Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, had a daughter, Isabel. Isabel of Cambridge (1409 - 1484) was arranged to be married to Sir Thomas Grey. Her husband was the son of Sir Thomas Grey. The elder Thomas had served under Henry IV, and by 1408 was serving the Prince of Wales (the future Henry V).
Grey's son Thomas (1404 - c.1426) was betrothed to Isabel. The marriage took place on 18 February 1413. Note the year: Isabel was not quite four years old at the time, but her husband was only nine!
Richard of Conisburgh had sons. This was a chance to pawn off a daughter, but in a world where arranged marriages were made for important alliances and personal gain, what did the Earl of Cambridge get for marrying his daughter to a simple knight?
Well, a knight could aspire to be more. Richard could offer the lordship of Wark-in-Tyndale to the elder Thomas Grey. This would give the elder Thomas more power. Unfortunately, the offer came with a price. The price was more than Grey could afford, but he took the offer anyway. Now Grey was going to be Richard's debt—serious debt.
Historian's look back and think that Richard use Grey as a dupe, binding him to Richard's plans on threat of becoming destitute. In fact, during the trial of the three conspirators, Grey is recorded as saying that he was driven to take part out of "poverty and covetousness." Clearly, he was desperate to see it through on the promise of becoming better off as a kingmaker for Edmund Mortimer.
As for the child couple: they had one son, also called Thomas. Isabel married Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, in 1426, so her first husband must have been dead by the age of 21.
As for Richard, he did not live to see a descendant take the throne. I'll tell you a bit more about his lineage tomorrow.
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