Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers

Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers (birth unknown, died 6 March 1491) succeeded his brother, Anthony Woodville, as the third Earl Rivers. He was the son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, and was the brother of Elizabeth Woodville, wife and Queen of King Edward IV of England.

Richard Woodville was the last of his family to hold the title of Earl Rivers.

Marriage and son

Some historians and geneaologists believe that Richard secretly married and had a son, also named Richard, who was raised as a commoner in order to protect him from the fate that had befallen many in his family. This child was passed off as the son of another Richard Rivers, steward in the household of the Dukes of Buckingham, and was raised as a servant by the dowager Duchess of Buckingham, sister to Richard Woodville. As a servant, the child had no claim to the Woodville inheritance and hence of no interest to King Henry VII, who was impatient to inherit the remainder of the Woodville money and estates he had not already confiscated.

This Richard Rivers had a son called John (1510–1583). Born in Penshurst, Kent, he married Elizabeth Barne and succeeded her father as Lord Mayor of London (1573/74). His attempt to prove he was the grandson of the 3rd Earl Rivers failed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Peerage of England
Preceded by Anthony Woodville	Earl Rivers 1483–1491	Succeeded by Extinct