 Alice Chaucer was a daughter of Thomas Chaucer, Speaker of the Commons on three occasions, Chief Butler of England for almost thirty years, and granddaughter of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer.De la Pole's eldest brother John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln (c. 14641487), was the designated heir of his maternal uncle, Richard III of England, who gave him a pension and the reversion of the estates of Lady Margaret Beaufort.Meanwhile, Edmund was made a Knight of the Bath at the Coronation of his uncle, King Richard III; and was present at that of his cousin, Elizabeth of York, the Queen Consort on 25 November 1487.