by John Aubrey
ROWLEY, SAMUEL (d. 1633), dramatist, was employed by Philip Henslowe, the theatrical manager, as a reviser of manuscript plays, and received £4 for making an addition to Marlowe’s Faustus. In collaboration with William Bird, he produced several plays on historical subjects.
RUDYERD, SIR BENJAMIN (1572–1658), politician and poet, supported Buckingham and the King from 1623, but about 1628 assumed the part of mediator between Charles I and the Parliament, and in vigorously attacked Charles I’s evil counsellors. He interested himself in colonial enterprise and was one of the incorporators of the Providence Company.
RUPERT, PRINCE (1619–82), third son of Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, was appointed General of the Horse by Charles I and took a leading part in the Civil War, until ordered to leave England on the capitulation of Oxford, when he continued the war at sea. Returning to England at the Restoration, he became General on Sea and Land and, later, Admiral of the Fleet and First Lord of the Admiralty.
RUSHWORTH, JOHN (1612–90), historian, became secretary to General Fairfax and the Council of War on the organisation of the New Model Army, and later to Cromwell and the Council of State. His Historical Collections provide a record of this period. The last six years of his life were spent in the King’s Bench Prison.
RUTLAND, ELIZABETH, COUNTESS OF (1585–1612), daughter and heir of Sir Philip Sidney, married Roger Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland, in 1599.
RUTTER, JOSEPH (fl. 1638), poet, was tutor to the two sons of Edward, 4th Earl of Dorset.
RYVES, KATHERINA (d. 1657), daughter of George Ryves, Esq., lived at the Close, Salisbury, and on her death left £350 to “my deare ffriende Mr. John Awbrey.”
ST. ALBANS, HENRY JERMYN, 1ST EARL OF (c. 1600–84), courtier, was Secretary to Queen Henrietta Maria, whom he accompanied to France in 1644, and took a leading part in events on Charles II’s accession. The patron of Cowley, he was satirised by Marvell.
SALISBURY, ROBERT CECIL, 1ST EARL OF (1563–1612), the son of Lord Burghley, was Secretary of State from 1596 to 1608, during which time he secured the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne. Known as “the crook-backed Earl,” he built Hatfield House and died deeply in debt.
SANDERSON, ROBERT (1587–1663), the author of the Second Preface to the Book of Common Prayer, became Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford in 1642, but was ejected by the Parliamentary Visitors. He was reinstated in 1660, and appointed Bishop of Lincoln.
SANDERSON, SIR WILLIAM (1586–1676), historian and friend of Aubrey, who was with him when he died, took the side of the Royalists in the Civil War and became a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Charles II on the Restoration. His works include a history of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her son, James I, and of Charles I.
SANDYS, GEORGE (1578–1644), poet, translated Ovid’s Metamorphoses and wrote a Paraphrase upon the Psalmes in verse. As Treasurer of the Virginia Company, he accompanied Sir Francis Wyatt to Virginia in 1621 and was nominated a member of the Council when the Crown assumed the government in 1624, being reappointed in 1626 and 1628. As Agent in London for the Virginia Company, he petitioned unsuccessfully in 1642 for the re-establishment of the Company’s old privileges of government.
SAVONAROLA (1452–98), Prior of the Convent of St. Mark at Florence, attacked the power of the Medici, upon whose expulsion he gave a new constitution to Florence, proclaiming Jesus Christ as King. The offer of a cardinal’s hat having failed to make him modify his views, he was excommunicated in 1497 and burnt as a heretic.
SAYE AND SELE, WILLIAM FIENNES, 1ST VISCOUNT (1582–1662), a reluctant Royalist, was known as “Old Subtlety.” He took an active part in the colonisation of America, but relinquished his intention of settling there himself, when his suggestion that an hereditary aristocracy should be established in New England was rejected by the Massachusetts government.
SCALIGER, JOSEPH JUSTUS (1540–1609), was a French philologist and chronologist.
SCALIGER, JULIUS CÆSAR (1484–1558), was an Italian philologist and scholar.
SCARBURGH, SIR CHARLES (1616–94), physician, original F.R.S. and a friend of Aubrey, after being Anatomical Reader to the Barber Surgeons Company, became physician to Charles II, James II, Queen Mary and the husband of Queen Anne.
SCROOP, SIR ADRIAN (d. 1667), served in Charles I’s army during the Civil War and was knighted at the Restoration.
