Barrington Family Letters

doi:10.1017/S0068690500003925

^{page 29 note 1} The salutation and signature only are written by Whalley, the rest in the hand of an amanuensis. Riehard Whalley inherited estates in Nottinghamshire from his grandfather, a supporter of the protector Somerset and receiver for the Court of Augmentations in Yorkshire. Whalley was sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1595–6, and an M.P. in 1597 and 1601. His second wife, the mother of his children, was Frances Cromwell, Lady Joan Barrington's sister. She died in 1623; by the time of this letter Whalley, who over-indulged in law suits even by the standards of the day, was in severely reduced financial circumstances. This must have been due in large part to the furious dispute with his eldest son Thomas which he mentions in this letter. Whalley had re-married in 1626, at the height of that dispute and perhaps as part of it, although he claimed at the time that he was ‘enforced to marry to get a nurse to look to me’. He nonetheless outlived Thomas, so that the estates once more passed to a grandson, the royalist Peniston Whalley. Richard Whalley's surviving sons were of quite the contrary political persuasion: his second son was Edward Whalley, major-general and regicide, the third Henry, judge-advocate to the English and Scottish armies in 1655. This letter is the last of a series in which Whalley bewails in colourful terms his financial plight and the ungrateful behaviour of his eldest son. Table 2; Train, K. S. S., Nottinghamshire Visitation, 1662–4 (Thoroton Soc., xiii. 1950), 64Google Scholar; Thoresby, John, Thorolon's History of Nottinghamshire, i.(1797), 248–9Google Scholar; D.N.B.; M. of P., i. 390, 394Google Scholar; Noble, ii. 135, 140, 141; Eg. 2644, ff. 202, 205, 207, 234, 243.

^{page 30 note 1} See Introduction, 19.

^{page 30 note 2} Three-volume editions of the works of William Perkins, a favourite author of Whalley's, were issued in Cambridge in 1608, 1609 and 1612 and in London in 1606, 1612 and 1616.

^{page 30 note 3} A urinary disease.

^{page 31 note 1} The proposed marriage was for Joan Meux. See letter 5.

^{page 32 note 1} Mary Eliot was the daughter of William Towse, Serjeant at law, of Takeley in Essex, a parish adjoining Hatfield Broad Oak, and so related to such diverse members of Lady Joan's circle as the Suffolk Barnardistons and her steward George Scott. That she calls Ladyjoan mother (see letter 4), suggests she was her goddaughter and may well have spent some time in her household. Her husband, Sir Thomas Eliot, inherited the central Essex estates of his father Edward (an active J.P. from 1586 to his death in 1595) but soon ran into financial trouble and had lost them all by 1635. Visitations of Essex, 191–2, 705Google Scholar; Bodl., MS. Rawl. Essex 6, ff. 125, 128; Morant, i. 133 and ii. 33, 74, 182; Samaha, 152.

^{page 33 ntoe 1} For Joshua and Jethroe?

^{page 34 note 1} Elmesore in the parish of Calbourne, Isle of Wight. V.C.H., Hampshire, v. 218Google Scholar

^{page 34 note 2} His daughter Joan, of marriageable age and living in Lady Joan's household.

^{page 34 note 3} His son.

^{page 34 note 4} Lady Eden, daughter of Brian Darcy of Tiptree in Essex, was the widow of Sir Thomas Eden of Ballingdon hamlet on the Essex-Suffolk border. Their daughter Dorothy was married to Robert Barrington. Walker described Lady Eden as ‘a devout woman who much frequented lectures’. Augustine Page, Supplement to the Suffolk Traveller (1844), 971, 974Google Scholar; Howard, J. J., Visitation of Suffolk (1866), i. 11, 19Google Scholar; Smith, , 174.Google Scholar

^{page 35 note 1} No month is written.

^{page 36 note 1} Buckingham had been assassinated on 23 Aug.

^{page 37 note *} [In margin: ] Cant. 4.14, Cant. 8.2.

^{page 39 note 1} The three points raised here also feature in the letter of Joseph Mead to Sir Martin Stuteville of 28 Nov. They are 1). the proposal for a new session of parliament and the likelihood of its dealing with religion, reported by Mead as having been raised by the king at the council board on 27 Nov.; 2). the case of the five merchants in the Exchequer (which also began on 27 Nov.); 3). John Felton, who was condemned for Buckingham's murder on 27 and hanged 29 Nov. Birch, i. 437–442.

^{page 39 note 2} Samuel Collins, vicar of Braintree in Essex and schoolmaster to Sir Thomas's sons.

^{page 40 note 1} Richard Mountague was installed as bishop of Chichester on 22 Sept. 1628. D.N.B.

^{page 40 note 2} Cottington gained his seat on the Privy Council 12 Nov. 1628. D.N.B.

^{page 40 note 3} The safe arrival of the captured Spanish treasure fleet in Holland and at Plymouth is reported in Birch, i. 443 (letter of 5 Dec. 1628).

^{page 41 note 1} Sir Charles Morgan's force had been sent to support the King of Denmark. Before setting off in June 1628 he had feared that money and supplies would be insufficient; now, if the Elbe were frozen over, Captain Mennes would be prevented from reaching him at Glückstadt. D.N.B.,; Birch, , i. 449Google Scholar (letter of 12 Dec.); C.S.P.D., 1628–9, 395.Google Scholar

^{page 41 note 2} The writer had taken part in the expedition to La Rochelle. On 28 Nov. the Council of War had ordered Colonels to submit lists of all inferior officers who had served at the He de Rhé and La Rochelle so that payment should be made. C.S.P.D., 1628–9, 398.Google Scholar

^{page 41 note 3} Horace, Lord Vere of Tilbury and Robert Rich, 2nd earl of Warwick.

^{page 42 note 1} SirLynde, Humphrey, Via Tuta: the Safe Way, 1628.Google Scholar

^{page 42 note 2} 15 Dec. 1628 was actually a Monday.

^{page 43 note 1} Lady Joan was to go to the Mashams' house, Otes, at High Laver. Introduction, 17.

^{page 44 note 1} James Necton, see letter 185.

^{page 44 note 2} Sir William Meux had written to Lady Joan in Aug. about fines on the Isle of Wight estate which had been contracted for before the death of Sir Francis. Letter 5.

^{page 46 note *} [In margin] for this verte foll.

^{page 46 note **} [In margin] towards the greate charge of the clough

^{page 46 note 1} Clow: either a sluice-gate, or perhaps in this case, a floating clow, a device for clearing mud from tidal channels, particularly on the Humber; the manor of Cottingham is in question here.

^{page 46 note 2} A pennygrave was a collector of manorial dues, chosen in the manor of Cottingham by the tenants from among themselves and paid 10s. yearly, ‘but there's none they saie that desire the place for the profitt of itt’. E.R.O., D/DBa K71.

^{page 48 note 1} Beside his signature Sir Thomas has written the initials TBJ.

^{page 49 note 1} Third son of Sir William Bourchier of Benningbrough Hall, Yorkshire, and his wife Katherine Barrington. Table 1.

^{page 49 note 2} The king's speech, delivered Sat. 24 Jan., is printed in Notestein, W. and Relf, F. H., Commons Debates for 1629 (Minneapolis, 1921), 10–11.Google Scholar

^{page 50 note 1} Office of inquest, i.e. the inquest post mortemon the estate of Sir Francis Harrington.

^{page 50 note 2} See letter 26.

^{page 50 note 3} The house went into committee on religion on 29 Jan. 1629, the king gave his answer to the petition for a fast on 30th. Notestein and Relf, 1629, 28–9.

^{page 51 note 1} This petition was presented to the Commons on 4 Feb. 1629; John Cosin became bishop of Durham in 1660. Notestein and Relf, 1629, 124; Birch, , ii. 21Google Scholar; D.N.B.

^{page 51 note 2} The pardons granted to Manwaring, Sibthorp and Montague were also reported to the house on 4 Feb. Notestein and Relf, 1629, 124.

^{page 52 note 1} Pinching (or Pinchin) is the carrier, for heavier objects as well as letters, whose name occurs most frequently in Lady Joan's account book. E.R.O., D/DBa A15, ff. 2–47 passim.

^{page 53 note 1} The reference is to the same writer's letter of 4 Feb. (letter 24): this and the incidents identified in the remaining notes below show Robert's error in dating the letter Jan. rather than Feb.

