuations: 1459–1486. Edited by Nicholas Pronay and John Cox. London: Richard III and Yorkist History Trust, 1986, 183. Lists William Gardiner's knighting, underscoring merchant contributions to Bosworth.
7. Gruffydd, Elis. Cronicl o Wech Oesoedd. Ca. 1548–1552. National Library of Wales, MS 5276D, fol. 234r. Names "Wyllyam Gardynyr" as Richard III's slayer, tying Ellen's husband to the coup's climax.
8. Beaven, Alfred B. The Aldermen of the City of London, Temp. Henry III–1912. London: Corporation of the City of London, 1908, 250–254. Chronicles Richard Gardiner's civic ascent, framing the family's Hanse orchestration.
9. Estcourt, E. E. "Documents Relating to Richard Gardyner, Alderman of London." Archaeologia 41, no. 2 (1867): 355–357. Details loans to Richard III, masking Tudor loyalties.
10. Visitation of London, 1530. Harleian Society Publications 1. London: Harleian Society, 1880, 70–71. Confirms Thomas's armorial impalement, affirming Ellen's Tudor descent.
11. Harding, Vanessa, and D. J. Keene. Historical Gazetteer of London Before the Great Fire. London: Centre for Metropolitan History, 1987, sub "Gardiner." Maps Cheapside holdings, illustrating merchant clustering.

Bibliography

Bayani, Debra. Jasper Tudor: Godfather of the Tudor Dynasty. Stroud: Amberley Publishing, 2015.

Beaven, Alfred B. The Aldermen of the City of London, Temp. Henry III–1912. London: Corporation of the City of London, 1908.

The Crowland Chronicle Continuations: 1459–1486. Edited by Nicholas Pronay and John Cox. London: Richard III and Yorkist History Trust, 1986.

Estcourt, E. E. "Documents Relating to Richard Gardyner, Alderman of London." Archaeologia 41, no. 2 (1867): 355–357.

Griffiths, Ralph A., and Roger S. Thomas. The Making of the Tudor Dynasty. Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1985.

Gruffydd, Elis. Cronicl o Wech Oesoedd. Ca. 1548–1552. National Library of Wales, MS 5276D.

Harding, Vanessa, and D. J. Keene. Historical Gazetteer of London Before the Great Fire. London: Centre for Metropolitan History, 1987.

Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. 2nd ed. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Douglas Richardson, 2011.

Sutton, Anne F. The Mercery of London: Trade, Goods and People, 1130–1578. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2005.

Tonge, Thomas. Heraldic Visitation of the Northern Counties in 1530. Edited by W. Hylton Dyer Longstaffe. Durham: Surtees Society, 1863.

Visitation of London, 1530. Harleian Society Publications 1. London: Harleian Society, 1880.

Gardener, William. Will. September 25, 1485. Diocese of London Consistory Court Will Registers, DL/C/B/004/MS09171/007, ff. 25v–26r. London Metropolitan Archives, London. [Digital Image Link]

About the Author

David T. Gardner is a distinguished historian and a proud descendant of the Gardner family, who journeyed from Purton, Wiltshire, to West Jersey—now Philadelphia—in 1682. Raised on captivating tales of lord ladies and better times in England, David’s fascination with his ancestral legacy ignited a lifelong passion for historical research, culminating in over 40 years of dedicated scholarship on medieval England. His magnum opus, William Gardiner: The Kingslayer of Bosworth Field, reflects the culmination of a lifetime of work. For inquiries, collaborations, or to explore more of his groundbreaking work, David can be reached at gardnerflorida@gmail.com or via his blog at KingslayersCourt.com, a digital haven for history enthusiasts chronical

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