Edward Bourchier, 4th Earl of Bath (baptised 1 March 1590Cokayne, ''

The Complete Peerage ''The Complete Peerage'' (full title: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant''); first edition by George Edward Cokayne, Clarenceux King of Arms; 2nd edition re ...

'', new edition, Vol II, p. 18 – died 31 March 1636).

Origins

He was born in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, the eldest son and heir of William Bourchier, 3rd Earl of Bath by his second wife Elizabeth Russell, daughter of

Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford ( – 28 July 1585) of Chenies in Buckinghamshire and of Bedford House in Exeter, Devon, was an English nobleman, soldier, and politician. He was a godfather to the Devon-born sailor Sir Francis Drake. He ...

by Margaret Long.

Education

He was educated at

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...

Marriages and children

He married twice: *Firstly on 14 July 1623 to his second cousin Dorothy St John (d.20 August 1632), daughter of Oliver St John, 3rd Baron St John of Bletso by his wife Dorothy Read (''alias'' Rede) daughter and heiress of Sir John Rede. By his wife he had a son who died as an infant and predeceased his father, and three surviving daughters, eventual co-heiresses to the Bourchier estates, but not to the earldom, when his cousin and heir male Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath died childless in 1654: **John Bourchier, styled Lord FitzWarin (21 January 1630 – October 1631), son and heir apparent, died as an infant aged 1 year and predeceased his father.Cokayne, ''

'', new edition, Vol II, p.19 ** Lady Elizabeth Bourchier (1626 – 22 September 1670), eldest daughter, who married

Basil Feilding, 2nd Earl of Denbigh Basil Feilding, 2nd Earl of Denbigh (c. 160828 November 1675) was an Kingdom of England, English diplomat, politician and Roundhead, parliamentarian army officer during the English Civil War. Biography The eldest son of William Feilding, 1st E ...

, without children. ** Lady Dorothy Bourchier (1627–1659), 2nd daughter, who married firstly Thomas, Lord Grey of Groby and was the mother of Thomas Grey, 2nd Earl of Stamford; secondly to Gustavus Mackworth, by whom she had issue.Vivian, (ed.) Heralds' Visitations of Devon, 1895, p.107 ** Lady Anne Bourchier (1631–?), 3rd daughter, who married firstly

James Cranfield, 2nd Earl of Middlesex James Cranfield, 2nd Earl of Middlesex (1621 – 16 September 1651), styled Lord Cranfield from 1622 until 1645, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640 and inherited his peerage in 1645. Cranfield was the son of Lionel ...

(1621–1651), the two daughters of which marriage died young; secondly to Sir Chichester Wray, 3rd Baronet (1628–1668), of Trebeigh in the parish of

St Ive St Ive ( ; ) is a village in the civil parishes in England, civil parish of St Ive and Pensilva in eastern Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is split into four parts: St Ive Church End, St Ive Cross, St Ive Keason and St Ive Parkfield. In a ...

, Cornwall and of North Russell in the parish of Sourton, Devon, whose descendants, on the death of the 5th Earl of Bath in 1654, inherited the principal Bourchier seat of Tawstock. *Secondly, in 1633, to Ann Lovett, daughter of Sir Robert Lovett of Liscombe in the parish of

Soulbury Soulbury is a village and also a civil parishes in England, civil parish within the Buckinghamshire Council, unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Aylesbury Vale, about seven miles south of Central Milton Keyn ...

in Buckinghamshire, by his wife, Anne Saunders, daughter of Richard Saunders of Dinton. Without children. She survived her husband and remarried to Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden (1611–1682).

Succession

Edward and Dorothy's only son, William (11 April 1624 – 19 February 1689) refused the Earldom and retired to a quiet life in the country, and he was succeeded by his father's first cousin, Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath (1587–1654), who died childless whereupon the title Earl of Bath became extinct and the titles Baron FitzWarin and Baron Daubeny (if it in fact existed) fell into abeyance between his three daughters.

Death and burial

Amongst his possessions at his death was the Illyrian armorial with the arms of the families and surnames of Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Dalmatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slavonia from the Armorial of Stanislas Rubčić, King of Arms to Tsar Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia.

Sources

*Cokayne, ''

'', new edition, Vol II, pp. 15–19,'' Earldom of Bath''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bath 4 Barons FitzWarin Year of birth unknown 1636 deaths People from Bath, Somerset Edward, Bath 16th-century English nobility 17th-century English nobility 1590 births