by John Aubrey
COTTON, CHARLES (1630–87), author. His poems circulated chiefly in manuscript, but he published a second part to Walton’s Complete Angler. He became deeply involved in debt.
COTTON, SIR ROBERT (1571–1631), antiquary and collector of manuscripts and coins, gave the free use of his library to Bacon, Camden, Raleigh, Speed, Ussher, and other scholars, and sent a gift of manuscripts to the Bodleian Library on its foundation. The Cottonian Library, largely composed of works rescued from the dissolved monasteries, was left to the nation by his grandson, Sir John (1621–1701), who was a friend of Aubrey.
COTTON, SIR THOMAS (1594–1662), the son of Sir Robert Cotton, whom he succeeded as second baronet in 1631, obtained possession of his father’s library with the greatest difficulty, and then had to leave it in the hands of the Parliament during the Civil War.
CRESSY, HUGH (1605–74), Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, and chaplain to Thomas, Lord Wentworth, became Dean of Leighlin in 1637, but publicly renounced Protestantism at Rome in 1646 and became a Benedictine monk. He was later a servant of Catherine of Braganza, Queen of Charles II.
CROFT, HERBERT (1603–91). Converted to Catholicism in his youth, he was brought back to the Church of England by Morton, Bishop of Durham, and became Chaplain to Charles I in 1640 and later Dean of Hereford. Ejected as a Royalist, he became Bishop of Hereford at the Restoration. He bought some of John Aubrey’s estates.
CROMWELL, OLIVER (1599–1658), a country squire, gradually became the leader of the Parliamentary side in the Civil War and assumed the title of Lord Protector in 1653.
CROMWELL, RICHARD (1626–1712), third son of Oliver Cromwell, on whose death he was appointed Lord Protector amid apparent satisfaction, but after being compelled to side with the Army against the Parliament, he retired to the Continent in 1660 and lived at Paris under the name of John Clarke. He returned to England about 1680 and lived in retirement until his death.
CUFF, HENRY (1563–1601), author and politician, was a Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, and Professor of Greek from 1590 to 1596, when he accompanied the Earl of Essex to Cadiz as his secretary. Faithful to his master when in disgrace, he proved a reckless adviser and was executed for complicity in Essex’s treason.
CUMBERLAND, HENRY CLIFFORD, 5TH EARL OF (1591–1643), poet and Lord-lieutenant of Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmoreland, raised troops for Charles I’s Scottish Wars and commanded Royalist forces in Yorkshire at the start of the Civil War.
DANBY, HENRY DANVERS, EARL OF (1573–1644), the brother of Sir John and Sir Charles Danvers and a relation of Aubrey, rose to great eminence during the reign of James I and was created earl in 1626.
DANIEL, JEFFREY (fl. 1660), was of St. Margaret’s, Marlborough, where members of the Daniel family were stewards to the Earls of Pembroke.
DANIEL, SAMUEL (1562–1619), poet and tutor to William, Earl of Pembroke, composed numerous masques for court festivities, and was Inspector of the Children of the Queen’s Revels from 1615 to 1618.
DAVENANT, JOHN (1576–1641), Master of Queen’s College, Cambridge, represented the Church of England at the Synod of Dort. Becoming Bishop of Salisbury in 1621, he was accused of Calvinism before Laud.
DAWES, SIR JONATHAN (fl. 1660), Turkey merchant, was knighted by Charles II and died Sheriff of London.
DE CRITZ, EMMANUEL (fl. 1650), Serjeant-painter to Charles I, designed scenery for court masques, and provided Aubrey with information.
DELAMAINE, RICHARD (fl. 1631), tutor in mathematics to Charles I, whose chief work was Grammelogia or the Mathematicall Ring.
DELAUNE, GIDEON (1565–1659), apothecary to Anne of Denmark, Queen of James I, worked for the incorporation of the Apothecaries’ Company and was the inventor of Delaune’s Pills.
DEVONSHIRE, WILLIAM CAVENDISH, 3RD EARL OF (1617–84), pupil and later patron of Thomas Hobbes, succeeded to the earldom in 1628. Belonging to the Court party, he joined Charles I at York in 1642 and, as a result, was attainted by Parliament and his estates were sequestrated. He therefore went abroad, but returned in 1645 and was fined by Parliament. At the Restoration he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Derbyshire.
DIGBY, SIR JOHN (d. 1645), brother of Sir Kenelm and Royalist general, was, according to Aubrey, as valiant a Gentleman and as good a swordman as was in England, who dyed (or was killed) in the King’s cause at Bridgewater, about 1644. It happened in 1647 that a grave was opened next to Sir John Digby’s (who was buried in the Summer time, it seemes), and the flowers on his coffin were found fresh, as I heard Mr Harcourt (that was executed) attest that very yeare. Sir John died a Batchelour.
