Elizabeth Wilford

Biography

ELIZABETH GALE (d. 1559)

Elizabeth Gale was the daughter of Thomas Gale (d.1540) and Elizabeth Wilkinson (d. 1546). Gale was a London merchant (a member of the Haberdashers Company). Elizabeth married Nicholas Wilford (d. 1551) of the Merchant Taylors Company. Their children were Thomas, William, Robert, Edmond, Elizabeth, Anne, Parnell, another Elizabeth, Grace, Martha, and Joyce. After Wilfords death in an epidemic of the sweat, Elizabeth was active as an importer of cloth. She was also the only woman to invest in the Muscovy Company in her own right (without a spouse) and one of only two women out of the 201 founding members of that company in 1555. At the time of her death, her estate was valued in excess of 1000 Lbs. Biography: Oxford DNB entry under Wilford [nee Gale], Elizabeth.

Sources

• WILFORD, Nicholas (c.1495-1551), of London and Wandsworth, Surr. Family and Educationb. c.1495, 5th s. of James Wilford of London by Elizabeth, da. of John Bettenham of Pluckley, Kent. m. 1529, Elizabeth, da. of Thomas Gale, 4s. 5da.1
• link to Merchant Adventurers: The Voyage of Discovery that Transformed Tudor EnglandBy James Evans

Links

• https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=bfulgham...
• https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Muscovy_Company#External_links