^{page 53 note 2} Richard Neile, bishop of Winchester, archbishop of York from 1631. This and other of More's remarks is reported in Notestein and Relf, 1629, 50–1.

^{page 53 note 3} According to the published accounts, Acton, sheriff of London, was brought before a committee of the house on 9 Feb. but not committed to the Tower until the 10th. Notestein and Relf, 1629, 52 3, 56 7.

^{page 53 note 4} The preachers are listed as Mr Harris of St. Margaret's, Westminster, Mr Harris of Hanwell in Oxfordshire and Mr William Fitz-Jeoffery of Cornwall. Notestein and Relf, 1629, 42.

^{page 54 note 1} See letter 168, n.1 for the complexities surrounding Joan Altham's inheritance from her father.

^{page 54 note 2} See Introduction, 3. The lease was in the hands of trustees by 1615. Trinity College MSS. Box 9, II. c.2.

^{page 56 note 1} Ash Wednesday, 18 Feb., see letter 25.

^{page 57 note 1} Trinity College, Cambridge.

^{page 58 note 1} Richard Everard was created baronet on 19 Jan. Warwick's part in obtaining this and other baronetcies, through the agency (and to the advantage) of Benjamin More, was noted by Symonds. G.E.C., Baronetage,ii. 67Google Scholar; B.L., Harl. 991, f. 31.

^{page 59 note 1} The house met on 25 Feb. only to be adjourned over until Mon. 2 March, the last day they were to meet. This letter must be of 25 Feb. and represents Sir Thomas's reflections on the debate and resolution of 23 Feb. Notestein and Relf, 1629, 93–101, 167–9; for Sir Thomas's even more generalised observations on the events of Mon. 2 March, see letter 33.

^{page 60 note 1} See letter 21.

^{page 61 note 1} See letter 32, n. 1.

^{page 61 note 2} The puritan divine, vicar of Ashby de la Zouche, Leicestershire. Through his mother Anne Pole he was related to the Barringtons as well as to the Hastings family. Members of the Hildersham family lived in Hatfield Broad Oak. D.N.B.; The Letters of Sir Francis Hastings,ed. C. Cross (Somerset Rec. Soc. 69, 1969), 111Google Scholar; Introduction, 20.

^{page 61 note 3} £3 ‘for a bowle sent Mr A. Hildersham’ is entered in Lady Joan's account book under 15 March, 1629, so Hildersham must have written the year according to modern practice in dating this letter. He bequeathed the bowl to his son Nathaniel. E.R.O., D/DBa A15, f. 3b; Leicester Wills, Ashby 77.

^{page 62 note 1} Payments occur in the account book for single copies of a book by Hildersham on 26 Jan.and 2 Feb. 1629 and for two further copies on 9 Feb. His Lectures upon the Fourth of John was entered at Stationers' Hall in June 1628 and published in 1629. E.R.O., D/DBa A15, ff. 3, 3b.

^{page 62 note 2} Hildersham's only recorded suspension from preaching at this period was between March 1630 and Aug. 1631 and he seems actually to have visited Lady Joan at Harrow in the early summer of 1630, but the evidence given in n. 1 above for the date of this letter seems conclusive. D.N.B.; Cross, C., The Puritan Earl (1966), 41Google Scholar; letter 154.

^{page 63 note 1} Thus. The handwriting as well as the phrasing throughout the letter shows signs of haste and confusion.

^{page 63 note 2} The seal on the letter shows a Bourchier knot between the letters E and G. See Table 1.

^{page 63 note 3} Founder of Providenee, Rhode Island, and a pioneer of religious liberty, Williams was at this time chaplain to the Masham family. On 15 Dec. 1629 he married Mary Barnard, ‘Jug Altham's made’, at High Laver; they went to America in 1631. D.N.B., Smith, 27Google Scholar; letter 65. Letters 37 and 38 were printed in full (with a very few inaccuracies of transcription) by Lowndes, G. A. in New England Historical and Genealogical Register, xliii (1889), 316–20Google Scholar. A large part of letter 38 is also printed in T.E.A.S., n.s., ii. 34–6.Google Scholar

^{page 64 note 1} Lady Joan's niece, Jane Whalley. Introduction, 19.

^{page 64 note 2} The Masham's house at High Laver.

^{page 66 note 1} See letter 37. The breach between Williams and Lady Joan over his marriage hopes can only have been widened by the plain speaking which follows in this letter. They were reconciled a few months later. Letters 49, 64.

^{page 66 note 2} Correctly, Jeremiah 20, v. 19.

^{page 66 note 3} Lady Joan had stayed at Otes in early Jan. 1629. E.R.O., D/OBa A 15, f. 2.

^{page 67 note 1} The others expressed their doubts about Lady Joan's spirituality more prudently. Introduction, 15.

^{page 67 note 2} Psalm 51, v. 11: ‘Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thine holy spirit from me; 71, v. 9: ‘Cast me not off in the time of age; forsake me not when my strength faileth’.

^{page 67 note 3} Luke 12, v. 48: ‘For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required’.

^{page 68 note 1} Lady Joan left Hatfield on 17 June for Harrow-on-the-Hill, where she stayed with the Gerards for just over a year. Introduction, 17.

^{page 68 note 2} 25 May 1629.

^{page 70 note 1} Hayman and Coryton were released in June, although the exact date is not known, but Hobart appears to have remained in prison until 1631. A letter from Sir George Gresley to Sir Thomas Puckering of 28 June 1629 speaks of the prisoners being moved from one place of custody to another ‘to prevent the parliament-men of that liberty which otherwise the law would have allowed them’. Hulme, H., Life of Sir John Eliot (1957), 317, 338Google Scholar; Birch, , ii. 22.Google Scholar

^{page 70 note 2} 's Hertogenbosch. John Barrington had news of its taking by 21 Aug. but the newsbooks (which have survived only fitfully for this period) report the progress of the siege as early as 4 June. Letter 54; Dahl, 216.

^{page 70 note 3} Francis Parker, vicar of Hatfield Broad Oak. Introduction, 14 15.

^{page 70 note 4} Vicar of Elsenham. See letter 51.

^{page 71 note 1} Thyateria one of the ‘seven Churches’ of Asia. Revelations 2, v. 18.

^{page 71 note 2} Joan Gerard.

^{page 72 note 1} Sir Thomas Barrington and Lady Judith returned to Hatfield in June, after Lady Joan had left for Harrow.

^{page 73 note *} [In margin:] If I had heard of the tenants' non payment or the coppye monyes to slow, yow should not have been unsatisfyed.

^{page 73 note 1} See Introduction, 10.

^{page 73 note 2} Quarter sessions were held on 2 July and assizes on the 13th. Sir Thomas Barrington is recorded as having attended the assizes. E.R.O., Q/SR and Calendar of Assize files.

^{page 76 note 1} John had broken his leg in Feb. Lady Joan gave him, or laid out on his behalf, nearly £50 between Dec. 1628 and July 1629. This included £8 to his surgeon in March. Subsequent payments included a further £8 to the surgeon in Sept. Letter 30; E.R.O., D/DBa A15, ff 2–5b, 8; Introduction, 19 20.

^{page 78 note 1} Leez Priory, Essex, home of the Rich family.

^{page 79 note 1} For the high proportion of foreign mercenaries, and the use of Englishmen, in Sweden's armies see Roberts, 205–6.

^{page 80 note 1} Vicar of the parish of Elsenham, near Hatfield Broad Oak, from 1622. He was described as an ‘able preaching divine’ in the parochial inquisition of 1650. Smith, 228 and ‘Sequence of Essex Clergy’ (typescript in E.R.O.).

^{page 80 note 2} Joan Meux.

^{page 81 note 1} Sir Francis Harrington had left the tithes of Hatfield Broad Oak to Lady Joan so that regular payments were due to her from all landowners, but in addition the accounting for the sums due from the estate before Sir Francis died had still to be finally settled at this time.

^{page 82 note 1} Orders for payment of a small part of the arrears of pay due to those who had taken part in the expedition to La Rochelle were made early in July and a more substantial payment authorised at the end of Aug. £16. 1s. of John's debts were paid by his mother on 3 Sept. A.P.C., 1629 30, nos. 235, 236, 419; E.R.O., D/DBa A15, f. 6b.