DIODATI, JEAN ELIE (1576–1649), Puritan divine of Geneva, who became Professor of Hebrew at twenty-one and later Professor of Theology. He translated the Bible into Italian and French.
DIONYSIUS AFER (fl. 492 A.D.), a Christian writer in Greek, who was called Areopagita.
DOBSON, WILLIAM (1610–46), one of the earliest English subject and portrait painters of eminence, was introduced to Charles I by van Dyck, and was appointed Serjeant-painter in 1641.
DOCKWRAY, WILLIAM (d. 1716), London merchant, established a penny postal system in the metropolis in 1683 and was Comptroller of the Penny Post from 1697 to 1700, when he was dismissed for maladministration.
DOD, JOHN (1549–1645), Puritan divine and Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, was called “Decalogue Dod” from his exposition of the Ten Commandments (pub. 1604).
DONNE, JOHN (1572–1631), poet and divine. By birth a Roman Catholic, he took Anglican orders in 1615 and from 1621 until his death was Dean of St. Paul’s. His sermons are amongst the finest of the seventeenth century. His earlier verse was satirical and romantic and in later life he became the greatest of the metaphysical poets.
DORCHESTER, SIR DUDLEY CARLETON, 1ST VISCOUNT (1573–1632), diplomat, was Ambassador to Venice, the Hague and Paris.
DORCHESTER, HENRY PIERREPONT, 1ST MARQUESS OF (1607–80), succeeded his father as Earl of Kingston upon Hull in 1643, and was created marquess two years later for his services as a Member of the King’s Council of War.
DORSET, CHARLES SACKVILLE, 6TH EARL OF (1638–1706), a friend and patron of poets, was himself praised as a poet by Dryden and Prior. As Lord Buckhurst, he was notorious as one of Charles II’s most dissolute companions, and Nell Gwyn called him her Charles the First.
DORSET, EDWARD SACKVILLE, 4TH EARL OF (1591–1652), Royalist, held many high positions at Court and took a leading part in the Civil War. He also showed great interest in the New World, being Governor of the Bermuda Islands Company and Commissioner for Planting Virginia.
DORSET, RICHARD SACKVILLE, 5TH EARL OF (1622–77), a member of the Middle Temple and Fellow of the Royal Society, contributed to Jonsonus Virbius and translated one act of the Cid, the remainder being done by Joseph Rutter.
DOUCH, JOHN (b. 1623), who had been at Trinity College with Aubrey, was afterwards Rector of Stalbridge, Dorset.
DRAKE, SIR FRANCIS (1540–96). For circumnavigating the globe in the “Golden Hind,” he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and later, as Vice-Admiral, he commanded one of the divisions of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada.
DRUMMOND OF HAWTHORNDEN, WILLIAM (1585–1649), poet, left in manuscript notes of a visit paid to him by Ben Jonson.
DRYDEN, SIR ERASMUS (1553–1632), Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, was twice Sheriff of Northamptonshire and an M.P.
DRYDEN, JOHN (1631–1700), poet, playwright and friend of Aubrey, was a master of the use of the heroic couplet. Appointed Poet Laureate in 1668 and Historiographer in 1670, he was deprived of these honours in 1689 for refusing to take the oaths at the Revolution.
DUFFUS, ALEXANDER SUTHERLAND, 1ST BARON (1621–74), Royalist Governor of Perth, was created baron by Charles II when in exile.
DUGDALE, SIR WILLIAM (1605–86), Garter King of Arms, antiquary and friend of Aubrey, wrote The Antiquities of Warwickshire, a topographical history, and Monasticon Anglicanum, an account of the English monastic houses.
DUNCON, JOHN (fl. 1648), divine, held a cure in Essex and wrote a religious biography of Letice, Lady Falkland.
DUNSTAN, SAINT (924–988), a favourite of King Aethelstan, was expelled from the Court on suspicion of being a wizard, but he later became Abbot of Glastonbury, which he made into a famous school, and Archbishop of Canterbury.
DUPORT, JOHN (1606–79), was ejected from the Regius Professorship of Greek at Cambridge by the Parliamentarians in 1654, but was reinstated and made King’s Chaplain at the Restoration, becoming Master of Magdalene College in 1668.
DUPPA, BRIAN (1588–1662), Dean of Christ Church from 1629 to 1638, was tutor to Charles II, when prince, and later Bishop of Chichester, of Salisbury and of Winchester.
