Anne Sadleir ( Coke; 1 March 1585 – ) of

Standon, Hertfordshire Standon is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish includes the adjoining village of Puckeridge. The village church of St Mary has Saxon origins with much Victorian restoration. It contains the ornate tomb of the Tudor ...

was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

literary patron. She was born in Huntingfield, Suffolk, the eldest daughter of the prominent lawyer, Sir Edward Coke (1552 – 1634) and his first wife, Bridget Paston (d. 1598), daughter of John Paston of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, Norfolk. In a poem about her early life she wrote that she was educated at

Elsing Elsing is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located north-east of Dereham and north-west of Norwich, close to the River Wensum. History Elsing's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old E ...

, Norfolk.

Life

On 13 September 1601 "at the age of fifteen" she married

Ralph Sadleir Ralph Sadleir (1579 – 12 February 1661) of Standon, Hertfordshire was an English landowner. He was Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1609. He was the eldest son, and heir, of Sir Thomas Sadleir (c. 1536 – 1607), lord of the manor of Standon, b ...

(1579 – 1661) of

, with a dowry of £3,000. The marriage took place at

Burghley House Burghley House () is a grand sixteenth-century English country house near Stamford, Lincolnshire. It is a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, built and still lived in by the Cecil family. The exterior largely retains its Elizabet ...

in Lincolnshire, where the bride's father, then

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, "furnished the feast with all magnificence" and the "plate given by friends to the bride was above £800." Ralph was the eldest son, and heir, of the wealthy landowner, Sir Thomas Sadleir (c. 1536 – 1607), lord of the manor of Standon, and his second wife, Gertrude, daughter of Robert Markham, of

Cotham, Nottinghamshire Cotham, Nottinghamshire is a small village near Newark-on-Trent in the East Midlands of England. Population At the 2011 Census, the village population remained less than 100. It is now included in the civil parish of Staunton, Nottinghamshire, ...

. Sir Henry Chauncy, writing thirty years after his death, says he delighted in hunting and hawking and the pleasures of country life; was famous for his noble table, his great hospitality to his neighbours, and his abundant charity to the poor. Standon Lordship, the grand

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

where the couple lived after their marriage, was built for Ralph's grandfather, Sir Ralph Sadleir (1507–1587). St Mary, Standon, Herts - geograph

An autograph poem about her early life appears in the smallest of her

commonplace books Commonplace books (or commonplaces) are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. They have been kept from antiquity, and were kept particularly during the Renaissance and in the nineteenth century. Such books are simi ...

(R.13.74):

"''Hunting-field gave me Birth
Ellsing Education
Standon brought Affliction
Which made Heaven my Meditation''"

These lines are thought by some to imply that her childless marriage was not a happy one. Her mother died in 1598 when she was thirteen and she was particularly close to her father. He visited Anne in 1603 when James VI of Scotland stayed two nights at Standon on his way to London to claim the English throne. He visited her again in 1616 following his dismissal from his post as

Chief Justice of the King's Bench Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

. In 1622 he was imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

and Anne was given leave to visit him as she was seen as a good influence on him. Ralph Sadleir died on 12 February 1661 and was buried in the parish church at Standon. On his death the male line of the Sadleir family came to an end and the Standon estate passed to her "adopted deare son", Walter Aston (1609 – 1678) of Tixall, Staffordshire, son of

Walter Aston, 1st Lord Aston of Forfar Walter Aston, 1st Lord Aston of Forfar (baptised 9 July 1584 – 13 August 1639) was an English courtier and diplomat. Life Aston was born in Staffordshire, England, about 1584; he was a son of Sir Edward Aston of Tixall and his second wife Ann ...

(1584–1639) and her late husband's sister, Gertrude. Anne continued to live at Standon for the rest of her life. On 16 April 1661 Walter wrote to console his "most deare mother":

"''Pray be merry, itt is the best Physick, and I trust in God I shall many and many a time be merry with you at Standon; and if at any time my presence shall be necessary lett me but receave the least notice of itt, and itt shall he obeyed, for I can bee with you in three days. My wife and all myne present desire their duty.''"

Sadleir owned a large number of books as well as

illuminated manuscripts An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

, coins and curiosities. Several volumes of Sadleir's personal papers are held in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, including religious and autobiographical meditations (MS R.13.74) and letters from leading Anglican divines and other correspondents (MS R.5.5). She was a royalist and a fervent adherent of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

; she continued to use the

prayer book A prayer book is a book containing prayers and perhaps devotional readings, for private or communal use, or in some cases, outlining the liturgy of religious services. Books containing mainly orders of religious services, or readings for them are ...

despite its proscription during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

and engaged in "vigorous epistolary disputes" with her

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

nephew, Herbert Aston, and the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

divine

Roger Williams Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation ...

. She made substantial bequests to the libraries at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, and the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

, institutions attended by her father and by other members of her family. Trinity College Library: In 1649 and 1669 she presented Trinity with her letters and notebooks, her coins, and several illuminated manuscripts. * ''Anne Sadleir, Collection of letters, drafts and other papers'', R.5.5 * ''Anne Sadleir, Commonplace Book'', R.5.6 * ''Anne Sadleir, Commonplace Book'', R.13.74 * ''The Trinity Apocalypse'', R.16.2 Trinity College Apocalypse - f1r.jpg, Trinity College Apocalypse, f001r Trinity College Apocalypse - f7r - Revelation of St John - WGA.jpg, Trinity College Apocalypse, f007r Trinity Apocalypse - Sealing of the Elect.jpg, Trinity College Apocalypse, f007r - The Sealing of the Elect

Inner Temple Library The Inner Temple Library is a private law library in London, England, serving barristers, judges, and students on the Bar Professional Training Course. Its parent body is the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, one of the four Inns of Court. ...

: In 1662 the Inner Temple Library received: * Two portraits, including ''Sir Edward Coke, 1552-1634''. Attributed to Paul Van Somer. * Thirteen manuscripts, including a sermon dedicated to Sadleir by Andrew Marvell, father of the

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, Petyt MSS 530/A–F and 531/A–G, and many books from her library. Anne Sadleir made her will on 18 May 1670. She died in late 1671 or early 1672 and was buried in St. Mary's Church, Standon.: "It may be assumed that she died between October 21, 1670, when it is on record that she presented Mr. John Wade as Vicar of Standon, and March 15, 1671, which is the earliest date in the Standon Register of Burials." There are magnificent tombs, with effigies, for her late husband's father and grandfather in the chancel, while for his wife there is only "a modest tablet" of black and white marble on the wall of the vestry with the following inscription:

"''Here lieth the body of Anne Coke, eldest daughter of Sir Edward Coke, Knight, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, by his first and best wife Bridget Paston, daughter and heir of John Paston, of Norfolk, Esq. At the age of fifteen she was married, in 1601, to Ralph Sadleir, of Standon, in Hertfordshire. She lived his wife 59 years and odd months. She survived him, and here lies in assured hope of a joyful resurrection''".

Popular Culture

Anne Sadleir was the inspiration behind M. R. James's ghost story "The Uncommon Prayer Book". M. R. James will have come across her papers, with their many virulent references to

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

, when he catalogued the manuscripts of Trinity College Cambridge.

References

Sources

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External links

''Commonplace Books and the Apocalypse: Anne Sadleir’s Manuscripts at Trinity''''The Trinity Apocalypse'', R.16.2Inner Temple Library, 16th and 17th CenturySt Mary's Church, Standon, Hertfordshire
at Flickr

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadleir, Anne 1585 births 1670s deaths People from Suffolk (before 1974)