Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Stafford

Margaret Beaufort ( 1437 – 1474) was a younger daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and Lady Eleanor Beauchamp. Her father was leader of the Lancastrian side in the Wars of the Roses. Margaret married Humphrey, eldest son of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, who held the courtesy title of Earl of Stafford.

Margaret's father led the Lancastrian forces in the First Battle of St Albans (22 May 1455) against his main rival Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and was killed. Her husband was badly wounded, but did not die until three years later, possibly of the plague. Shortly after the battle Margaret gave birth to a son Henry, who became his grandfather's heir and succeeded as Duke of Buckingham as an infant. Their daughter Margaret married James Tuchet, 7th Baron Audley.

Ancestry