Lady Margaret Sackville (1562&ndash;1591)

Lady Margaret Sackville (1562–1591)

Lady Margaret Sackville (1562 - 19 August 1591), formerly Lady Margaret Howard, was the wife of Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset.
Margaret was the daughter of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, and his second wife, the former Margaret Audley. In keeping with family tradition, she was a devout Roman Catholic. Her half-brother, Philip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel, died while imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth I of England, and was later canonised.
She married the future earl in February 1580, but died prior to his inheriting the earldom, and thus was never countess. In 1585, she visited her sister-in-law, the Countess of Arundel, formerly Anne Dacre, in Essex; the countess's movements were restricted because of the earl's imprisonment. Lady Margaret was under instructions from the queen not to remain at the countess's home for more than one night. A memorial to her, with effigies of herself and her second husband, stands in Edington Priory Church, Wiltshire.
*Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset (1589-1624)
*Edward Sackville, 4th Earl of Dorset (1591-1652)
*Cecily, married Sir Henry Compton, K.B.
Lady Margaret died suddenly on 19 August 1591. Robert Southwell's Triumphs over Death (published in 1596, after the poet's execution) was dedicated to her and her surviving children. It was supposedly written and sent to her half-brother, the Earl of Arundel, in prison, to comfort him.
The year after her death, Dorset married the twice-widowed Anne, daughter of Sir John Spencer of Althorp. He left instructions in his will that he should be buried at Withyham, "as near to my first dearly beloved wife ... as can be".<ref name="Parliament"/>

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