SCROOP, SIR CARR (1649–80), son of Sir Adrian Scroop, the Royalist soldier, became one of Charles II’s companions and was well known as a versifier and a man of fashion.
SCUDAMORE, JOHN SCUDAMORE, 1ST VISCOUNT (1601–71), son of Sir James Scudamore, whose “warlike deeds” are celebrated in the Faerie Queen, was Ambassador at Paris and Steward of Hereford before the Civil War. Imprisoned from 1643 to 1647, he devoted his later years to study and to relieving impoverished divines.
SEGAR, SIR WILLIAM (d. 1633), Garter King-of-Arms, wrote The Pedigrees of the English Peers.
SEJANUS (d. A.D. 31), Commander of the Praetorian troops, was the chief confidant of the Emperor Tiberius, for plotting against whom he was executed.
SENECA (d. A.D. 65), the philosopher, was tutor to the young Nero, and when the latter became Emperor was one of his chief advisers. Accused of participating in the conspiracy of Piso, he was ordered to commit suicide. His writings include works on moral philosophy and nine tragedies in a rhetorical style.
SEXTUS EMPEIRICUS (fl. A.D. 200), was a Greek physician and philosopher.
SEYMOUR, CHARLES SEYMOUR, 2ND BARON (1621–65), Member of Parliament, was one of Aubrey’s especial friends and owned a portrait of him. Succeeding as Baron Seymour in 1664, his son became Duke of Somerset.
SEYMOUR OF TROWBRIDGE, FRANCIS SEYMOUR, 1ST BARON (1590–1664), joined Charles I at York and was with him till the surrender of Oxford, when he was admitted to composition. At the Restoration he was reappointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
SHADWELL, THOMAS (1642–92), dramatist, poet and friend of Aubrey, was at open feud with Dryden from 1682, the two poets repeatedly attacking one another in satires. Shadwell succeeded Dryden as Poet Laureate and Historiographer Royal at the Revolution.
SHAFTESBURY, ANTHONY ASHLEY COOPER, 1ST EARL OF (1621–83), fought for the Parliament in the Civil War and served under Cromwell during the Commonwealth, but was pardoned for the past at the Restoration when he became one of Charles II’s chief ministers, until dismissed in 1673. He later led the opposition in Parliament, and died in exile.
SHARP, JOHN (1645–1714), Dean of Norwich, was appointed Chaplain in Ordinary to James II in 1668, but was suspended for preaching sermons reflecting on the King. He became Archbishop of York in 1691.
SHELDON, GILBERT (1598–1677), Warden of All Souls, attended Charles I at Oxford and in the Isle of Wight. On the Restoration he became Bishop of London and was virtually Primate during Juxon’s old age. Becoming Archbishop of Canterbury in 1663, he was a prominent adviser of Charles II. He remained in London during the plague and promoted the rebuilding of St. Paul’s after the Fire of London. As Chancellor of Oxford, he built the Sheldonian Theatre at his own expense and encouraged Anthony Wood.
SHEPPARD, SIR FLEETWOOD (1634–98), courtier and poet, was a protégé of Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset, through whose influence he became steward to Nell Gwyn and tutor to her son by Charles II.
SHERBURNE, SIR EDWARD (1618–1702), writer, poet and Clerk of the Ordnance at the Tower of London, translated Manilius and provided Aubrey with much information about mathematicians. Aubrey says that he and his twin brother were Both excellent Scholars; and excellent Poets.
SKINNER, CYRIACK (fl. 1660), chairman of the Rota Club, was described by Aubrey as an ingeniose young gentleman, scholar to John Milton, and was his disciple.
SKINNER, ROBERT (1591–1670), successively Bishop of Bristol, Oxford and Worcester, was committed to the Tower in 1641. Sequestered during the Commonwealth, he was licensed to preach and continued to confer orders.
SLOPER, JOHN (fl. 1650), Vicar of
Broad Chalke, and father of Abigail and John, to whom John Aubrey stood Godfather. According to Aubrey: His mother was Mr. Hales’s sister, and he bred him at Eaton.
SMETHWYCK, FRANCIS (fl. 1650–70), astronomer, was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1667.
SMYTH, JANE (b. 1649). Aubrey, who called her that obliging Body, said that she and Edmund Wyld cohabite as Mary, Countess of Pembroke, and Sir Martin Lister. I owe most of Mr. Wyld’s civility from her goodness. I am more obliged to her than to anybody.
