Mary Gargrave (1576 – c. 1640) was a courtier 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 ...

. Mary Gargrave was a daughter of Sir Cotton Gargrave (1540–1588) and his second wife Anne Waterton. They had houses at Kinsley,

Hemsworth Hemsworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire and had a population of 13,311 at the 2001 census, ...

, and

Nostell Priory Nostell Priory is a Palladian house in Nostell, West Yorkshire, England, near Crofton on the road to Doncaster from Wakefield. It dates from 1733, and was built for the Winn family on the site of a medieval priory. The Priory and its contents ...

, near

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

. King James knighted her brother Richard Gargrave at York on 17 April 1603. Although King James and later

passed close to her home on their way to London from Scotland, there is no record of Gargrave meeting them at that time. Gargrave was appointed a

maid of honour A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Role Traditionally, a queen ...

to the queen in 1603 or 1604 in time for her coronation. These positions at court were established by a household ordinance of 20 July 1603, with places for six maids of honour, a mother of the maids (Katherine Bridges), and four chamberers. Her companions were Anne Carey, Elizabeth Roper, Mary Middlemore, Elizabeth Harcourt, 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 ...

. At the Queen's death in 1619 she was reckoned to have given 16 years service. In 1605 her cousin

Philip Gawdy Philip Gawdy (13 July 1562 – 27 May 1617) was an English landowner and letter writer. Career Philip Gawdy was the son of Bassingbourne Gawdy, senior, and Anne Wotton. In 1588 his father married Margaret Syliard, widow of Thomas Darcy of Tollesh ...

heard she might marry Robert Bertie, Lord Willoughby, but he married Elizabeth Montagu.

Rowland Whyte Rowland Whyte (died after 1626) was an Elizabethan official and businessman, whose letters provide important evidence about the latter stages of the life of Queen Elizabeth I and the transition to the rule of James I. The letters were first publish ...

mentioned the maids of honour and others dancing at

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...

in the presence chamber of Anne of Denmark, with a French visitor, the

Count of Vaudémont The title Count of Vaudémont was granted to Gérard 1st of Vaudémont in 1070, after he supported the succession of his brother, Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine to the Duchy of Lorraine. Counts of Vaudémont served as vassals of the Dukes of Lorr ...

. Gargrave was of sufficient status to give the queen New Year gifts, and in 1608/9 gave her a rich and expensive petticoat embroidered with Venice gold, silver, and coloured silks. Anne of Denmark asked Gargrave to buy fans to send to

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. On 20 August 1613 Anne of Denmark was received at

Wells, Somerset Wells () is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, located on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, south-east of Weston-super-Mare, south-west of Bath and south of Bristol. Although the population recorde ...

. The mayor William Bull hosted a dinner for members of her household including the four maids of honour.

John Finet Sir John Finet or Finett (1571–1641) was the English Master of the Ceremonies in the Stuart court. Early life Finet was a son of Robert Finet (d. 1582) of Soulton, near Dover, Kent. His mother was Alice, daughter and coheiress of John Wenloc ...

described the reception of Isabelle Brûlart, the wife of French ambassador Gaspard Dauvet, Sieur des Marets, at

Denmark House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace (" ...

in December 1617. She arrived by coach at the old portico built by

Protector Somerset Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (150022 January 1552) (also 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp), also known as Edward Semel, was the eldest surviving brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d. 1537), the third wife of King Henry V ...

on the

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

, rather than by boat on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

. He brought her and her servants to a chamber in the first court.

Lady Blanche Arundell Lady Blanche Arundell (née Lady Blanche Somerset; 1583 or – 28 October 1649) was an English noblewoman, known as the defender of Wardour Castle, where she defended the castle for nearly a week with just 25 men and her maidservants against a ...

, Mistress Barbara Sidney (daughter of the Viscountess Lisle), Mistress Southwell of the queen's privy chamber, and Gargrave joined her. A gentleman usher then took Brûlart to the queen in the Privy Chamber. Richard Gargrave, a graduate of

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, sold Nostell Priory in 1613 and was in financial difficulties. After Anne of Denmark died in 1619 there was "much talk" in London about provision for her servants, Gargrave was to have a pension of £200, a lump sum of £1000, and a protection against lawsuits. Gargrave never married and was dependent on a pension from her service with the queen, which was not always paid.

Anne Gargrave and the Bushell family

Her sister Anne (d. 1634) married Thomas Venables, and secondly, a

recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

and royal equerry Sir Edward Bushell. Bushell was a cousin of the gunpowder plotters

Robert and Thomas Wintour Robert Wintour (1568 – 30 January 1606) and Thomas Wintour (1571 or 1572 – 31 January 1606), also spelt Winter, were members of the Gunpowder Plot, a failed conspiracy to assassinate King James I. Brothers, they were related to other consp ...

, and wrote to Robert Cecil to declare his innocence. Another cousin, Corbett Bushell was a member of the household 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 ...

. Corbett Bushell was seriously injured in a fight with Andrew Keith in 1613 at

Henry Ellis Henry Ellis may refer to: * Henry Augustus Ellis (1861–1939), Irish Australian physician and federalist * Henry Ellis (diplomat) (1788–1855), British diplomat * Henry Ellis (governor) (1721–1806), explorer, author, and second colonial Gover ...

, ''Original Letters Illustrative of English History'', 2nd series vol. 3 (London, 1827), pp. 234:

John Paul Rylands John Paul Rylands, FSA (1846 – 22 March 1923, Birkenhead), was an English barrister, genealogist and topographer. John Paul Rylands was the son of Thomas G. Rylands. He was admitted to the Bar from the Middle Temple. He married Mary Isabel ...

, ''Cheshire and Lancashire Funeral Certificates'' (Record Society), p. 55.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gargrave, Mary 1576 births British maids of honour Ladies of the Bedchamber English courtiers 17th-century English women Court of James VI and I Household of Anne of Denmark