Anne Killigrew (baptised 7 September 1607, died 6 July 1641) was a

Lady in Waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

Queen Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She was ...

, and the first wife of

George Kirke George Kirke (died 1675) was a Scottish-born courtier and Member of Parliament for Clitheroe. He was a son of George Kirke, a servant of James VI of Scotland. George Kirke senior was keeper of the chamber door to Prince Charles in Scotland at Dun ...

(d. 1675) who was

Groom of the Chamber Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Household of the monarch in early modern England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and in Eng ...

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

Early life

Anne Killigrew was the eldest daughter of Sir Robert Killigrew and

Mary Woodhouse Mary Woodhouse (d. 1656), musician and correspondent of Constantijn Huygens, was the daughter of Henry Woodhouse (MP) of Hickling and Waxham, and Anne Bacon, daughter of Sir Nicholas Bacon. (Some sources say she was a daughter of the Woodhouse fa ...

. Her parents had twelve children, seven of them girls. Anne Killigrew was baptized on 7 September 1607 at

Hanworth Hanworth is a district of West London, England. Historically in Middlesex, it has been part of the London Borough of Hounslow since 1965. Hanworth adjoins Feltham to the northwest, Twickenham to the northeast and Hampton to the southeast, with S ...

, in what was then

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

Marriage and life at court

may have helped to arrange her marriage to

, his

. The king attended their wedding, on 4 January 1627, and gave the couple an 80-year lease on the royal manor of

Sheriff Hutton Sheriff Hutton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies about north by north-east of York. History The village is mentioned twice in the Domesday Book of 1086, as ''Hotun'' in the Bulford hund ...

, Yorkshire. George Kirke retained the tenancy until 1650. Anne's children include: * Charles Kirke (1633–74), christened on 4 September 1633 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster. * George Kirke (b. 27 January 1635) at Sunbury, near Hampton Court, died in infancy. * Baby daughter, buried 23 May 1640, Westminster Abbey. Anthonis van Dyck - Portrait of two Ladies (Hermitage museum)

Anthonis van Dyck - Portrait of two Ladies (Hermitage museum)

A number of Anne's relatives held positions in the royal household, and Anne herself became a maid-of-honour to

in 1631. In January 1633 Anne took the part of Camena in Walter Montagu's '' Shepherd's Paradise'', an amusement in which the Queen and a number of her ladies took speaking parts. Anne Kirke was appointed a dresser to Henrietta Maria in April 1637. She is known to have been painted twice by

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

, once standing by herself and once seated with a fellow lady-in-waiting, variously suggested to be Anne Dalkeith or Charlotte, Lady Strange, Later Countess of Derby.

Accidental death

Anne Kirke drowned at

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

on 6 July 1641, in an accident in which the royal barge capsized. The rest of the passengers were rescued, including Lord Denbigh, his daughter Elizabeth, Lady Kinalmeaky, and Lady Cornwallis. Thomas Wiseman wrote, "The Court is very sad by reason of a great mishap happened to a barge coming through London Bridge, wherein were diverse ladies, and amongst the rest Mrs Kirke drowned. The barge fell on a piece of timber across the lock, and so was cast away. Lady Cornwallis, it is thought will not live". Some reports explained the barge was "shooting the bridge" a phrase used for traversing the rapid water. Anne was buried in Westminster Abbey on 9 July 1641. It was reported that Queen Henrietta Maria, who had not been on the royal barge at the time of the accident, had "taken very heavily the news, and, they say, shed tears for her." This tragedy was the subject of several poems including;

Robert Heath Sir Robert Heath (20 May 1575 – 30 August 1649) was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1625. Early life Heath was the son of Robert Heath, attorney, and Anne Posyer. He was educated at Tunbridge ...

's ''Epicedium on the Beautiful Lady Mrs A. K. unfortunately drowned by chance in the Thames in passing the Bridge'', Henry King's ''An Elegy upon Mrs. Kirk unfortunately drowned in Thames'', and elegies by

Henry Glapthorne Henry Glapthorne (baptised, 28 July 1610 – c. 1643) was an English dramatist and poet, baptized in Cambridgeshire, the son of Thomas Glapthorne and Faith ''née'' Hatcliff. His father was a bailiff of Lady Hatton, the wife of Sir Edward Cok ...

and

Constantijn Huygens Sir Constantijn Huygens, Lord of Zuilichem ( , , ; 4 September 159628 March 1687), was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was also secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist C ...

.Matthew Spring, 'A goose amongst swans', Jan W.J. Burgers, Tim Crawford, Matthew Spring, ''The Lute in the Netherlands'' (Newcastle, 2016), p. 133. Anne Killigrew's brother Henry Killigrew (1613–1700) named his daughter, the future poet and painter

Anne Killigrew Anne Killigrew (1660–1685) was an English poet and painter, described by contemporaries as "A Grace for beauty, and a Muse for wit." Born in London, she and her family were active in literary and court circles. Killigrew's poems were ci ...

(1660-1685). She composed the poem ''On my Aunt Mrs A. K. drown'd under London-bridge in the Queen's Bardge Anno 1641'', published in ''Poems'' (1686).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Killigrew, Anne 1607 births 1641 deaths

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...