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35-560: Sir Thomas Egerton , the Lord Keeper, bought Harefield Place, now in the London Borough of Hillingdon , from Sir Edmund Anderson in 1601. The Queen came to Harefield on 29 July 1602, as part of a short progress lasting two weeks. She stayed until 3 August. Egerton's bills for the entertainment and hospitality survive. Some speeches and drama were also recorded and printed. A "lottery" was performed in which gifts were presented to

70-621: A bachelor's degree in 1559. He then studied law at Lincoln's Inn and was called as a barrister by 1572. He was a Roman Catholic , until a point in 1570 when his non-conformity with the Church of England became an issue with his Inn passing on a complaint from the Privy Council . Egerton built a respectable legal practice pleading cases in the Courts of Queen's Bench , Chancery and Exchequer . After Queen Elizabeth I saw him plead

105-509: A case against the Crown he was appointed Queen's Counsel . In 1579 he was elected Master of the Bench of Lincoln's Inn. On 28 June 1581 he was appointed Solicitor General . He married Elizabeth Ravenscroft, daughter of Thomas Ravenscroft of Bretton, Flint, in 1576 and by her had issue: As Solicitor General, Egerton became a frequent legal advocate for the crown, often arguing cases instead of

140-400: A copy of the farewell speech, and mentioned the expensive presents given to the queen, the two jewels, worth £1000 and £600, and the "gown of rainbows very rich embroidered". The Jesuit Robert Persons was told that Alice, Countess of Derby asked the queen, who was in "her merriest vein" if Anne Stanley and her sister could serve in her privy chamber, or have consent to marry, which displeased

175-528: A corrupt version of the lottery into his diary. A version of the lottery was printed in Francis Davison's A Poetical Rapsodie (London, 1608). The surviving versions has various differences, and the entertainment as manuscript had a somewhat separate existence to the actual performance. Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley , PC (c. 1540 – 15 March 1617), known as Lord Ellesmere from 1603 to 1616,

210-524: A duel was to be fought by him and the King's favourite, Lord James Hay . He became Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire and was called the "King of the Cotswolds ", owing to his generosity and his magnificent style of living at his residence, Sudeley Castle . In 1608 he went travelling with Degory Wheare . In 1610 he was appointed one of the officers under Sir Edward Cecil in command of an expedition to

245-710: A patron of the young Francis Bacon . After the death of the Lord Keeper Puckering he was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and sworn a Privy Councillor on 6 May 1596, remaining Master of the Rolls and thus the sole judge in the Court of Chancery . During this time his first wife died, and he married Elizabeth Wolley , the widow of Sir John Wolley , and daughter of Sir William More of Loseley , Surrey. He bought Tatton Park , in 1598. It would stay in

280-469: A time when Thomas Hobbes was his tutor. (There is another view, which is that this collection is Hobbes's own work.) The published essays come as 12 shorter pieces (the 10 by William being among those); and four longer ones, now attributed one to William (on flattery, based on a piece from 1611) and three to Hobbes. On 28 February 1607, he married Lady Anne Stanley , daughter of Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby and Lady Alice Spencer . His wife Anne,

315-655: A verse recalled the legend of St Swithun . Egerton provided the gown for £340, and the Countess gave the sleeves and cords to attach them with ruby and pearl tags. A payment to an embroiderer, silkman, and the Queen's tailor is one of Payne Collier's forgeries. The rainbow gown has been connected with the costume depicted in Elizabeth's Rainbow Portrait at Hatfield and the Bacton Altar Cloth . The concept of

350-499: The Attorney General . Briefly, he was MP for Cheshire, 1584–87. He was one of the prosecutors at the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots , in 1586 at Sheffield. He was also the prosecutor in the trial of Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel , for high treason . He was made Attorney General on 2 June 1592, he was knighted the next year. He was made Master of the Rolls on 10 April 1594 where he excelled as an equity judge and became

385-674: The Low Countries , for his health; he had been there before during the Jülich campaign. On 14 July 1616, there was some talk of making him President of Wales , and on 8 November 1617, he was appointed to receive ambassadors from Muscovy , then in England. His health was still failing, and after trying in 1618, the waters of Newenham Mills in Warwickshire, he returned to Spa, where he died suddenly on 10 August 1621, while taking in

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420-667: The Low Countries , in the War of the Jülich succession . The Emperor Rudolph II 's forces were besieging Juliers , and the English had combined with Holland and France to protect the town. Sir Edward Herbert was Chandos's companion through this campaign. Chandos lodged at Juliers with Sir Horace Vere , but does not seem to have taken much part in the fighting. Afterwards he attended Antoine de Pluvinel 's academy in Paris, and then went to Blois . On 23 July 1612, Grey Brydges visited Spa in

