The Countess of Surrey | |
|---|---|
 The detail of a stained-glass window at Holy Trinity Church | |
| Born | Before 1445 Ashwellthorpe Manor, Norfolk |
| Died | 4 April 1497 Thetford, Norfolk, England |
| Buried | Possibly at Thetford Priory |
| Spouse(s) | Sir Humphrey Bourchier Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk |
| Issue | John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners Margaret Bourchier Anne Bourchier, Baroness Dacre Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk Lord Edward Howard Lord Edmund Howard Lord John Howard Lord Henry Howard Lord Charles Howard Lord Henry Howard (second of that name) Lord Richard Howard Elizabeth Howard Muriel Howard |
| Father | Sir Frederick Tilney |
| Mother | Elizabeth Cheney |
| Occupation | Lady-in-waiting Lady of the Bedchamber |
Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey (before 1445 – 4 April 1497) was an English heiress who became the first wife of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk (when still Earl of Surrey). She served successively as a lady-in-waiting to two Queen consorts, namely Elizabeth Woodville, wife of King Edward IV, and later as Lady of the Bedchamber to that Queen's daughter, Elizabeth of York, the wife of King Henry VII. She stood as joint godmother to Princess Margaret Tudor at her baptism.
Her eldest son was Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. Through two of her other children she was a grandmother of two queens consort of King Henry VIII, namely through her daughter Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire she was the maternal grandmother of Queen Anne Boleyn and through a younger son, Lord Edmund Howard, she was the paternal grandmother of Queen Catherine Howard. Thus Elizabeth's great-granddaughter was Queen Elizabeth I, the daughter of Anne Boleyn. Her son Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk's daughter, Mary, married the king's illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset. Elizabeth is commemorated as the "Countess of Surrey" in John Skelton's poem, The Garlande of Laurell, written following his visit to the Howard residence of Sheriff Hutton Castle.