Image Gallery
 |
Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, 1573–1624
|
 |
| William Cecil, Lord Burghley, 1520-1598 |
 |
| Robert Cecil, 1563 - 1612, Secretary of State to both Queen Elizabeth and King James. He was the younger son of William Cecil, and followed his father's footsteps in affairs of State. In Shake-speare's Richard III, the king himself represents not only king Richard, but the deformity, the hunchback is a clear hint at Robert Cecil, who became a hated figure after having been instrumental in the downfall of the Earl of Essex. |
 |
| Francis Walsingham, 1532 - 1590. Queen Elizabeth's spymaster. |
 |
| John Dee, 1527 - 1608-9 Astrologer, mathematician, astronomer and occult philosopher, John Dee was in many ways the ultimate Renaissance man. He was adviser and astrologer to the Queen, and at his home in Mortlake, he amassed a huge library of several thousand books, at a time where no public libraries existed and only your own books or good connections with library owners gave you access to reading. He was a firm believer of the North-west passage, the passage that would connect the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean, and together with a group of influential men, supported a voyage to try to find it. Had it existed, it would have meant an upheaval for the English trade with the Orient. Edward De Vere put £ 3,000 in the expedition, an enormous sum, and lost it all. |
 |
| Martin Frobisher, 1535 - 1594 Martin Frobisher led three expeditions to Newfound Land to look for gold and to find the North-west passage. No gold was found nor the passage, and the expeditions became an economical loss to all parties. |
 |
| Anne Vavasour, 1560-1650. Maid of honour to the Queen. Edward De Vere and Anne Vavasour became lovers shortly after she arrived at court. The result was a boy, Edward Vere, born 21 March, 1581. All three were sent to the Tower. Edward was incarcerated for 14 weeks, and was then exiled from court for two years. The following year he was reconciled with his estranged wife. |
 |
| Sir Henry Lee, 1533-1611, was the Queen's Champion and Master of the Armouries. Some time after Anne Vavasour had separated from Edward De Vere, she became the mistress of Sir Henry Lee. After the death of his wife in 1590, they were living openly together at Ditchely, Lee's manor. They had one son together. |
