Born: 1562 (circa), Ireland
Died: 1629
Country most active: Ireland
Also known as: Janet or Genet Marward
This biography is republished from The Dictionary of Irish Biography and was written by Emma Allen. Shared by permission in line with Creative Commons ‘Attribution’ (CC BY) licencing.
Nugent, Jane (née Marward; Janet) (c. 1562–1629), family matriarch, was the eldest of two daughters born in Co. Meath to Walter Marward, baron of Skryne, and his wife Ellen (née Plunket, d. 1618), daughter of Sir John Plunket, chief justice of the queen’s bench. After Walter Marward’s death in 1564, Ellen married Nicholas Nugent, chief justice of the common pleas. As heir to Marward’s considerable fortune, Jane became Nugent’s ward.
As a youth, she was betrothed to her mother’s relative, Baron Dunsany. Nugent, however, preferred that Marward marry his nephew, William Nugent. On 4 December 1573 William forcibly abducted Jane, then aged eleven; they were married shortly afterwards (the extent to which Nicholas Nugent was aware of and approved of the abduction and forced marriage is uncertain, though contemporary sources suggest he had some foreknowledge). The marriage was eventually accepted by all parties and on 10 April 1577 the couple were granted Walter Marward’s estates, valued at £130 per annum. The Nugents were politically active, bilingual, prominent landowners in Co. Westmeath; William’s older brother Christopher Nugent, 14th Baron Delvin, wrote A primer of the Irish language in 1564 at the queen’s request, and received several land grants from the English government. However, his tendency toward the Gaelic tradition of maintaining private armies caused friction with the Irish administration and he was detained several times for supporting campaigns against administrative policies (1575 and 1577). Nicholas Nugent served as second baron of the exchequer from 1570 to 1577. He was appointed chief justice of the common pleas in 1578, which brought him into direct contention with another prominent administrator, Sir Robert Dillon, who had expected the position.
The suspected involvement of various branches of the Nugent family in the Desmond (1579–83) and Baltinglass (1580–81) rebellions caused numerous difficulties. When Baron Delvin was arrested in December 1580, William led a small rebellion in an attempt to secure his brother’s release, which led to his being declared a rebel in March 1581. Nicholas Nugent, Jane’s stepfather, was implicated, arrested and eventually executed in April 1582.
William fled to Ulster and stayed with Turlough Luineach O’Neill, lord of Tyrone, and his wife Agnes Campbell. Jane Nugent visited him while heavily pregnant; their son, Christopher, was born there. She left him at her inherited estate in Skreen with a nurse and travelled to her father’s estates near Dublin while her husband fled to Scotland, then France, and finally settled in Rome, taking the infant Christopher with him. William Nugent lived in exile for several years while his wife navigated the fallout of his rebellion in Ireland.
Jane Nugent was imprisoned in September 1581, ostensibly for committing treason by sending her exiled husband shirts; lord deputy Arthur Grey told her that she was arrested because they ‘cannot lay hands on him, so we must lay hands on them that be nearest to him, which are his wife and children’ (TNA, SP63/104/122). The charge against her relied on the falsified testimony of John Cusack and Pierce Conogan, who were themselves imprisoned at the time of their accusations and escaped shortly after Jane was indicted. The Dublin administration used Jane’s imprisonment as leverage to demand William turn their son over as a ward to the English administration as an assurance of his loyalty. In return, pardons were promised both for Jane and Baron Delvin. Both Ellen and Jane Nugent attempted to persuade William to accede to the demand; Jane wrote to her husband several times stating that she wished their son to be brought to Dublin: ‘the mother of the child’s pleasure that the child be sent in, in hope to get herself set at liberty’ (TNA, SP63/89/40). However, William refused to return with Christopher unless Jane and Baron Delvin were released first.
Jane claimed that her time in prison led to ‘the utter decay of her health and almost the loss of her life’ (TNA, SP63/104/125). While in prison, she dined several times with her brother-in-law, which caused the administration to suspect her of secretly passing letters from Baron Delvin to William. She was also suspected of attempting to bribe officials to secure her release. She had powerful supporters, however, including the duke of Ormond and the lord chancellor, Adam Loftus, who emphasised her loyal familial connections and the involuntary circumstances of her marriage to William in their efforts to secure her freedom.
She was released from prison in late 1582, though with a substantial fine of £500 that was to be paid before Christmas the following year, on penalty of re-incarceration. She petitioned throughout 1583 for the remittance of the fine and the return of herself and her son to their estates and position. Her request was opposed by several influential administrators and courtiers, including Sir Warham St Leger, who had taken possession of her lands after her husband’s attainder. Her petitions were nonetheless successful and, on 18 April 1584, Elizabeth I returned Jane to her lands. A pardon was extended to her husband on 4 December 1584. After his return, Jane petitioned for the reimbursement of the charges incurred during William’s absence.
Although William and Jane Nugent were permitted to occupy their estates, they were not formally restored to their confiscated properties until 1608. Jane Nugent outlived her husband and died in 1629. She was survived by her sons Christopher and James, while a third son, Robert, predeceased her in May 1616.