Sir Edward Wingfield of Kimbolton (c.1562-1603), member of Parliament and author of a masque. Wingfield was the son of Thomas Wingfield of Kimbolton and Honora Denny. He was member of Parliament for

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire and a historic county of England. The district council is based in Huntingdon. Other towns include St Ives, Godmanchester, St Neots and Ramsey. The popul ...

in 1586, 1589, and 1593. Wingfield married Mary Harington, a daughter of Sir James Harington and Lucy Sidney, the daughter of

Sir William Sidney Sir William Sidney (1482?–1554) was an English courtier under Henry VIII and Edward VI. Life He was eldest son of Nicholas Sidney, by Anne, sister of William Brandon (standard-bearer), Sir William Brandon. In 1511 he accompanied Thomas Darcy, ...

Penshurst Penshurst is a historic village and civil parish located in a valley upon the northern slopes of the Kentish Weald, at the confluence of the River Medway and the River Eden, within the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The village is situa ...

. A letter from Jacques Petit to Anthony Bacon of January 1596 mentions a New Year's Eve masque of Wingfield's invention and a performance of ''

Titus Andronicus ''Titus Andronicus'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen ...

'' at Burley-on-the-Hill the home of his brother-in-law Sir John Harington of Exton, organised by his daughter

Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford ( Harington; 1580–1627) was a major aristocratic patron of the arts and literature in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, the primary non-royal performer in contemporary court masques, a letter-writer, and a ...

. Wingfield's masque was presumably produced and performed by the family, featuring the Countess of Bedford, while

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

play was performed by professionals, the

Lord Chamberlain's Men The Lord Chamberlain's Men was a company of actors, or a "playing company" (as it then would likely have been described), for which Shakespeare wrote during most of his career. Richard Burbage played most of the lead roles, including Hamlet, Othe ...

, the "London comedians" in Petit's phrase. Mary, Lady Wingfield, with her sisters, was a patron of literature. In 1600 Sir William Cornwallis younger published his ''Essayes'' with a letter of dedication by Henry Olney to three of the Harington sisters; "the Lady Sara Hastings, the Lady Theodosia Dudley, the Lady Mary Wingfield", and their friend and cousin Lady Mary Dyer (d. 1601), the wife of Sir Richard Dyer of

Great Staughton Great Staughton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Great Staughton lies approximately south-west of Huntingdon. Great Staughton is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-metropolitan dis ...

Robert Cawdrey Robert Cawdrey (ca. 1538 – after 1604) was an English clergyman who produced one of the first dictionaries of the English language, the ''Table Alphabeticall'', in 1604. Career Robert Cawdrey did not attend university, but became a school tea ...

dedicated his dictionary, the ''Table Alphabeticall'' to five daughters of Lucy Sidney, Lady Harington; Sarah, Lady Hastings, Theodosia, Lady Dudley, Elizabeth, Lady Montagu, Frances, Lady Leigh, and Mary, Lady Wingfield. Edward Wingfield died in 1603. Mary, Lady Wingfield was still alive in 1628 when she was the executrix of William Mason of Westminster, who left legacies to several female members of the Harington/Sidney family including diamond rings for the Countess of Home, Sarah Stanhope, and Lady Dyer and the young Lady Dyer. Mason owned portrait miniatures of Catherine, Countess of Chesterfield, Sarah, Lady Hastings, and Theodosia, Lady Dudley.

Family

The children of Edward Wingfield and Mary Harington included; * Arthur Wingfield (d. 1617), who was a page to Lucy, Countess of Bedford, then a servant of

Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia Elizabeth Stuart (19 August 159613 February 1662) was Electress of the Palatinate and briefly Queen of Bohemia as the wife of Frederick V of the Palatinate. Since her husband's reign in Bohemia lasted for just one winter, she is called the Wi ...

and

Maurice, Prince of Orange Maurice of Orange ( nl, Maurits van Oranje; 14 November 1567 – 23 April 1625) was ''stadtholder'' of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death in 1625. Before he became Prince o ...

. He was involved in a duel fought at Calais in 1616, and was killed in another duel in 1617. * Robert Wingfield, a servant of

Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612), was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart period, Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury s ...

in 1607 until March 1608.''HMC Salisbury Hatfield'', vol. 19 (London, 1965), p. 83, 296. * Penelope Wingfield (d. 1625), married Sir Francis Bodenham.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wingfield, Edward 1603 deaths English MPs 1589 English MPs 1593 Year of birth uncertain