^{page 83 note 1} John was ahead of the printed news: the siege of 's Hertogenbosch and the taking of Wesel were reported in the newsbook of 25 Aug. Dahl, 218.

^{page 84 note 1} Lady Elizabeth Masham's daughter by her first marriage (see Table 3). The question of a husband for her was raised as early as 1626 when Sir William Masham, in London for the session of parliament, had ‘2 or 3 in pursuite’. At that time, though, he was prepared to ‘rest upon God, who is the great mariage maker’. Eg. 2650, f. 322.

^{page 84 note 2} See letters 78–84.

^{page 84 note 3} 25s. was paid to him in the week beginning 2 Sept. E.R.O., D/DBa A15, f. 6b.

^{page 86 note 1} A son was born to the Harrisons later in the month and Lady Joan stood godmother at the baptism. Letter 68.

^{page 87 note 1} Carew Harvey Mildmay of Marks in Romford was married to Sir Gilbert Gerard's sister Dorothy. Visitations of Essex, 454.Google Scholar

^{page 89 note 1} See letter 56. D'Ewes, describing the first (unsuccessful) marriage negociations he entered on, writes of a family friend who used ‘a great deal of faithful care’ to make the match. Sir Simonds D'Ewes, Autobiography (1845), i. 322.Google Scholar

^{page 91 note 1} For Roger Williams's quarrel with Lady Joan see letters 37 and 38.

^{page 92 note 1} Ten lines are heavily scored through at this point. The passage has been rendered completely illegible.

^{page 92 note 2} Roger Williams and Mary Barnard were married in High Laver church, 15 Dec. 1629. E.R.O., D/P 111/1/1.

^{page 93 note 1} The request may have been that they should stand as godparents to the Harrisons' son in addition to Lady Joan. For an example of two godfathers from gentry families for a clergyman's son, see Macfarlane, A., The Family Life of Ralph Josselin (Cambridge, 1970), 145.Google Scholar

^{page 94 note 1} Lady Joan had decided to prolong her stay at Harrow over the winter in order to be at the birth of her daughter Mary Gerard's child. The child was born in March 1630. Letter 125.

^{page 95 note 1} Margaret Hildersham was a kinswoman of Lady Joan and of the Littons, a Hatfield Broad Oak family.

^{page 95 note 2} For 30 Sept. 1629 the account book has 15s. ‘given at Mrs. Harrison's baptizing’, and for 18 Nov. 41s. 6d. paid ‘for a bowl for Mr. Harrison’. E.R.O., D/DBa A15, ff. 8, 9.

^{page 97 note 1} See letter 77a.

^{page 98 note 1} Ashley's offer to bail his son-in-law Denzil Holles was still news on 17 Oct. Birch, ii. 32.

^{page 98 note 2} Sir John Walter, chief baron of the Exchequer. He was still reported as refusing to give up his patent on 15 Nov. 1629. Birch, , ii. 36Google Scholar; Gardiner, , vii. 112–14.Google Scholar

^{page 100 note 1} See letter 76.

^{page 100 note 2} The petition from Essex clergy to William Laud, as bishop of London, in favour of Thomas Hooker, town lecturer at Chelmsford, is of the same date as this letter. Hooker left Essex for Holland and then New England in 1630. C.S.P.D., 1629 31, 92Google Scholar; Smith, , 30–5Google Scholar; D.X.B.

^{page 100 note 3} William, 1st Lord Maynard, of Easton Lodge, Essex, married Anne, daughter and heiress of Sir Anthony Everard. Their eldest son was horn in 1623. G.E.C., Peerage.

^{page 100 note 4} If the reference is to a lecturer at Great Waltham, paid by the parishioners, Beard was eventually replaced in 1632 by John Fuller. Smith, 26.

^{page 101 note 1} Richard, Lord Western. Weston lived at Skreens, Roxwell, in central Essex and also held property in Hatfield Broad Oak. D.N.B.; Colvin, , 68–70.Google Scholar

^{page 101 note 2} Letter 77a.

^{page 101 note 3} Gustav Adolf had been heavily defeated by combined Polish and imperial forces at Honigfelde in June 1629. Roberts, , ii. 394.Google Scholar

^{page 101 note 4} The six year truce of Altmark between Sweden and Poland had been signed on 16 Sept. after negotiations lasting all summer. Roberts, , ii. 398.Google Scholar

^{page 102 note 1} Dodo von Inn und Knyphausen, Swedish general.

^{page 102 note 2} James, Marquis of Hamilton offered his services to Gustav Adolf late in 1629. D.N.B.

^{page 103 note 1} Sir Robert Bevell of Chesterton, Huntingdonshire, K.B. 1626. V.C.H., Hunts., iii. 139Google Scholar; Ellis, H. Visitation of Huntingdonshire. (1849), 9Google Scholar; Shaw, W.A., Knights of England (1906), i. 163.Google Scholar

^{page 105 note 1} The letter is in the hand of Sir William Masham, signed by Lady Elizabeth.

^{page 106 note 1} ‘One Jeffes’ was convicted of libelling Sir Edward Coke in 1630. D.N.B.

^{page 106 note 2} Mead reported to Stuteville in a letter of 12 Dec. ‘On Saturday (this day fortnight) Sir John Eliot, Mr Holles, and Mr Valentine joined with Mr Attorney in the demurrer concerning the jurisdiction of the King's Bench; and the day appointed for arguing the same is the second day of the next term’. Birch, , ii. 44Google Scholar; see also Hulme, , 329.Google Scholar

^{page 108 note 1} Mead's letter of 12 Dec.: ‘The gentleman whose son slew his mother is Sir William Donnington of Hampshire … This unhappy young man was his second son, and had been a scholar at Oxford a very debaunched gentleman, and some say drunk at this time, others in a frantic melancholy. His mother came up into his chamber to reprove him for some misbehaviour in this unfit mood, and so occasioned this heavy accident.’ Birch, , ii. 46.Google Scholar

^{page 109 note 1} Cf. postscript to letter 89. No payments in response to this request appear in the account book.

^{page 109 note 2} Sir Thomas Nightingale of Newport, Essex (in the Barrington's half-hundred of Clavering), sheriff of Essex 1627–8, created baronet Sept. 1628. Visitations of Essex, 258, 462Google Scholar; E.R.O., Q/SR 263/2–7; Colvin, , 183Google Scholar; G.E.C., Baronetage, ii. 53.Google Scholar

^{page 109 note 3} Edward, Lord Howard of Escrick (youngest son of the 1st Earl of Suffolk of Audley End) and William, Lord Maynard of Little Easton, both J.P.s from north-west Essex.

^{page 109 note 4} Thomas Barlee of Elsenham. See letter 117, n. 1.

^{page 109 note 5} There are presentments against Malyn for keeping a disorderly house and for giving short measure in the Essex session records for Midsummer and Michaelmas 1629. E.R.O., Q/SR 267/25 and 268/30.

^{page 110 note 1} £15,000 to pay arrears to troops was issued (under a Privy Seal Dormant dated 2 July 1629) to the Treasurer for the army on 10 Feb. 1630. A.P.C., 1629–30, no. 272.

^{page 110 note 2} See letter 91.

^{page 111 note 1} Lessee of Cottingham park, E.R.O., D/DBa E71: ‘Notes taken by George Smyth of his going to Cottingham, 1632’.

^{page 112 note 1} Letter 90.

^{page 112 note 2} See letter 85.

^{page 112 note 3} Identified from Wilson's hand in letter 51 and dated by comparison with letter 89.

^{page 113 note 1} Joan Meux.

^{page 113 note 2} The lordship or admiralty of Man had been in the family of the Stanleys, Earls of Derby, since 1406. James Lord Strange (7th Earl of Derby from 1642) took over the government of the island in 1628. G.E.C., Peerage, iv. 205Google Scholar; Private devotions … of James Seventh Earls of Derby, ed. Raines, F. R. (Chetham Soc., lxvi. Manchester, 1867), xxxiii.Google Scholar

^{page 114 note 1} The Dutch attempted to negotiate a truce with Spain after the siege of's Hertogenbosch (1629) until they formed an alliance with France in June 1630. Roberts, , ii, 428.Google Scholar

^{page 114 note 2} Lord Strange was sent abroad, visiting France and Italy, after a private education. Raines, vii, viii.

