Lady Isabel Manners

Countess  of Rutland

Birth & Death:

Father:

Mother:

Siblings:

Juliane Jennings of Preston

One Brother; Thomas Holcroft (sir) m. 1 Elizabeth Fitton - m.2 Elizabeth Rayner, dau. of Sir William rayner of Overton Longvile, Hunts Knight, and Elizabeth Lynne, w. of Henry Talbot.

Edward Manners  and Isabel Holcroft were a special, even scandalous, couple, especially in a society based on status and a hierarchy. While Edward was the eldest son and therefore the sole heir of one of the richest aristocratic families in England, Isabel was only the daughter of the younger son of a county landowner.  The marriage was considered a misalliance, a union between two people that would be thought to be unsuited.

It is a wonderful love story. Isabel's mother (Juliane Jennings of Preston claimed) "that the Earl was so deeply in love that he was willing to marry the girl even without a marriage portion" (dowry). To top it off, Edward also had put himself and his family at risk by refusing the suggestion to marry the daughter of Lord Burghley, an offer that few would have dared to refuse and many would have jumped at the chance.

The marriage resulted in hard feelings on the part of Edward's male heirs, who probably felt robbed by Edward marring Isabel. What made things even worse was the birth of their daughter, Elizabeth, who under the old laws could not inherit from Edward and thus deepened the rivalry between his widow and his male heirs.