Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers (birth unknown, died 6 March 1491) succeeded his brother, Anthony Woodville

Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers

Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers was an English nobleman, courtier, and writer.He was the eldest son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. Like his father, he was originally a Lancastrian, fighting on that side at the Battle of Towton, but later became a Yorkist...

, as the third Earl Rivers

Earl Rivers

Earl Rivers was an English title held in succession by the families of Woodville or Wydeville, Darcy and Savage. The first creation was made for Richard Woodville, 1st Baron Rivers in 1466 and remained in this family until 1491...

. He was the son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers

Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers

Richard Woodville , 1st Earl Rivers, KG was an English nobleman, best remembered as the father of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV....

 and Jacquetta of Luxembourg

Jacquetta of Luxembourg

Jacquetta of Luxembourg was the elder daughter of Peter I, Count of St Pol, Conversano and Brienne and his wife Margaret de Baux...

, and was the brother of Elizabeth Woodville

Elizabeth Woodville

Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was a key figure in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans...

, wife and Queen of King Edward IV of England

Edward IV of England

Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King 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.