Anne was born around 1408, a daughter of
Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmoreland, and his second wife
Lady Joan Beaufort, the legitimised daughter of
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. Sometime before October 1424 she married
Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, heir of
Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford, and one of the wealthiest men in England. Through her first marriage, Anne became a significant landholder. She managed the estates and financial matters with some success: the revenue of her dower lands increased notably under her direction. Drawing an annual income of £884 in 1460, the year she became a widow, the revenue increased by 40% to £1,245 by 1473, when her grandson
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham came of age. She was widowed in 1460 when Humphrey was killed at the
Battle of Northampton and remained unmarried until 1467. In that year she took as her second husband
Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy (d. 1474). His will suggests that a prenuptial agreement was put in place at that time for he left Anne "all such goods as were her proper goods the day afore our marriage or that she hath brought since or to her given by any person". As the Dowager Duchess of Buckingham she bore the train of queen consort
Elizabeth Woodville at her coronation on 26 May 1465. ==Book ownership==