455-659: The Union of the Crowns . Egerton and Lord Buckhurst travelled to Northamptonshire in June 1603 to greet Anne of Denmark and her children as they journeyed towards Windsor Castle . Egerton remained in office, and King James made him Lord Chancellor and 1st Baron Ellesmere on 19 July 1603. He was removed from the office of Master of the Rolls on 18 May 1603, but as the office was granted to an absentee Scottish Lord he continued to perform its duties. Shortly afterwards he presided over

490-455: The masque at Ashby Castle in 1607. As the Queen left Harefield the final scene was a speech made by the spirit of Place dressed as a widow, who said, "I could wish myself like the enchanted Castle of Love, to hold you here for ever, but your virtues would dissolve my enchantments". The widow gave Elizabeth a jewel in the form of an anchor. Sir George Savile wrote to the Earl of Shrewsbury with

525-676: The 19th century. The Egertons later had a family chapel (the Bridgewater Chapel) with a burial vault in Little Gaddesden Church, where many monuments commemorate the Dukes and Earls of Bridgewater and their families. As Lord Keeper, Egerton's judgements were admired, but Common-law judges often resented him for reversing their decisions. He also attempted to expand the jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery to include

560-576: The Harefield lottery was the distribution of gifts by a mariner of a rich Carrack , a treasure ship, to the ladies of Cynthia, Queen of the Seas. A carrack from Lisbon had recently been brought to Plymouth. Around thirty women received gifts. Participants in the Harefield lottery included; At the end of the lottery a feather jewel worth £600 was found and given to Elizabeth. Verses by William Skipwith survive for another lottery entertainment, connected with

595-752: The King in securing his dismissal. He attempted to resign several times after this, as he became increasingly old and infirm, and the King finally accepted his resignation on 5 March 1617, after his creation as Viscount Brackley on 7 November 1616. He was promised the earldom of Bridgewater , but showed little interest, and died twelve days after leaving office on 15 March 1617. He is buried in Dodleston , Cheshire. by his first wife, Elizabeth Grey Brydges, 5th Baron Chandos Grey Brydges, 5th Baron Chandos ( c.  1580  – 10 August 1621) of Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire,

630-755: The Thames to Brentford . 18,000 bricks were bought to build ovens for the event, and extra lodgings were added to the house. Arras hooks for tapestries were supplied by Page of Uxbridge . Several guests brought gifts of food, George More from Loseley gave a stag, 24 pigeons, and 4 swans, the Warden of the Fleet Prison gave 4 sugar loaves, and the Lord Mayor of London brought a barrel of sack and 6 herons. John Kederminster brought 18 boxes of sweetmeats and 36 fine cakes. The Queen arrived at Harefield and near

665-420: The family for more than three centuries. Also at this time (1597 or 1598) he hired John Donne as secretary. This arrangement ended in some embarrassment since Donne secretly married Ann More, Elizabeth's niece, in 1601. Elizabeth died around the beginning of 1600, and then Egerton married Alice Spencer , whose first husband had been Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby . She survived him by two decades, and

700-403: The house, sheltering under a tree from the rain, heard a dialogue between a Bailiff and Dairy Maid. At the entry to the house there was a chair for her, and a dialogue between Place and Time was presented, and the queen was given a diamond heart. Place wore a robe like the bricks of the house. Next, Elizabeth was given a gown of cloth of silver embroidered with rainbows by Audrey Walsingham , and

735-404: The imposition of fines to enforce his injunctions. In the 9th Parliament of the reign of Elizabeth (1597–1598), he supported legal reform and the royal power to create monopolies . In November 1599 Egerton, seeking the queen's favour, asked a courtier Michael Stanhope to give her a gift of pearls. She told Stanhope to return them to Egerton, who felt that Stanhope had let him down. Sir Thomas

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770-464: The ladies of the court as humorous rhyming couplets were recited. Modern critics emphasise the likely role of Egerton's wife, Alice, Countess of Derby in planning and devising the events. The early editor of the records John Payne Collier is thought to have tampered with a page of "Mainwaring's accounts" of expenses to introduce a bogus reference to Richard Burbage and Othello , but the rest of Egerton's expenses are considered authentic. To feed

805-524: The queen and her household Egerton bought wheat for bread and " manchet ", butter, eggs, gooseberries, chickens, pigeons, geese, rabbits, ducklings, pigs, partridges, trout, lobster, and crayfish and other foods. There was Gascon wine and sack, beer and ale, wine vinegar and oil for cooking, green fruits, herbs, and a hired cook Allin Wardis. Mr Walther made sugar confections. A London pewterer provided plates and dishes. Planks for shelves and tables were boated up

