Aubrey de Vere
1516 – 1580
Vitals
Family
About
Aubrey de Vere was the second son of the fifteenth Earl of Oxford, and in his own lifetime an entirely obscure man: a younger son with a life interest in a manor, living in the shadow of Castle Hedingham while his eldest brother held the earldom. His obscurity is the reason his descendants can be believed. Nobody inventing a connection to the Earls of Oxford would have chosen him. He married twice, and by his first wife, Margaret Spring of Lavenham, he had the daughter Jane who married into the Hunt family of Gosfield and carried the de Vere blood, unremarked, into Ireland. His own male line later inherited the earldom he was born too late to hold.
Research notes
✓ DOCUMENTED (Visitation of Essex, De Vere pedigree p.47, photographed 21 Jul 2026; a nationally recorded figure): AUBREY DE VERE, "2nd sone" of John de Vere, 15TH EARL OF OXFORD; m. (per the visitation) a dau. of Sir Anthony Gebons (Gibbon) of Norfolk - NB modern peerage accounts usually give his wife as MARGARET SPRING of Lavenham: two wives or a conflict, unresolved (~ on the wife; verify in Complete Peerage vol. X). Children per the visitation: John (d.s.p.), HUGH (m. AT HEDINGHAM 23 AUG 1575 - CP X p.256 note d - Elianora Walshe; father of ROBERT DE VERE, 19TH EARL OF OXFORD from 1626, killed at the siege of Maastricht 7 Aug 1632; whence also the 20th and last Earl, d. 1703 - so Aubrey's male line inherited the earldom, its title vindicated in the 1626 Lords case crowned by Chief Justice Crewe's "where is Bohun?... and yet let the name and dignity of de Vere stand so long as it pleaseth God" - CP X pp.256-57; the full heir-male recital naming AUBREY'S WIFE = CP X p.247 note g, STILL TO PULL), Anne, Bridgett (m. Thomas Crachewood), and JANE (m. Henry Hunte of Gosfield 1573 - OUR LINE). d. c. 1580. HIS BROTHER'S WILL NAMES HIM AND HIS CHILDREN (PROB 11/46/247, 1562/3, transcribed 22 Jul 2026): "my brother Awbrey Veer" - sons Hugh and John (GBP20 each at 21), daughters Anne (eldest, 100 marks), Bridgett and JANE (GBP40 each at marriage or majority) - matching the visitation name-for-name (the visitation's Robert d.s.p. absent, presumably dead by 1562). Jane's filiation to him is therefore ✓ DUAL-SOURCED. His own will remains unfound (PCC null under 'Vere'; further tests: Veer/Veere spellings, forename-only search 1570-1600, then Essex RO wills) - now confirmatory only. Direct ancestor. Added 21 Jul 2026; proven via his brother's will 22 Jul 2026.