EARLES, JOHN (1601–65), tutor to Charles, Prince of Wales, whom he accompanied to France as Chaplain and Clerk of the Closet. At the Restoration he became Dean of Westminster and later Bishop of Worcester and of Salisbury. He was the author of Micro-cosmographia, a collection of character sketches of simple people, which is interesting in the evolution of the English essay.
EDGAR (944–75), King of the English, organised a system of naval defence against the northern pirates.
EDWARD I (1239–1307), King of England. When his queen, Eleanor of Castile, died in 1290, he marked the route taken by her funeral procession from Nottinghamshire to London by erecting crosses at its halting-places.
EDWARD VI (1537–53), son of Henry VIII by his third wife Jane Seymour, was King of England from 1547 to 1553, during which time the Puritans achieved great power.
ELIZABETH (1533–1603), daughter of Henry VIII by his second wife Anne Boleyn, was Queen of England from 1558 to 1603.
ELLESMERE, SIR THOMAS EGERTON, 1ST BARON (1540–1617), was employed by Queen Elizabeth on diplomatic missions and became Lord Chancellor and Lord Ellesmere on the accession of James I.
ENT, SIR GEORGE (1603–89), an original F.R.S. and President of the College of Physicians, where he delivered anatomical lectures in the presence of Charles II.
ENT, GEORGE (d. 1679), a close friend of Aubrey, bequeathed some books to the Royal Society, of which he was a Fellow.
ERNLE, SIR JOHN (1647–86), of Exeter College, Oxford, and Lincoln’s Inn, sat as M.P. for Calne.
ESSEX, FRANCES, COUNTESS OF (1592–1632), daughter of Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, married Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex in 1606, when they were both fourteen, but divorced him in 1613 on the grounds of his incapability, so that she might marry Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset, James I’s favourite. Sir Thomas Overbury, who had opposed her remarriage, was murdered at her instigation, and though she received a pardon for this crime in 1616, her husband was imprisoned in the Tower for six years.
ESSEX, ROBERT DEVEREUX, 2ND EARL OF (1566–1601), favourite of Queen Elizabeth, in whose service he won a famous victory over the Spaniards at Cadiz. He was executed for raising an abortive rebellion against the Queen.
ESSEX, ROBERT DEVEREUX, 3RD EARL OF (1591–1646), was restored to his father’s titles in blood and honour in 1604, and became General of the Parliamentary Army at the start of the Civil War, but resigned in 1645 from irritation at Cromwell’s hostility to the Scots.
ESTRÉES, JEAN D’ (1624–1707), Marshall of France and admiral.
ESTRÉES, CÉSAR D’ (1628–1714), French Cardinal, statesman and Academician.
ETTRICK, ANTHONY (1622–1703), antiquary and lawyer, heads the list of Aubrey’s most intimate friends. They were contemporaries at Trinity College and at the Middle Temple, and visited Ireland together. Ettrick was Recorder of Poole from 1662 to 1682, and Monmouth was brought to his house after Sedgemoor and committed by him.
EUCLID (fl. 323–283 B.C.), the celebrated geometrician, lived at Alexandria in the reign of the first Ptolemy. His great work, the Elements, formed the basis of geometry down to the nineteenth century.
EVANS, ARISE (b. 1607), fanatic and author of mystical tracts, was imprisoned in 1647 on the charge that he had declared himself to be Christ. He petitioned Cromwell in 1653 to restore Charles II.
EVELYN, JOHN (1620–1706), a recognised authority on numismatics, architecture and landscape gardening, is most famous for his Diary. An original member of the Royal Society and its Secretary in 1672, he was a close friend of Aubrey.
FAIRFAX, WILLIAM FAIRFAX, 3RD VISCOUNT (1630–48), succeeded to the title in 1641 and married Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Smith of Stulton, Suffolk. His son Thomas, 4th Viscount, died in 1651.
FAITHORNE, WILLIAM (1616–91), print-seller, engraver and portrait painter, drew the only surviving portrait of Aubrey in 1666.
FANSHAWE, SIR RICHARD (1608–66), a staunch Royalist, was taken prisoner at the battle of Worcester in 1651. After the Restoration he was appointed Ambassador to Spain and Portugal, but was recalled for compromising the home government. He left unpublished poems.
FARR, JAMES (fl. 1650), a barber, founded in 1652 Farr’s Coffee-house, better known as the Rainbow, in Fleet Street opposite Chancery Lane.
