Katherine Stourton, Baroness Grey of Codnor (c. 1455 – 1521) was an English noblewoman. Her life reflects the turbulence of English political life in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries; her first husband was attainted for treason, and her third husband holds the record for the longest period of imprisonment in the Tower of London.
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Background
She was the daughter of William Stourton, 2nd Baron Stourton and Margaret Chideock, eldest daughter of Sir John Chideock and Catherine Lumley. Her father, although he was not a leading political figure, enjoyed the confidence of King Edward IV: in 1469 he sat on the commission of oyer and terminer which convicted Thomas Hungerford of Rowden and Henry Courtenay of treason.
First marriage
About 1475, Katherine married Sir William Berkeley, son of Sir Maurice Berkeley of Beverstone Castle, Gloucestershire and his wife Anne West. At about the same time, her brother John married William's sister, another Katherine. William became a political figure of some importance at the court of Edward IV; he was constable of Southampton and Winchester, organised the entertainment of the King's sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy on her visit to England in 1480, and played a leading role in organising Edward IV's funeral.