Peter Saltonstall (1577-1651), was an English courtier and lawyer. He was the fourth son of

Richard Saltonstall Sir Richard Saltonstall (baptised Halifax, England 4 April 1586 – October 1661) led a group of English settlers up the Charles River to settle in what is now Watertown, Massachusetts in 1630. He was a nephew of the Lord Mayor of London Ric ...

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

and Susanna Saltonstall ''nee'' Pointz, from whom he inherited the manors of

Barkway Barkway is a long-established village and civil parish in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England, about five miles south-east of Royston, 35 miles from London and 15 miles from the centre of Cambridge. The Prime Meridian pa ...

in Royston. The Saltonstall family originated in the Halifax area. His mother was an aunt of the translator Adrian Poyntz, who dedicated his ''New and singular patternes & workes of linnen'' (London, 1591), and ''Treasure of the Soule'' (London, 1596) to her and Richard Saltonstall.

Career

While still a student of law at the Temple, Peter Saltonstall visited Scotland with the poet

Benjamin Rudyerd Sir Benjamin Rudyerd or Rudyard (1572 – 31 May 1658) was an English poet and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1648. He was also a colonial investor who was one of the incorporators of the Providence ...

, a friend from the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in October 1601. The border official John Carey heard that Saltonstall assumed the name "Courtney" when he passed through

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

and wore mean clothing, but carried a "very rich suit of apparel". Rudyerd called himself "Davis". The pair were tricked, and marked to be robbed, then imprisoned. Saltonstall and Rudyerd wrote to the resident diplomat in Edinburgh, George Nicholson, explaining their predicament. They had come to Scotland as innocent tourists. They crossed the border with a potential thief Robert Bruce ''alias'' Peter Nerne without any licence or passport. Sir Robert Ker arrested them and held them at his house, Friars, near Kelso for a few days. The English border official at Berwick, John Carey was sceptical about the news and it was thought the pair might be

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

s on a secret mission. They were freed and met

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

in Edinburgh, who "used them with good countenance". Nicholson sent them back to London to see

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 ...

. Carey heard that Saltonstall was in love with Rudyerd's sister, and a love rival had organised his troubles in Scotland. His father had been involved with Scots in London in the 1590s, "Alderman Salkingstone" delivered letters from

Colonel William Stewart Sir William Stewart of Houston (c. 1540 – c. 1605) was a Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish soldier, politician and diplomat. He is often known as "Colonel Stewart", or the Prior of May (Pittenweem), Commendator of Pittenweem. Life He began his ca ...

to Archibald Douglas in September 1590. In 1602 the lawyer

John Manningham John Manningham (1570s – 1622) was an English lawyer and diarist, a contemporary source for Elizabethan era and Jacobean era life and the London dramatic world, including William Shakespeare. Life He was son of Robert Manningham of Fen Drayto ...

met the Scottish refugee

Barbara Ruthven Barbara Ruthven (died 1625) was a Scottish courtier and favourite of Anne of Denmark, expelled from court after the death of her brother. Barbara Ruthven was a daughter of William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie and Dorothea Stewart, the oldest daug ...

and wrote, "I sawe this afternoone a Scottishe Lady at Mr. Fleetes in Loathebury; shee was sister to Earl Gowre, a gallant tall gentlewoman, somewhat long visage, a lisping fumbling language. Peter Saltingstone came to visit hir". He was knighted in October 1605 at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

. At court he became an

equerry An equerry (; from French ' stable', and related to 'squire') is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually up ...

, escorting diplomats and ambassadors. His sister Anne Saltonstall married James Douglas, a grandson of

George Douglas of Parkhead George Douglas of Parkhead, (died 1602), was a Scottish landowner, mining entrepreneur, Provost of Edinburgh, and Keeper of Edinburgh Castle. Career George Douglas was a son of George Douglas of Pittendreich, the name of his mother is unknown. H ...

. King James sent Saltonstall to the

Duke of Savoy The titles of count, then of duke of Savoy are titles of nobility attached to the historical territory of Savoy. Since its creation, in the 11th century, the county was held by the House of Savoy. The County of Savoy was elevated to a Duchy of Sav ...

in Turin in 1612 accompanying the ambassador

Henry Wotton Sir Henry Wotton (; 30 March 1568 – December 1639) was an English author, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1614 and 1625. When on a mission to Augsburg, in 1604, he famously said, "An ambassador is an honest gentlema ...

with a gift of ten ambling gelding horses. On the way, near Lyon, one of the horses injured a hoof on a pruner's sickle. Wotton was in no hurry to return from Turin, and according to John Chamberlain Saltonstall got back to London first and delivered his messages, so doing the "best part of his errand for him". A list of equerries to King James in 1625 includes Peter Saltonstall with a fee of £20. The other equerries were; Robert Osbourne, Thomas Metham,

Sigismund Zinzan Sir Sigismund Zinzan ''alias'' Sir Sigismund Alexander was an equerry to Queen Elizabeth I and a champion in the tiltyard who participated in tournaments during the latter years of Queen Elizabeth's reign and throughout the reign of King James. ...

, John Carelton, George Digbie, Roger Fielding, Gabriel Hippisley, and William Sanderson. The equerries of the late

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 ...

were Edward Bushell (who married a sister of

Mary Gargrave Mary Gargrave (1576 – c. 1640) was a courtier to Anne of Denmark. Mary Gargrave was a daughter of Sir Cotton Gargrave (1540–1588) and his second wife Anne Waterton. They had houses at Kinsley, Hemsworth, and Nostell Priory, near Wakefield. ...

), John Gill, Gregory Fenner, and Maurice Drummond. His sister Elizabeth Saltonstall married Richard Wyche. Their son Peter Wyche was ambassador in Constantinople. A well-known anecdote concerns his wife's

farthingale A farthingale is one of several structures used under Western European women's clothing in the 16th and 17th centuries to support the skirts in the desired shape and enlarge the lower half of the body. It originated in Spain in the fifteenth c ...

. It was said that in 1628 she astonished Ayşe Sultan, wife of

Murad IV Murad IV ( ota, مراد رابع, ''Murād-ı Rābiʿ''; tr, IV. Murad, was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods. Murad IV was born in Cons ...

, with her costume and she wondered if all English women had such an unusual shape. This story may been composed in condemnation of the fashion of wearing fathingales.

Marriage and family

Peter Saltonstall married Christian Pettus (1586-1646) on 10 May 1607. Their children included: * Susannah Saltonstall (d. 1633), who married Robert Castell. * Ann Saltonstall (1617-1647), who married Sir Edward Chester.Henry Chauncy, ''Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire'', vol. 1 (London, 1826), p. 207. * Christian Saltonstall * Bridget Saltonstall (1624-1639) * Elizabeth Saltonstall (1623-1640) The family monuments with verse epitaphs are in Barkway church.

References

External links

Photographs of the monument to Suzanna Saltonstall at St Nicholas's Church, South Ockendon. Tudor Effigies

Picture known as the 'Family of Richard Saltonstall', David des Granges, TATE
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saltonstall, Peter 1577 births 1651 deaths 16th-century English people