840-492: The queen who commanded silence on such matters. Anne married Grey Brydges , a cousin of Elizabeth Brydges in 1607. John Chamberlain sent a copy of the script and verses of the entertainment to Dudley Carleton on 19 November 1602, apologised and regretting his "lost labour" if Carleton had already read it. The speeches and the text of the lottery circulated in manuscript and reached the London lawyer John Manningham who copied

875-655: The trial of Barons Cobham and Grey de Wilton for high treason for their part in the Main Plot . In the first Parliament of James I Lord Ellesmere attempted to exercise the right of the Lord Chancellor to disqualify members from sitting in the House of Commons , but in the end, yielded that right to the House itself. He attempted to persuade Parliament to support the King's plans for a union of England and Scotland, but

910-588: The waters there. His body was brought to Sudeley Castle, and buried there. An elegy for him was written by Sir John Beaumont . Chandos has been regarded by Horace Walpole and others as the author of some essays, Horae Subsecivae . These were published by Edward Blount , and from topical references would appear to have been written about 1615. The attribution is moot: Michael Lort and Samuel Egerton Brydges supported Walpole's view. Anthony à Wood and White Kennett had earlier stated that Gilbert Cavendish, eldest son of William Cavendish, 1st Earl of Devonshire ,

945-430: Was a friend of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex , and often interceded to mend relations between Essex and the Queen. After Essex returned from Ireland in disgrace he was placed in the Lord Keeper's custody, under house arrest at York House, Strand . He was one of the judges at Essex's first trial, and tried to persuade him to apologise and beg mercy from the Queen. He pronounced the sentence against Essex, although it

980-538: Was an English nobleman , judge and statesman from the Egerton family who served as Lord Keeper and Lord Chancellor for twenty-one years. Thomas Egerton was born in 1540 in the parish of Dodleston , Cheshire, England. He was the illegitimate son of Sir Richard Egerton and an unmarried woman named Alice Sparks from Bickerton . He was acknowledged by his father's family, who paid for his education. He studied Liberal Arts at Brasenose College , Oxford , and received

1015-474: Was an English nobleman and courtier. He was the only son of William Brydges, 4th Baron Chandos , who died on 18 November 1602, and Mary Hopton, who was daughter of Sir Owen Hopton . He was M.P. for Cricklade , in 1597. Brydges and his family were friendly with Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex . His father visited Essex at Essex House on the Sunday morning (8 February 1601) of Essex's insurrection, but he

1050-526: Was an important patron of the arts, usually known as the Dowager Countess of Derby. At Ashridge , Hertfordshire, Thomas Egerton purchased Ashridge House , one of the largest country houses in England, from Queen Elizabeth I, who had inherited it from her father who had appropriated it after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539. Ashridge House served the Egerton family as a residence until

1085-467: Was created Duke of York in January 1605. He visited Oxford with King James I, and was granted the degree of M.A. on 30 August 1605. On 2 July 1609, he was appointed keeper of Ditton Park , Buckinghamshire, for life. He attended the funeral of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales , in 1612. Grey also took an active part in the court masques and tournaments. It was reported at court on 9 September 1613 that

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1120-454: Was dictated by the Queen. During Essex's rebellion, he was sent to persuade Essex to surrender, but was instead held hostage for several hours until one of Essex's supporters freed him to gain pardon from the Queen. Egerton bought a house at Harefield and in August 1602 staged an elaborate entertainment for the queen. James VI of Scotland succeeded to the throne of England as James I at

1155-488: Was not deemed by the government to be implicated in the conspiracy. The son, Grey Brydges, was, however, suspected of immediate complicity, and was sent to the Fleet Prison with Henry Cuffe and others; but he was soon released. Grey Brydges succeeded his father as Baron Chandos in 1602, attended King James I of England 's initial parliament on 19 March 1604, and was made Knight of the Bath , when Prince Charles Stewart

1190-409: Was the author of the work. Copies are extant with the name of Lord Chandos inscribed on the title page in seventeenth-century handwriting. Edmond Malone and Thomas Park , the editor of Walpole, attributed the book on the grounds of Gilbert's age to William , a brother. A modern view agrees to the extent that 10 of the essays can be shown to have been written by William (for his father) in 1615, at

1225-539: Was unsuccessful. In 1606 he ruled that Scottish subjects born after the succession of James I were naturalised English subjects. Lord Ellesmere supported the Royal prerogative , but was concerned to define it, and ensure it was never confused with the ordinary legal processes. Towards the end of his life, he stood out against the arguments made by Sir Edward Coke , the Lord Chief Justice , and ultimately aided

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