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Francis Willoughby (1547–1596)
Sir Francis Willoughby (1546/7–1596) was an English industrialist and coalowner, who built Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire. Family Francis Willoughby was the younger son of Sir Henry Willoughby (slain 27 August 1549 during Kett's Rebellion) of Wollaton, Nottinghamshire, and Anne Grey (d.1548), the daughter of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, by Margaret Wotton. He had an elder brother, Thomas (d.1559) and a sister, Margaret, who married Sir Matthew Arundell (''c.'' 1533 – 24 December 1598) of Wardour Castle. Francis was thus the great-grandson of Sir Henry Willoughby (1451-1528), a Knight of the Body to both Kings Henry VII and Henry VIII. His great-grandmother, Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington, was the richest heiress in England. Career Francis Willoughby's father, Sir Henry Willoughby, had inherited Wollaton and other properties including 'lucrative coal pits' at the death of his uncle, Sir John Willoughby, on 10 January 1549. However, only a few months l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Gower
George Gower (c.1540–1596) was an English portrait painter who became Serjeant Painter to Queen Elizabeth I in 1581. Biography Very little is known about his early life except that he was a grandson of Sir John Gower of Stittenham, North Yorkshire. Hearn, Karen, ed. ''Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530-1630'', p. 107 His earliest documented works are the two 1573 companion portraits of Sir Thomas Kytson and his wife Lady Kytson, now in the Tate Gallery in London. Gower painted a self-portrait in 1579 (right) that shows his coat of arms and his artist's tools of his trade. An allegorical device shows a balance with an artist's dividers outweighing the family coat of arms, "a startling claim in England where a painter was still viewed as little more than an artisan." Gower is also famous for painting the Plimpton "Sieve" Portrait of Queen Elizabeth in 1579, now at the Folger Shakespeare Library. The sieve that Elizabeth carries signifies the Roman ve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