^{page 114 note 3} A scarf was an item of military as well as civilian dress at this time.

^{page 114 note 4} Bridge, Lady Joan's steward and principal servant, had a substantial house in Hatfield. The Francis and Joan Bridge who received gifts from Lady Joan (the latter an expensive silver tankard in 1637) can be presumed to be his children. Bridge died in 1645; his widow remarried in 1647. Introduction, 17, 18; E.R.O., D/DQ. 14/191, T/A 160/10 and D/DBa A 15, ff. 30, 39b, 68b; P.R.O., P.C.C. wills, 98 Rivers.

^{page 115 note 1} Robert Barrington owned the manor of Lacheleys in Steeple Bumpstead. Morant, , ii, 354.Google Scholar

^{page 116 note 1} Oliver St. John, the future chief-justice, and the final, successful, candidate for the hand of Joan Altham.

^{page 116 note 2} Francis, 4th Earl of Bedford, St. John's patron, acted for him throughout the negotiations.

^{page 117 note 1} The Earl of Warwick and Sir Nathaniel Rich acted as intermediaries. Letter 109.

^{page 118 note 1} See letter 97.

^{page 118 note 2} John Beaulieu wrote to Sir Thomas Puckering on 30 Dec.: ‘The admiral's place is not yet disposed of, but likliest by the common rumour and appearance to fall upon my Lord of Holland than upon any other. The Countess of Carlisle keepeth yet at Essex House; but it will not be long, it is thought, before she come back to court’. The post of Lord Admiral was one of the offices that had become vacant with the murder of Buckingham. On 11 Jan. 1630 the Venetian ambassador reported that the contenders were the Earl of Pembroke (the Lord Chamberlain), whom Carlisle favoured since he hoped to become Chamberlain himself, and the Earls of Dorset and Holland. Neither Holland (a ‘court’ man) nor his elder brother Warwick (the leader of the ‘county’ opposition in Essex) was appointed, though Holland had been made both Captain of the King's Guard and High Steward of the king's revenue in 1629. Birch, , ii, 49Google Scholar; C.S.P. Venetian, 1629–32, 263Google Scholar; Aylmer, G. E., The King's Servants (1961), 126.Google Scholar

^{page 119 note 1} St. John had been imprisoned in Nov. for his part in the discovery in Sir Robert Cotton's library of a paper setting out a scheme for the extension of royal power through the military, including ‘propositions … to bridle the impertinancy of Parliament’. This was explosive material for 1629 and St. John had shown a copy to Bedford and others in the opposition group. The paper was eventually found to have been written in 1614 and not, in any case, to have emanated from the crown. Gardiner, , vii. 138–141Google Scholar; C.S.P.D., 1629–31, 95–6.Google Scholar

^{page 119 note 2} Pyrgo Park in Havering, Essex, home of Sir Thomas Cheeke.

^{page 120 note 1} See letter 91.

^{page 124 note 1} Eliot, Valentine and Holles appeared before King's Bench on 25 Jan. 1630. Hulme, 329; Birch, ii. 56–7.

^{page 124 note 2} Edmund Dunch, son of Sir William Dunch and of Mary, daughter of Sir Henry Cromwell, married Bridget Hungerford, an heiress with a reputed fortune of £60,000. Noble, , ii. 162.Google Scholar

^{oage 125 note *} [Added in margin, in the hand of Sir William Masham:] He goes up to London this Wensdaye with my husband.

^{page 125 note 1} See letter 97, n. 1 for the circumstances of St. John's imprisonment in the Tower. On 15 Nov. the king decided to release the prisoners and prosecute the matter in the court of Star Chamber. Late in Nov. Cotton's library was searched, the original of the offending paper found, and the truth of its origins revealed. But the prosecution process had already begun and nothing was done to halt it. In the event, the coincidence of the date fixed for the hearing (29 May 1630) with the birth of the future Charles II offered an opportunity for a royal display of mercy. C.S.P.D., 1629–31, 96Google Scholar; Gardiner, , vii. 138–141.Google Scholar

^{page 126 note 1} Henry Cromwell of Upwood, Huntingdonshire, Lady Joan's brother. Table 2.

^{page 126 note 2} Sir Philip Cromwell, who lived at Biggin House, Ramsey, died 24 and was buried 28 Jan. He had six sons and four daughters, though only two daughters survived him. Noble, ii. 30–2; V.C.H., Hunts.,ii. 68, 72, 189.Google Scholar

^{page 126 note 3} Jane Whalley was to marry in May 1630. Introduction, 19.

^{page 127 note 1} Wife of James Necton, who acted as an agent in London for the Barringtons on many matters. Letter 185.

^{page 128 note 1} Sir Oliver Cromwell of Ramsey, Huntingdonshire, the eldest of Lady Joan's brothers.

^{page 128 note 2} See letter 107.

^{page 129 note 1} i.e. cases, or questions, of conscience, as in William Perkins's A case of Conscience, the greatest that ever was; How a man may knowe whether he be the Child of God or no… (1592). Rogers uses the word in the same sense in letter 192.

^{page 129 note 2} See introduction, 15–16.

^{page 130 note 3} Rogers died in 1661.

^{page 131 note 1} The account book records bills of £10 and 16s. 6d. paid for him by Lady Joan in January and £6 given him in mid-Feb. E.R.O., D/DBa A15, ff. 9b, 10, 10b.

^{page 131 note 2} News that there was possible danger to England from a French fleet was reported by John Pory in a letter of 12 Feb. Birch, , ii. 58.Google Scholar

^{page 132 note 1} The commission for fining those not taking up knighthood had been set up on 28 Jan. Rymer, xix. 119.

^{page 132 note 2} Pory reported to Mead that Sir John Eliot, Holles and Valentine were to be given a last opportunity to plead on this day, but that although a plea was prepared none was made. Eliot was returned to the Tower on 27 Feb. Birch, , ii. 57Google Scholar; Hulme, , 337.Google Scholar

^{page 132 note 3} Cornelius Burges was rector of St. Magnus, London Bridge, from 1626. The instructions regulating lectures issued in December 1629 stipulated that no sermon could be given before divine service had been read according to the authorised liturgy. St. Mary Overy (St. Saviour, Southwark, now Southwark Cathedral) paid a regular lecturer at this time. D.N.B., Gardiner, , vii. 151Google Scholar; Seaver, P., The Puritan Lectureships (Stanford, 1970), 154.Google Scholar

^{page 133 note 1} Isaac Johnson, of the Massachusetts Bay Company, was concerned that members of the party to sail in March 1630 should have a knowledge of fortifications. Newton, A. P., The Colonizing Activities of the English Puritans (Yale, 1912), 80–81.Google Scholar

^{page 133 note 2} This news was reported by Mead to Stuteville in a letter dated 13 Feb. 1630. Birch, , ii. 59.Google Scholar

^{page 134 note 1} See letter 87, n. 1.

^{page 135 note 1} Henry Wiseman of Barworth, Northamptonshire, was the brother-in-law and guardian of Thomas Barlee, who had inherited the manor of Elsenham, but who had subsequently, in 1608, been declared a lunatic. Morant, ii. 571Google Scholar; Visitations of Essex, 2Google Scholar; Cussans, J. E., History of Hertfordshire (1870–1881)Google Scholar, Hitchin Half-Hundred, 156.

^{page 135 note 2} Lady Joan Barrington's manorial steward. Introduction, 21.

^{page 135 note 3} Commissioners in the lunacy of Thomas Barlee. The Earl of Warwick was distant kin to the Barlees.

^{page 137 note 1} Assizes were held at Chelmsford on 10 March 1630. E.R.O., Calendar of Assize Files.

^{page 138 note 1} This news was similarly reported in a letter sent by Beaulieu to Puckering on 18 March 1630. Birch, , ii. 67–8.Google Scholar

^{page 138 note 2} James Ussher, archbishop of Armagh.

^{page 138 note 3} He had been accused of murdering his mother. Birch, , ii. 70.Google Scholar

^{page 139 note 1} See letter 125, n. 1.

^{page 141 note 1} Easter Day was 28 March 1630.

