![Nathaniel Bacon The artist’s wife, Jane Bacon, Lady Cornwallis, née Meautys](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Nathaniel_Bacon_The_artist%E2%80%99s_wife%2C_Jane_Bacon%2C_Lady_Cornwallis%2C_n%C3%A9e_Meautys.jpeg)
Jane, Lady Cornwallis, later Lady Bacon (
Meautys; 1581–1659), was an English courtier and letter writer, whose correspondence was published (in 1842 in London,
8vo
Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...
, and in 2003).
Jane Meautys was the daughter of Hercules Meautys of
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
, and Philippe Cooke, daughter of
Richard Cooke of
Gidea Hall
Gidea Hall was a manor house in Gidea Park, the historic parish and Royal liberty of Havering-atte-Bower, whose former area today is part of the north-eastern extremity of Greater London.
The first record of Gidea Hall is in 1250, and by 1410 i ...
.
Jane, Lady Cornwallis
She was made a lady of the bedchamber to
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...
. This appointment was probably secured by
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 ...
.
Rumour connected her with "young Garret", an usher to the lord treasurer. However, in 1609, she married
Sir William Cornwallis of
Brome, Suffolk
Brome is a village and former civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It lies on the A140 Norwich to Ipswich road around northwest of Eye and southeast of Diss near the border with Norfolk. In 1961 the parish had a populati ...
, over thirty years her senior. King James gave her a jewel provided by
George Heriot
George Heriot (15 June 1563 – 12 February 1624) was a Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist. He is chiefly remembered today as the founder of George Heriot's School, a large independent school in Edinburgh; his name has also been given to H ...
worth £60. William Cornwallis died in 1611. Their only son, born in March 1611,
Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederick ...
, would later be styled
Lord Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...
.
In 1609 a fellow courtier in the queen's household, and cousin of the Countess of Bedford,
Bridget Markham, bequeathed her a set of diamond and ruby buttons. Anne of Denmark gave her a jewel of gold with diamonds, supplied by
George Heriot
George Heriot (15 June 1563 – 12 February 1624) was a Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist. He is chiefly remembered today as the founder of George Heriot's School, a large independent school in Edinburgh; his name has also been given to H ...
, at her wedding, and gifts of four elaborate gowns in the following years.
Jane, Lady Bacon
On 1st May 1614, she married
Nathaniel Bacon, of
Culford, Suffolk, seventh (or ninth) son of Sir Nathaniel Bacon of Culford, High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk. As the widow of a knight, she continued to be addressed by her title of "Lady Cornwallis" until Bacon himself was made a
Knight of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...
in February, 1626.
The couple resided at Brome Hall in Suffolk, a Cornwallis property that Lady Cornwallis held in trust for her minor son, Frederick.
Frederick Cornwallis married Elizabeth Ashburnham, daughter of Sir John Ashburnham and
Elizabeth Villiers
Elizabeth Hamilton, Countess of Orkney (1657{{snd19 April 1733) (born Elizabeth Villiers) was an English courtier from the Villiers family and the reputed mistress (lover), mistress of William III of England, William III & II, List of English mona ...
, at court in January 1631, but his mother did not attend because she was offended by some misdemeanour of his. Ashburnham's cousin,
Susan Feilding, Countess of Denbigh
Susan Feilding, Countess of Denbigh (née Villiers; 1583–1652), was an English courtier. She was First Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Henrietta Maria in 1626–1652.
Life
Born Susan Villiers, she was the youngest daughter of Sir Georg ...
, wrote to Bacon mentioning "her family be unfortunate", meaning their financial difficulty since her father's death in 1620.
Dorothy Randolph
Dorothy may refer to:
*Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name.
Arts and entertainment
Characters
*Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum
* Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...
, a close friend and Meautys family cousin, had helped to arrange Frederick's marriage by searching for suitable partners. Randolph also sent news from London, and (much quoted) fashion advice for spring 1632;
"I have sent you some patterns of stuff such as is worn by many, but not much lace upon those wrought stuffs; but the newest fashion is plain satin, of what colour one will, emboidered all over with 'alcomedes' (jewels and stones), but it is not like to hold past summer. They wear white satin waistcoats, plain, raised, printed, and some embroidered with lace, more than any one thing, and white Holland (linen) ones much".
In 1639 her daughter Anne Bacon married
Thomas Meautys
Sir Thomas Meautys (1592–1649) was an English civil servant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1640.
Biography
Meautys was the son of Thomas Meautys of West Ham and of St Julian's Hospital, Hertfordshire, and his ...
, despite the efforts of Philip Wodehouse who wrote poems to her. Anne later married
Harbottle Grimston. Another daughter Jane Bacon died young. She was the grandmother
Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis
Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Baron Cornwallis of Eye (1632 – 13 April 1673) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1662 when he inherited the peerage as Baron Cornwallis.
Early years
Cornwallis was ...
.
Jane, Lady Bacon died at Culford on 8 May 1659. In 1657 she had contracted with
Thomas Stanton
Thomas Stanton (1616?–1677) was a trader and an accomplished Indian interpreter and negotiator in the Connecticut Colony, one of the original settlers of Hartford.Society of the Descendants of the Founders of HartforThe Founders of Hartford/ref ...
at
St Andrew Holborn for her marble monument at Culford, agreeing the design with a drawing.
A painting in
Government House, Sydney
The Government House is the heritage-listed vice-regal residence of the governor of New South Wales, Australia, located on Conservatorium Road in the Sydney central business district adjacent to the Royal Botanic Garden, overlooking Sydney H ...
was recently identified as a portrait of Jane Cornwallis, attributed to her husband Nathaniel Bacon. The garden front of Brome Hall appears in the background of the painting.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwallis, Jane
1581 births
1659 deaths
16th-century English writers
16th-century English women writers
17th-century English writers
17th-century English women writers
Jane
Jane may refer to:
* Jane (given name), a feminine given name
* Jane (surname), related to the given name
Film and television
* ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd
* ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...
Jane
Jane may refer to:
* Jane (given name), a feminine given name
* Jane (surname), related to the given name
Film and television
* ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd
* ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...
English letter writers
Women letter writers
British maids of honour
Ladies of the Bedchamber
Wives of knights
English courtiers
16th-century English people
Court of James VI and I
Household of Anne of Denmark