Lady Bridget Manners (died 1604) was an English courtier, a maid of honour at the court of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

. She was the eldest daughter of

John Manners, 4th Earl of Rutland John Manners, 4th Earl of Rutland (c. 1559 – 24 February 1588) was the son of Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, and Lady Margaret Neville, daughter of Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland. Marriage and children He married Elizabeth Cha ...

(died 1588), and his wife Elizabeth Charlton.

Court of Elizabeth I

Bridget entered the service of Elizabeth I in 1589 under the tutelage of Bridget Hussey, Countess of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, and Lady Talbot. Her mother sent the Countess of Bedford £200 to dress her in suitable fashionable clothes for court. Her uncle, Roger Manners of

Uffington Uffington is the name of several places: ; England *Uffington, Lincolnshire :* Uffington and Barnack railway station :* Uffington Rural District *Uffington, Oxfordshire :* Uffington railway station (Uffington Junction) *Uffington, Shropshire ;Un ...

, a "squire of the body" at court, made some of the arrangements for Bridget to join the royal household after her father's death. This Roger Manners wrote her a letter of advice on behaviour and decorum. Her brother, Roger Manners, who was now the

Earl of Rutland Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

, confirmed their uncle's "good advice". Another woman in the queen's household, who looked after the queen's jewels, Mary Radcliffe, was a relation. Bridget quickly became one of the Queen's favorites and eventually became responsible for her food as the Queen's carver. In 1593

Barnabe Barnes Barnabe Barnes (c. 1571 – 1609) was an English poet. He is known for his Petrarchan love sonnets and for his combative personality, involving feuds with other writers and culminating in an alleged attempted murder. Early life The third son ...

included a sonnet to "the Beautiful Lady, the Lady Bridget Manners" in his ''Parthenophil and Parthenophe'', as a rose in Cynthia's (Elizabeth's) crown; :Rose of the Garland! fairest and sweetest :Of all those sweet and fair flowers! :Pride of chaste Cynthia's rich crown!

Marriage

Manners married Robert Tyrwhitt, a son of

William Tyrwhitt William Tyrwhitt (died 1591) was an English landowner and politician who sat as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon in March 1553 but took no further part in public life under Queen Elizabeth I because of his Roman Catholicism, for which he ...

and Elizabeth Frescheville, secretly in August 1594. She had left court to recuperate from the measles. Elizabeth was angry at this. Roger Manners of Uffington wrote, "her Majesty taketh it for a great offence, and so, as I hear, she mindeth to punish". Bridget went to stay in the country at a house of the Countess of Bedford. Robert Tyrwhitt was summoned to London. Roger Manners (of Uffington) wrote to

Sir Robert Cecil 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 rule (1603). Lord Salisbury served as the ...

and in favour of Tyrwhitt. He claimed that he himself had no advance knowledge of the marriage, and Bridget and his mother had ignored his advice for the last two years. Tyrwhitt was jailed for circumventing the queen. Elizabeth interrupted her plans to travel to

Belvoir Castle Belvoir Castle ( ) is a faux historic castle and stately home in Leicestershire, England, situated west of the town of Grantham and northeast of Melton Mowbray. The Castle was first built immediately after the Norman Conquest of 1066 an ...

, the home of the Manners family. It took a cash settlement from Robert Manners, Earl of Rutland, to secure Tyrwhitt's release.

Death

She died on 10 July 1604, possibly at

Etchingham Etchingham is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex in southern England. The village is located approximately southeast of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent and northwest of Hastings, on the A265, half a mile west o ...

in Sussex, and is commemorated on a monument at Bigby which names her children as William, Robert, Rutland, and Bridget. Robert Tyrwhitt died in 1617. He came under suspicion after the

gunpowder plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sough ...

in 1605. John S. Brewer, ''Court of James the First'', vol. 2 (London, 1839), p. 114 : Patrick Martin & John Finnis, 'Tyrwhitt of Kettleby, Part II: Robert Tyrwhitt, A Main Benefactor of Fr John Gerard SJ, 1600–1605', ''Recusant History'', 26:4 (October 2003), p. 564.

References

External links

Bridget Manners Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manners, Bridget 1604 deaths 16th-century English women 17th-century English women British maids of honour

Bridget Bridget is an Irish female name derived from the Gaelic noun ''brígh'', meaning "power, strength, vigor, virtue". An alternate meaning of the name is "exalted one". Its popularity, especially in Ireland, is largely related to the popularity of ...

Year of birth unknown Court of Elizabeth I