^{page 141 note 2} The Gerards' son Henry was baptised 1 April 1630. The Registers of St. Mary's Church, Harrow-on-the-Hill, ed. Hewlett, W. O. (1900), i. 225.Google Scholar

^{page 141 note 3} Sir John Rouse, who had acted as receiver general to the Rich family, appears to have lived in Great Waltham at least in the early 1620s. His burial is not recorded in the Great Waltham parish register. Alnwick MSS. XII, 7. Box 1 (a source kindly indicated to me by Mr Christopher Thompson); Thomas Barnes, The Gales of Grace (1622), epistle dedicatory.

^{page 142 note 1} See letter 91, n. 3.

^{page 143 note 1} The Easter quarter sessions at Chelmsford met on 6 April. E.R.O., Q/SR 270.

^{page 144 note 1} At the head of the page Sir Thomas Harrington has written ‘My most dear frend my service’ and Lady Judith has used the back of the paper to keep accounts.

^{page 145 note 1} Wife of Sir John Bourchier of Benningbrough: see Table 1.

^{page 145 note 2} The eldest son of Anne and Sir John Bourchier was born in 1627. They had two more sons. Dugdale, William, Visitation of the County of Yorke (Surtees Soc., xxxvi. 1854), 140.Google Scholar

^{page 146 note 1} One of the four standing colonels in the army in the Low Countries. D.M.B.

^{page 146 note 2} £25 was paid out for him and entered in the account book under the date of this letter. E.R.O., D/DBa A15, f. 12.

^{page 148 note 1} Sir Thomas Barrington's association with John Pym became closer in Jan. 1631 when Sir Thomas became a member of the Providence Island company, of which Pym was treasurer. C.S.P.Col, 1574–1660, iii. 7–10.Google Scholar

^{page 148 note 2} London experienced only a minor outbreak of plague in 1630 but its beginnings caused considerable concern in late April. Shrewsbury, J. F. D., A History of Bubonic Plague (1970), 355–6.Google Scholar

^{page 149 note 1} Francis, ihe third son of Lady Joan and Sir Francis, married a daughter of Richard Dowsett. Little is known of him. Noble states that he settled in London and then pursued a distinguished military career in the civil war, ending up as a field-officer in Jamaica. This letter, however, is evidence for his death and his widow's remarriage. Table 3; Noble, , ii. 41Google Scholar. See also letter 203.

^{page 149 note 2} Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford.

^{page 149 note 3} Lady Joan's gift was a basin, ewer and two livery pots, costing £66. 14s; E.R.O., D/DBa A15, f. 12, entered under the week of 5 May. The precise date of the couple's marriage is not known.

^{page 150 note 1} Sir Thomas Barrington's daughter. Table 3.

^{page 150 note 2} Besides the gifts at the baptising of the Harrisons' son Lady Joan had also lent them money: £10 was paid back on Lady Day 1631. E.R.O., D/DBa A15,f.3b (end reversed).

^{page 153 note 1} William Hook, rector of Upper Clatford in Hampshire, married Lady Joan's niece Jane Whalley earlier in May. Hook later went to New England but returned to become Cromwell's chaplain in 1656. Foster; E.R.O., D/DBa A15, f. 12b; D.M.B.

^{page 153 note 2} Lady Joan gave Hook's wife £100 in the week of 19 May. E.R.O., D/DBa A15, f. 12b.

^{page 156 note 1} Daughter of Richard Whalley. Her sister Jane had recently married William Hook; even before the marriage the girls' Cromwell uncles had been unhelpful on the question of portions. Their father's financial affairs had been in disarray for many years. Letter 1, n.l. and letters 107, 110.

^{page 156 note 2} Lady Joan's servant Isaac Ewers. Introduction, 18.

^{page 156 note 3} See letter 110.

^{page 157 note 1} See letter 107.

^{page 157 note 2} i.e. Gerard.

^{page 159 note 1} The Bury House in Hatfield, home of Robert Barrington.

^{page 159 note 2} Perhaps Meux's constant preoccupation, the search for a husband for his daughter.

^{page 161 note 1} See letter 35.

^{page 162 note 1} See letter 142.

^{page 163 note 1} See letter 147.

^{page 163 note 2} The problems arising from substantial landowners owing tithe dues to Lady Judith Harrington in Flamstead were exacerbated by her living away from the parish after her marriage to Sir Thomas Barrington, and made almost impossibly complicated by the links by marriage between the families of Saunders, Luke and of her first husband, Sir George Smith. Her husband's father Thomas Smith died in 1594. His wife Joan then married Sir John Luke who in turn, after her death, married the widow of John Saunders of Puttenham. Thomas Saunders of Beechwood was his son. The irascible Luke must thus have felt himself a patriarchal figure in a parish he could not entirely control. Chauncey, H., Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire (1700), 568Google Scholar; Cussans, Dacorum and Cashio Hundreds, 356–8.

^{page 164 note 1} In 1628 Saunders had unsuccessfully claimed that his manor of Beechwood was tithe free. E.R.O., D/DBa E60.

^{page 164 note 2} Perhaps Mark Stubbing, rector of Wheathampstead.

^{page 166 note 1} See letter 158, n.l. Until at least 1614 Luke retained an interest in Lady Judith Harrington's estate of Annables through his first wife.

^{page 166 note 2} Edward Davie, Lady Judith Barrington's bailiff in Hertfordshire. Eg. 2650, f. 222.

^{page 168 note 1} Sir William Constable of Flamborough had been created baronet at the same time as Sir Francis Barrington. Constable intended to accompany Rogers to New England in 1638, but in the event did not go. G.E.C., Baronetage, i. 44Google Scholar; Mather, , 410–11.Google Scholar

^{page 168 note 2} Bathsheba, mother of king Lemuel, taught him religious doctrine. Proverbs 31.

^{page 168 note 3} Aceldama, ‘the field of blood’, was the name of the land bought with the money received and relinquished by Judas Iscariot.

^{page 169 note 1} Nathaniel Cotton of Turners Hall and Edmund Neele of Ing's Place, both in Harpenden. V.C.H., Herts., ii. 307, 308.Google Scholar

^{page 169 note 2} Widow of Edward Davie, Lady Judith's bailiff. Letter 159.

^{page 169 note 3} If keys, perhaps they were buried as a precaution against the plague referred to at the end of her letter.

^{page 171 note 1} Charles Garneys of Boyland, Norfolk. He married Elizabeth, eldest surviving daughter of John Wentworth of Darsham, Suffolk. Metcalfe, W.C., Visitations of Suffolk (Exeter, 1882), 175.Google Scholar

^{page 171 note 2} Sir John Wentworth of Somerleyton, knighted 1603 and without issue in 1611. Ibid.

^{page 171 note 3} The letter is endorsed in a 17th-century hand ‘Sir Francis Herris Letters, December 26 1630’. The Feast of St John the Apostle, 27 Dec., fell on Monday in 1630.

^{page 171 note 4} Lady Joan's neice Jane Whalley, now married to William Hook. See letter 142.

^{page 172 note 1} Plague was reported on 5 and 19 Dec. Birch, ii. 84, 88; see also Shrewsbury, 357.

^{page 174 note 1} See letter 3.

^{page 175 note 1} The Earle of Castlehaven had been moved to the Tower in December. Birch, , ii. 86.Google Scholar

^{page 175 note 2} Probably Abraham Gibson, D.D., d. 1629, who had been curate of Witham, vicar of Little Waldingfield in Suffolk and a preacher at the Temple church. Venn.

^{page 175 note 3} 2645, f. 234 is a printed bill of mortality: A generall Bill for this present yeere, ending the 16 of December 1630, according to the report made to the Kings most excellent Ma^tie By the Company of Parish Clerks of London etc…

^{page 176 note 1} Younger brother of Sir John Bourchier of Benningbrough. Table 1.

