Grey, Lady Jane 1537-54
Queen of England for nine days

Born in Bradgate, Leicestershire, she was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII and the eldest daughter of Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset. Educated under the tutorship of John Aylmer (later Bishop of London), she proved an able pupil, especially proficient at languages. During the final illness of Edward VI, she was married against her will to Lord Guildford Dudley, fourth son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, as part of the latter's scheme to make sure of a Protestant succession. Declared queen three days after Edward's death (9 July 1553), she was forced to abdicate nine days later in favour of Edward's sister, Mary I, Tudor, and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Following a rebellion in her favour under Sir Thomas Wyatt, the Younger, in which her father (by then Duke of Suffolk) also participated, she was beheaded with her husband.

Bibliography: H W Chapman, Lady Jane Grey (1962)