Anne Vavasour
Anne Vavasour (c. 1560 – c. 1650) was a Maid of Honour (1580–81) to Queen Elizabeth I of England, a member of the Vavasour family and the mistress of two aristocratic men. Her first lover was Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, by whom she had an illegitimate son – Edward. For that offence, both she and de Vere were sent to the Tower of London by the orders of the Queen. She later became the mistress of Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley, by whom she had another illegitimate son.
Anne Vavasour | |
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Portrait of Anne Vavasour, attributed to John de Critz, c.1605 | |
| Born | c. 1560 Copmanthorpe, Yorkshire, England |
| Died | c. 1650 |
| Occupation | Maid of Honour |
| Known for | Mistress of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, and later Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley Protagonist of Earl of Oxford's poem, Anne Vavasour's Echo |
| Spouses |
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| Children | Edward Vere (illegitimate) Thomas Lee (illegitimate) |
| Parent(s) | Henry Vavasour Margaret Knyvet |
By 1590, she had married a sea captain by the name of John Finch. She later married John Richardson, while her first husband was still alive; and as a consequence, she was brought up before the High Commission on a charge of bigamy, for which she had to pay a fine of £2000; however, she was spared having to perform a public penance.
She was the inspiration, protagonist, and possibly the actual author, of the poem, Anne Vavasour's Echo, though her lover the Earl of Oxford is more commonly identified as its author.