^{page 177 note 1} Lady Joan's letter to St. John, dated 22 Jan., has survived among the Manchester papers (Hunts. R.O., dd M48A, bundle 4). She wrote:-

‘Good sonne This day Sir Edward Altham beinge here had some speach with me about your buisines and makes protestations of his desire to have a peaceable end, and to that purpose intreated me to write unto yow to appoint a tyme of meetinge when your leisure will serve yow, at which tyme he would have my cosin Hildersham to be there to testifie what he knowes in that behalfe, and yow shall find him willinge to yeald to any thinge that shalbe thought fitt by my sonne Gerard and Sir Thomas Leventhorpe. I told him yow would not admitt of any other arbitrator but my sonne Gerard and he is now willinge therwith, and is desirous to have the meetinge betweene this and Candlemas, and therfore I pray you let me heare from yow what tyme you appoint that I may send them word accordingly. Thus wishing a good conclusion of this buisines, with my love remembred to all your good company, desiring God to blesse yow and your litle one, I rest

Your assured lovinge grandmother Johan Barrington'

The signature only is Lady Joan's; the text is in the hand of Toby Bridge. This letter was kindly pointed out to me by Mr Christopher Thompson.

St. John's wife Joan was the only child of Lady Elizabeth Masham's first marriage to Sir James Altham, who died in 1610. Sir Edward was his younger brother. Sir James had left money in his mother's charge for his daughter when she should marry. A conflict of interests was almost inevitable. By July St. John had begun a suit in Chancery over the matter. The main issues raised during the course of the case (which was still under way in Feb. 1632) were the legality of Sir Edward Altham's title to the estates formerly held by his brother Sir James; the executorship by Elizabeth, mother of James and Edward, of the will of James; Sir Francis Barrington's administration of the wardship of Joan Altham and of the trust entered into between him and Sir James; the administration by Sir Francis, and later by Robert Barrington, of a loan of £200. Breach of promise by Sir Francis, mentioned in letter 231, was alleged in this last matter. Table 3; E.R.O., T/A 531/1: Altham MSS. I, f. 3; letters 171, 210, 231; P.R.O., C2 Chas. I S104/41.

^{page 178 note 1} Mary Hautrey, in a letter to her sister Lady Altham the following July, described how Leventhorpe and Gerard had agreed to meet to attempt to settle the difference, but ‘before ever they came to discuss of the differences they dispayred of ending them’. Sir Thomas Leventhorpe was Sir Edward Altham's wife's brother. Their grandmother was one of the daughters of Sir Henry Parker, thus providing a kinship link with the Barringtons, and the Leventhorpes were also related to the Franck family of Hatfield Broad Oak. E.R.O., T/P 195/16; T/A 531/1: Altham MSS. I, f. 3; pedigree 1.

^{page 178 note 2} The St. John's child was born on 10 Jan. and baptised Joan at High Laver on the 27th. Lady Joan gave her plate worth more than £10. E.R.O., D/P 111/1/1 and D/DBa A15, ff. 17b, 18.

^{page 179 note 1} John Lisle, son and heir of Sir William Lisle of Wootton, Isle of Wight, was admitted to the Middle Temple 11 May 1626. V.C.H., Hampshire, v. 205Google Scholar; Macgeach, H. F. and Sturgess, H. A. C., Register of the Middle Temple (1949), i. 117.Google Scholar

^{page 181 note 1} Sir William Strickland of Boynton, whose first wife died in 1629. He married Lady Frances Finch, the eldest daughter of the Earl of Winchilsea, in May 1631. Clay, J.W., Dugdale's Visitation of Yorkshire (Exeter, 1917), iii. 124.Google Scholar

^{page 182 note 1} Mead wrote to Stuteville on 30 Jan: ‘Yesterday was the day … appointed to decide the pleas against… fining for knighthood’. Birch, ii. 93.

^{page 182 note 2} That the question of a husband for Joan Meux remained open seems largely to have been due to her father's wish to have her settled near him. Sir Gilbert Gerard was to criticise this attitude in May 1631 (see letter 184); on 4 April Meux had written to Lady Joan as follows:-

‘Madam The truth is that I have bin carefull in the pursuite of a mach for my daughter in Dorsettsheer, neere unto me, but itt pleaseth God that my desires take not effect. I shall now make enquirye once more betweene this and the terme, when (God Willing) I will bee with yowr ladyshipp and give yow such assurance of my love to my childe as that yow shall have noe cause of dislike. I confess I like not the distance of place proposed by yowr ladyship but yet I must submitt my self to him whoe governs all things, and shall allwaies remaine most thanckfull for yowr love and care. Soe leaving yow to the tuition of the highest I rest yowr assured loving son, William Meux.’ E.R.O., D/DBa F30/4.

^{page 183 note 1} John Masters was admitted as a freeman of Watertown, Massachusetts in 1631 and early on protested at the admission of unworthy members to the church. He died in 1639. Pope, C.H., The Pioneers of Massachusetts, (Boston, 1900), 305Google Scholar; Winthrop's Journal (ed. Horner, J.K., New York, 1908), i, 83Google Scholar; Transactions Colonial Society of Massachusetts, viii (1906), 129; New England Historical and Genealogical Register, ii (Boston, 1848), 180Google Scholar. This letter is also printed in New England Hist, and Gen. Reg., xli (1937), 69–70.Google Scholar

^{page 183 note 2} Saltonstall, one of the principal undertakers of the Massachusetts Bay Company to go out to the colony, left on 30 March 1631. D.N.B.

^{page 184 note 1} Perhaps the man of this name who was later schoolmaster at St Albans. V.C.H., Herts., ii 65.Google Scholar

^{page 185 note 1} See letter 162.

^{page 186 note 1} See letter 3.

^{page 186 note 2} Payment of £5 to Lady Eliot is recorded for the week of 20 April 1631. So large an amount was not paid to her at any other time during the years covered by the account book. E.R.O., D/DBa A15, f. 20.

^{page 187 note 1} See letter 158.

^{page 187 note 2} Sir George Lamplugh had married Lady Joan's daughter Ruth, but, although there were children, the couple were estranged by 1626 and Ruth was being taken care of by her parents. Lamplugh had projects in Ireland. In June 1626 he tried to persuade Sir Francis Harrington to influence archbishop Ussher of Armagh on his behalf and to send Ruth into Ireland with Mrs Ussher. Sir Francis refused to do anything until Lamplugh could demonstrate that he had better prospects. In April 1627, using Ezekiel Rogers as an intermediary, Lamplugh again tried unsuccessfully to effect a reconciliation with his wife. Ruth remained with her mother after Sir Francis died. Lamplugh died in 1633. Eg. 2644, ff. 236, 251; Introduction 19; T.E.A.S., n.s.ii. 28.

^{page 188 note 1} Kirkby Sigston in the North Riding of Yorkshire, a Lamplugh property from 1570. By 1641 it was in the hands of Benjamin Tiffin (see letter 211). V.C.H., Yorks., North Riding, i (1914), 406.Google Scholar

^{page 189 note 1} Castlehaven was executed on Tower Hill, 14 May 1631. Birch, , ii 118, 120.Google Scholar

^{page 189 note 2} The newsbook of 9 May reported the taking of Frankfurt with the slaughter of 6,000 of the garrison. The news was confirmed in the book for 16 May. Dahl, 228, 229.

^{page 189 note 3} An exchequer teller's bill survives for £80 paid by Sir Edward Allen of Hatfield Peverel, Essex, on 28 April 1631. E.R.O., D/DHt Z33.

^{page 190 note 1} Falkland had been lord deputy in Ireland until recalled in 1629. His son Lucius Gary, Viscount Falkland, sat in the Short and Long Parliaments for the Barrington borough of Newtown, Isle of Wight. D.N.B.

^{page 190 note 2} He had married his neice. Birch, ii 113 (letter of 13 May) and 119 (20 May).

^{page 190 note 3} John Gobert, the father of Sir Thomas Barrington's first wife, died in 1625, but the terms of his will had still not been properly carried out when his widow died in 1635, and the settlement of the estate between the families of his daughters was in dispute for much longer. P.R.O., P.C.C., 50 Sadler; will of Lucy Gobert, E.R.O., D/DBa F15; Eg. 2644, ff. 213, 219, 255 and 2646, f. 93.

^{page 191 note 1} All this must be a reference to his sister Joan Everard's pregnancy.

^{page 191 note 2} Perhaps an apologetic reference to the ‘popish’ custom of using a special sheet for lying in. Cf. Frere, W.H. and Douglas, C.E., Puritan Manifestoes (1954), 28–9.Google Scholar

^{page 192 note 1} See letter 173, n.l.

^{page 192 note 2} Of the parish of St Botolph without Aldersgate, London. Necton was related to the Hatfield family of Hewett. He acted as agent in London for the Barringtons on a number of matters. Dale, T.C., Inhabitants of London in 1638 (1931)Google Scholar; Eg. 2644, f. 226.

