Portrait of Mrs Mary Honywood, three-quarter-length, in a black dress, a white ruff and a black hat, holding a glove in her right hand

The sitter was the daughter and co-heiress of Robert Waters of Lenham, Kent, and married in 1543, aged 16, Robert Honywood of Charing, Kent, by whom she had sixteen children. She achieved quite a reputation both for her longevity and for the exceptional number of her descendants. She is reputed to have lived to see one hundred and fourteen grandchildren, two hundred and twenty-eight great-grandchildren and nine great-great-grandchildren. Her grandson Dr. Michael Honywood, Dean of Lincoln, recalled a banquet given by her for her descendants, two hundred of whom were present.