FELL, JOHN (1625–1686), Dean of Christ Church and Bishop of Oxford, procured the publication of some classical author every year, giving each member of his college a copy. He reluctantly expelled John Locke from Christ Church in 1684, and in 1685 summoned the undergraduates to take up arms against Monmouth. The subject of Tom Brown’s epigram “I do not like thee, Dr. Fell,” he projected the printing of a Malay gospel.
FELLTHAM, OWEN (1602–68), published a series of moral essays called Resolves when he was eighteen, and contributed to Jonsonus Virbius. He called the dead Charles I “Christ the Second.”
FELTON, JOHN (1595–1628), because his application for a captain’s commission had been scornfully refused, assassinated the Duke of Buckingham at Portsmouth. After his execution, he became a great popular hero.
FENTON, SIR GEOFFREY (1539–1608), translator and statesman, was Principal Secretary of State for Ireland from 1580 and advocated the assassination of the Earl of Desmond as a means of ending the Munster Rebellion.
FERRAR, NICHOLAS (1592–1637), having devoted himself to the affairs of the Virginia Company for many years, retired to Little Gidding in 1625 and became chaplain to an Anglican community composed of his brother’s and brother-in-law’s families, which was visited by Charles I. In 1647 this “Arminian nunnery” was broken up by the Parliament. He left in manuscript Harmony of the Gospels.
FILMER, SIR ROBERT (d. 1653), political writer, was knighted by Charles I. His Patriarcha, or the Natural Power of Kings asserted was published posthumously in 1680.
FITTON, MARY (fl. 1600), Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth, has been doubtfully identified as the “dark lady” of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. The mistress of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, she afterwards married W. Polwhele and Captain Lougher.
FLUDD, THOMAS (b. 1605), High Sheriff of Kent and friend of John Aubrey, to whom he gave much information.
FORD, SIR EDWARD (1605–70), according to Aubrey, first proposed his invention, the way of Farthings for this Nation, and was opposed. He could not gett a Patent here: Prince Rupert would have it, if he could. So then he went into Ireland and dyed fortnight before he had effected the getting of his Patent. He also published in 1666 Experimentall Proposalls how the King may have money to pay and maintaine his Fleetes with ease to the People, London may be re-built and all Proprietors satisfied, Money be Lent at £6 per cent on pawnes, and the Fishing trade sett-up; and all without strayning or thwarting any of our laws or Customes.
FOXE, JOHN (1516–87), Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, whose Booke of Martyrs has helped to brand the reign of Mary Tudor as a time of great oppression.
FULLER, NICHOLAS (1557–1626), Hebraist, philologist and Canon of Salisbury, whose Miscellaneorum Theologicorum was incorrectly printed at Heidelberg in 1612, and was re-issued with a fourth book at Oxford in 1616.
FULLER, THOMAS (1608–61), divine and author of England’s Worthies. Aubrey says that he was sequestred, being a Royalist, and was afterwards Minist
er of Waltham Abbey, and Preacher of the Savoy, where he died, and is buryed.
GADBURY, JOHN (1627–1704), astrologer and author, for many years conducted a famous feud with William Lilly. He received compensation in 1681 for “wrongous imprisonment” at the time of the Popish Plot, and was falsely accused of a plot against William III in 1690. On Aubrey’s death, Gadbury wrote to Tanner: “He was a learned honest gentleman and a true friend, whose loss I really mourne, as having had a more than XXX years acquaintance with him, a time sufficient to experience any man’s integrity.”
GALE, PETER (fl. 1670), was a yeoman and a friend of the Sumners.
GALE, THOMAS (1635–1702), historian and divine, was successively Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Professor of Greek at Cambridge, High Master of St. Paul’s School and Dean of York, besides being an active member of the Royal Society.
GALILEI, GALILEO (1564–1642), Italian astronomer and physicist, made many important discoveries and experiments, which at length brought him into conflict with the Inquisition, and in 1633 he was compelled to repudiate the Copernican theory and was sent to prison, where he was visited by Milton.
GARAWAYS was a very notable coffee-house in Change Alley, Cornhill. Tea was first sold here, and it was a great centre for lotteries and speculations.
GASCOIGNE, WILLIAM (1612–44), was, according to Aubrey, a most gallant Gentleman and excellent Mathematician that dyed in the late Warres. Mr. Edmund Flamsted sayes he found out the way of improveing Telescopes before Des Cartes.
GASSENDI, PIERRE (1592–1655), French philosopher, whose fame was overshadowed by Descartes, is important for being the first French disciple of Bacon and the precursor of Newton and Locke. According to Aubrey, Thomas Hobbes would say that Gassendus was the sweetest-natured man in the world.