^{page 193 note 1} The formal grant of the reversion of the Barrington manors was issued on 15 June 1632. P.R.O., Exchequer, Chas. I, no. 160.

^{page 193 note 2} The inquisition post mortem on the death of Sir Francis Barrington, dated 29 Nov. 1629. E.R.O., D/DHt T70/5.

^{page 194 note 1} Samuel Harsnett, archbishop of York, died 25 May 1631. D.N.B.

^{page 194 note 2} Harsnett was succeeded by Richard Neile. Thomas Morton moved from Lichfield to become bishop of Durham in 1632. Both of the livings owned by the Barringtons were in the diocese of York. D.N.B.; Introduction, 13.

^{page 195 note 1} Reported in the newsbook of 25 June. Dahl, 231.

^{page 196 note 1} Cod: testicle.

^{page 196 note 2} There was an enduring tradition of practical medical help being given by gentle women to people of lower social position. Pinchbeck, I. and Hewett, M., Children in English Society(1969), i. 29Google Scholar. Cf. the character of Lady Bountiful in Farquhar's The Beaux Stratagem, ‘an old, civil country Gentlewoman, that cures her neighbours of all distempers’.

^{page 196 note 3} Perhaps the son of Edward Whalley, second son of Richard Whalley. Noble, , ii. 153Google Scholar; Table 2.

^{page 197 note 1} Hamilton had first attempted to raise troops in Scotland in March 1631. He had little success, partly because he was accused of treasonable intentions. When he returned to London action was begun against his accusers, and, with royal approval, he again set about raising forces. His expedition sailed on 16 July. Birch, , ii. 125, 127Google Scholar; Gardiner, , vii. 182–3.Google Scholar

^{page 197 note 2} The decision of the Duke of Saxony and the protestant German princes was reported in the newsbook of 25 June 1631. Dahl, 231.

^{page 197 note 3} William Long of Stratton married Mary, daughter of Thomas Lovibond (d. 1618) of Whippingham, Isle of Wight. Colby, F.T., Visitation of Somerset 1623 (Harl. Soc. xi. 1876), 70Google Scholar; V.C.H., Hampshire, v. 200.Google Scholar

^{page 198 note 1} The Gerards' daughter Katherine was baptised 6 July 1631. Hewlett, , i. 200.Google Scholar

^{page 199 note 1} See letter 111, n.l.

^{page 201 note 1} The newsbook of 20 Aug., reporting Gustav Adolf's defeat of Pappenheim at Magdeburg, was issued in two parts. Dahl, 234, 235.

^{page 202 note 1} The arrival of the ambassador was reported (more politely) by Pory in his letter to Puckering of 8 Sept. Birch, , ii. 127.Google Scholar

^{page 202 note 2} Richard Sibbes was still preacher at Grays Inn at this time. D.N.B.

^{page 203 note 1} ‘A letter newly received from Prague’ is announced in the news book for 3 Oct. 1631. Dahl, 240.

^{page 203 note 2} The collection of knighthood fines had been proceeding during the summer of 1631. Gardiner, vii. 167; see also letter 182.

^{page 204 note 1} Sir Thomas's promise to his mother ‘not to be bounde with any man’ was well remembered; it was quoted by his steward John Kendal in a law suit in 1646, two years after Sir Thomas died. E.R.O., D/DBa L34.

^{page 205 note 1} Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, the leader of the opposition group in Essex in the 1630s, parliamentary admiral in the civil war. There was a long association between the Riches and the Barringtons. D.N.B.; Introduction, 1, 4, 8.

^{page 205 note 2} This can be presumed to refer to the wife of Lady Joan's son Francis. Lady Joan's will, made in 1641, includes a bequest to Francis, the son of her dead son Francis Barrington. P.R.O., P.C.C. wills, 151 Evelyn; letter 136.

^{page 206 note 1} The account book has payments for an apothecary's bill for Joan Meux and for women to care for her over some weeks on 19 Oct. and 23 Nov. E.R.O., D/DBa A15, ff.21b, 23, 23b.

^{page 206 note 2} Letter 205.

^{page 208 note 1} Sir Henry Wallop, of Farleigh Wallop, Hampshire, was Lady Judith Barrington's brother-in-law. In 1632 his daughter Bridget married Sir Henry Worsley of Appeldur-combe in the Isle of Wight. Wallop was later a member of the Long Parliament and his son one of the regicides. Keeler, 376 8.

^{page 210 note 1} Johann von Aldringen, imperial general, and Otto von Fugger.

^{page 210 note 2} An inaccurate account of the battle of Breitenfeld was given in the newsbook of 20 Oct. The next newsbook did not appear until 29 Oct. More details of the battle are given in the succeeding letters. Dahl, pp. 182–3.

^{page 211 note 1} The taking of Rostock (by Tott on 6 Sept.) was reported by Beaulieu in a letter of 2 Nov. Birch, , ii. 138Google Scholar; Roberts, , ii. 517.Google Scholar

^{page 211 note 2} See letter 168.

^{page 211 note 3} Cf. Gresley to Puckering, 27 Oct.: ‘our papists will not by any means believe that Tilly is dead’. Birch, , ii. 138.Google Scholar

^{page 211 note 4} William Noye was appointed attorney general, 27 Oct. 1631. D.N.B.

^{page 212 note 1} The arrival and knighting of Caswell on Sunday 30 Oct. 1631 was reported in a letter of 2 Nov. Details of the news that he brought were published in the coranto of 9 Nov. Birch, ii. 138; Dahl, 245.

^{page 212 note 2} See letters 180, 181, 184.

^{page 213 note 1} Princess Mary, born at St. James's in the early hours of Friday 4 Nov. 1631 and baptized later that day by William Laud, bishop of London. D.N.B.

^{page 213 note 2} See leter 211, n.l.

^{page 214 note 1} See letter 186, n.2.

^{page 214 note 2} David Dolben, not formally elected to the bishopric: of Bangor until 18 Nov. D.N.B.

^{page 215 note 1} Sir Henry Appleton of South Benfleet, Essex. Lady Judith had written to Dorchester (an undated letter) of her fears that her husband might be nominated for sheriff, attributing the danger to ‘unfriendly neighbours’ taking advantage of his neglect of public business due to illness. P.R.O., S.P. 16/205/83; Introduction, 10.

^{page 215 note 2} The crown did not reopen enquiries into Cranfield's gains as a minister until 1632, although he brought a suit against the heirs of Buckingham in 1631. Prestwich, M., Cranfield (Oxford, 1966), 493–4, 497.Google Scholar

^{page 215 note 3} Sir Henry Wallop. Letters 206, 214.

^{page 216 note 1} Perhaps Charles of Lorraine, who in Sept. was marching to join Tilly, is meant (Masham's writing, as ever, is far from clear). Aldringen's and Lorraine's forces were jointly the subject of a report in the newsbook of 10 Nov. Roberts, ii. 548; Dahl, 246.

^{page 217 note 1} Cf. Masham's comments to Lady Joan ‘I praye be merry’ (letter 199) and on her ‘kind intertaynment of faythfull councellors’ (209) in Oct.

^{page 218 note 1} Sir John Mead, a minor gentleman, served as sheriff of Essex for 1631–2. By 9 Nov. it was reported that the king was angry ‘that the best men in the shires be not put into the bill’. The rumour of a parliament has particular significance, for as well as undertaking onerous duties, particularly in collecting taxation, a sheriff could not sit in parliament during his term of office. E.R.O., Q/SR 277; Colvin, , 183Google Scholar; Birch, , ii. 140.Google Scholar

^{page 218 note 2} The newsbook of 19 Nov. 1631 reported Swedish moves against Magdeburg. Pappenheim broke through the Swedish blockage and relieved the town on 4 Jan. 1632. He was not killed until the battle of Lützen, in Nov. 1632. The alliance between Sweden and France, negotiated by Richelieu, had been concluded at the treaty of Bärwalde, Jan. 1631. Dahl, , 247Google Scholar; Roberts, , ii. 690, 768.Google Scholar

^{page 219 note 1} See letters 158, 159.

