 Jane Guildford was born in Kent in about <unk> / <unk> , the only daughter of Sir Edward Guildford and Eleanor West , daughter of Thomas West , 8th Baron De La <unk> . Her schooling occurred at home together with her brother Richard and her future husband , who was her father 's ward from <unk> . In <unk> , at about 16 , she married Sir John Dudley , who was 20 or 21 years old . The match had been arranged by their parents some years before . Jane Dudley gave birth to 13 children , eight boys and five girls . In most cases it is impossible to establish their <unk> exactly . An exception is Robert , the future favourite of Elizabeth I ; he was born in 1532 as the fifth son , and possibly after the eldest daughter Mary , who became the mother of the <unk> @-@ poet Philip Sidney . The family life of John and Jane Dudley seems to have been happy and was free from any <unk> ; around <unk> a poem praised the " love and devotion " of their marriage . 