^{page 221 note 1} William Twisse was recalled from Heidelberg, where in 1613 he was chaplain to Elizabeth of Bohemia, and became rector of Newbury in 1620. He eventually decided not to accept Warwick's offer, which was of the living of Benefield in Northamptonshire. William Wright was rector of Benefield 1632–1658. However, Sir Gilbert's candidate was not appointed to Barnston. The living went in May 1632 to John Beadle, a stalwart Essex puritan, previously rector of Little Leighs, near Chelmsford, and later author of The Journal or Diary of a Thoughtful Christian (1656), a work dedicated to the Earl of Warwick. D.N.B., s.vv. Twisse, Beadle; Venn; Smith, 362.

An undated letter from Warwick to Lady Joan (Eg. 2645, f. 303) also concerns Beadle:

‘Madame I received a letter from your ladyship concerning Mr Bedell's remove, which ther is noe such thing. If ther had I had soner taken your recomendation then all the bishops in this kingdome. Thus with my best love to you I rest

Your ladyship's to serve you Warwicke'

This letter appears to be related not to Beadle's move to Barnston, but rather to a threat to him from the ecclesiastical authorities, either earlier at Little Leighs (see Smith, 41) or once he was settled at Barnston.

^{page 222 note 1} Joan's uncle Sir Edward Altham had delayed the law suit over her inheritance by attempting to introduce new witnesses. See letter 231.

^{page 223 note 1} Pory had this rumour of the impending arrival of Henrietta Maria's mother, Marie de Medicis, on 14Dec. 1631. By 21 Dec. her journey was thought less likely and she did riot in fact come to England until 1638. Birch, ii. 153, 157; Gardiner, , vii. 185–6Google Scholar and viii. 379–80.

^{page 224 note 1} Lady Joan's servant Isaac Ewers married her maid Joan Smith in 1632. Introduction, 18.

^{page 225 note 1} See Introduction, 19.

^{page 226 note 1} Joan, first child of Lady Elizabeth Masham's daughter Joan and of Oliver St John.

^{page 227 note 1} Dated 30 Jan. None of Masham's own items of foreign news are listed on the title page of the newsbook. Dahl, , 257.Google Scholar

^{page 227 note 2} The letter from Oxenstierna to Roe is mentioned by Gresley, 26 Jan. 1632. Birch, , ii. 166.Google Scholar

^{page 227 note 3} There were two of this name in Grays Inn, William, admitted November 1617 and John, son and heir of John Pennington of Chigwell, admitted 1624. Foster, J., Register of Admissions to Grays Inn (1869).Google Scholar

^{page 227 note 4} Richard Sibbes, preacher at Grays Inn, 1617 1635. D.N.B.

^{page 228 note 1} See letter 162.

^{page 229 note 1} See letter 168.

^{page 229 note 2} St John's copy of his letter to Altham of 24 Feb. offering the carriage of a new commission is in Hunts. R.O., dd. M48A, bundle 4.

^{page 230 note 1} The newsbook of 15 March 1632 reported that Frankendal was besieged by Gustav Adolf and Heidelberg by the king of Bohemia. Dahl, 263.

^{page 231 note 1} Moderate puritan writer; vicar of Hutton and rector of Cranham, both in Essex. D.N.B.

^{page 231 note 2} Lady Joan's account book has 48s. 4d ‘paid for a Bowie for Mr. Harsenett’ under 15 Feb. 1632. Harsnett's A Cordiall for the Afflicted, dedicated to Lady Joan and to Lady Mary Eden, was entered at Stationers' Hall in Sept. 1631 and published in 1632. E.R.O., D/DBa A15, f. 26.

^{page 233 note 1} See letter 239.

^{page 233 note 2} Robert, 5th son of Sir Philip Cromwell, born 1613, ‘was tried, convicted, and executed in London, for poisoning his master, an attorney’. Noble, i. 35. But cf. letter 248 where his reprieve is reported.

^{page 233 note 3} Gustav entered Augsburg 14 April 1632 and this was reported in the newsbook of 24 April. Roberts, , ii. 702Google Scholar; Dahl, , 267.Google Scholar

^{page 234 note 1} See letters 239 and 241.

^{page 234 note 2} James Hay, Lord Doncaster, married Margaret, 3rd daughter of Francis, 4th Earl of Bedford, 21 March 1632, being then, as here, styled ‘Lord of Doncaster’. G.E.C., Peerage.

^{page 235 note 1} Illness evidently led Lady Judith to this imprecision.

^{page 235 note 2} Grand-daughter is meant. St George's day is 23 April. Table 3.

^{page 236 note 1} Aldringen had been wounded when Gustav Adolf successfully crossed the Lech on 14 April 1632. Roberts, , ii. 703.Google Scholar

^{page 236 note 2} For the taking of Augsburg see letter 237, n. 2.

^{page 236 note 3} Sir Robert Howard, younger son of Lord Treasurer Suffolk, had long lived in adultery with Lady Purbeck, the wife of John Villiers, Viscount Purbeck, the brother of the 1st Duke of Buckingham. Their liaison survived even the open displeasure of Charles I and Laud in 1636, when they fled to France. Gardiner, , viii. 144–6.Google Scholar

^{page 237 note 1} See letter 236.

^{page 237 note 2} Order had been given by Charles I in 1631, when Coke was ill, for his papers to be seized at his death. Though he did not die until 1634, the papers were then impounded. Gardiner, , vii. 359–360.Google Scholar

^{page 237 note 3} Nathaniel Ward, puritan divine and rector of Stondon Massey in Essex, had been presented at Laud's visitation in the late summer of 1631 and was finally deprived of his living, for refusing to subscribe to the 39 articles, in 1633. Smith, , 44, 47.Google Scholar

^{page 238 note 1} A detailed report of Gustav Adolf's success appeared in the newsbook of 28 April 1632. Dahl, 268.

^{page 239 note 1} See letter 239.

^{page 239 note 2} Jane Lytton.

^{page 239 note 3} George Rákóczy, who was in direct negotiation with Gustav early in 1632, Roberts, , ii. 573.Google Scholar

^{page 240 note 1} Joan Gerard.

^{page 241 note 1} The attempt on Ingolstadt was not reported in the newsbooks until 16 May. Maximilian of Bavaria left the town on 21 April. Dahl, 272; Roberts, , ii. 704.Google Scholar

^{page 242 note 1} Carisbrooke Park in the Isle of Wight. Introduction, 4, 5.

^{page 242 note 2} See letter 244, n.l. Tilly had died at Ingolstadt on 20 April. Roberts, , ii. 701.Google Scholar

^{page 243 note 1} Johan Baner.

^{page 244 note 1} The action at Stade (there called Stoad) is reported in the newsbook of 4 May 1632. The unpopular Tott was in fact severely defeated by Pappenheim 16–18 April, and relinquished his command at the end of May. Dahl, 269; Roberts, , ii. 687, 721–3.Google Scholar

^{page 245 note 1} See letter 237, n.l.

^{page 245 note 2} John Lambe, astrologer and protegé of Buckingham, had been fatally injured by a London mob in 1628. D.N.B.; Birch, , i. 363–4.Google Scholar

^{page 245 note 3} Perhaps Sir Edward Alston and Simeon Foxe.

^{page 245 note 1} Whit Sunday was 20 May.

^{page 247 note 1} See letter 246, n. 2.

^{page 247 note 2} The Marquis de St Chaumont. Gardiner, , vii. 198–9.Google Scholar

^{page 247 note 3} George Fleetwood first took a regiment to Gustav Adolf in 1630. D.N.B.

^{page 247 note 4} See letters 237, n.l., and 247.

^{page 248 note 1} See letter 158.

^{page 250 note 1} The tithe wheat was collected in 1632, with a continuing saga during August of ditches filled in and re-dug, fences thrown down and pigs turned loose into the corn. The dispute broke out again in an even more violent form the next year. E.R.O., D/DBa E60.

^{page 251 note 1} Sir Thomas Harrington had spent some time in London earlier in the year extricating himself from the unfortunate purchase of Carisbrooke Park, made in 1631. The business was finally cleared up in Dec. 1632. Introduction, 4, 5.

^{page 252 note 1} Bourchier.

^{page 252 note 2} Eg. 2646, fF. 44–5 contain an extensive list in Lady Judith Barrington's hand of other such matters to be attended to in London during the Michaelmas term.

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