SOCINUS, FAUSTO (1539–1604), an Italian, held that Jesus was not God, but a divine prophet of God’s word.
SOMERSET, ROBERT CARR, 1ST EARL OF (c. 1590–1645), was the favourite of James I until dislodged by George Villiers, when he quarrelled with the King. Found guilty of poisoning Sir Thomas Overbury in 1616, he was imprisoned in the Tower until 1622, when he was pardoned.
SOUTHAMPTON AND CLEVELAND, CHARLES FITZROY, 1ST DUKE OF (1662–1730), natural son of Charles II by Barbara Villiers, was created Duke of Southampton in 1675 and became Duke of Cleveland on his mother’s death in 1709.
SOUTHAMPTON, HENRY WRIOTHESLEY, 3RD EARL OF (1573–1624), forfeited all his honours in 1601 for his part in Essex’s rebellion, but was restored “with place and precedence as previous to his deprivation” by James I, under whom he enjoyed great favour.
SOUTHAMPTON, THOMAS WRIOTHESLEY, 4TH EARL OF (1607–67), supported the resolution of the House of Commons that redress of grievances should precede supply, but subsequently joined Charles I and became one of his closest advisers, making repeated efforts for peace. He lived in retirement after the King’s execution, but became Lord High Treasurer of England at the Restoration.
SPEED, JOHN (1552–1629), historian and cartographer, was brought up as a tailor, and was encouraged by Camden and Cotton to write his carefully digested History of Great Britaine.
SPEED, SAMUEL (1631–82), Student of Christ Church and later Vicar of Godalming, published a version of the Romae Antiquae Descriptio of Valerius Maximus.
STADIUS, JAN (1527–79), Dutch astronomer.
STAFFORD, WILLIAM (1593–1684), pamphleteer, wrote on the Civil War from the Parliamentarian viewpoint.
STAFFORD, SIR WILLIAM HOWARD, 1ST VISCOUNT (1614–78), retired to Flanders at the outbreak of the Civil War, where he was imprisoned for “scandalous immorality.” A Fellow of the Royal Society, he was executed on the false testimony of Titus Oates for his alleged complicity in the Popish Plot, and all his honours were forfeited.
STEPHANUS, ROBERT (1503–59), a learned French printer, published the Bible in Latin, Hebrew, Greek and French.
STEPHENS, THOMAS (b. 1620). In a letter to Anthony Wood, Aubrey mentions Mr. Steevens, formerly of Pembrocke College, my old acquaintance there; but formerly at Blandford schole in Dorset, where he was Usher about a yeare and by whom I reap’t much information: since schoolmaster of Buckingham; and last, of Worcester: a very good and ingeniose person.
STOURTON, CHARLES STOURTON, 7TH BARON (d. 1557), succeeded to the title in 1548, and was executed for murder.
STOW, JOHN (1525–1605), chronicler and antiquary, was at first a tailor, but occupied himself from 1650 in collecting and transcribing manuscripts and in producing original historical works, the most famous of which was his Survey of London. He was charged in 1568, 1569 and 1570 with being in possession of Popish and dangerous writings, but escaped without punishment. He spent all his fortune on his literary pursuits and existed for some time upon charitable contributions.
STRAFFORD, SIR THOMAS WENTWORTH, 1ST EARL OF (1593–1641), after several years in opposition to Charles I, was taken into Court favour in 1628 and made President of the North. He used the Star Chamber to enforce his will and continually advised the King to take despotic action. Impeached by Parliament in 1640, he was sent to the Tower, and Charles I, in dread of mob violence, assented to the Act of Attainder that meant his execution.
STUART, ARABELLA (1575–1615), daughter of Charles Stuart, Earl of Lennox, the younger brother of Lord Darnley, was the next heir to the English throne after James I. For secretly marrying Charles Seymour, who was also of royal descent, in 1610, she was sent to the Tower, where she died.
STUART, SIR FRANCIS (fl. 1620), second son of James Stuart, husband of Elizabeth, Countess of Moray, was, according to Aubrey, Uncle (or great-uncle) to the present Dutchesse of Richmond.
SUMNER, JOAN (1636–71), daughter of Edmund Sumner, a clothier, was engaged to Samuel Gayford in 1666 and four months later became engaged to John Aubrey. She married Robert Pope in 1671 and died in childbirth. Many years later, Aubrey wrote that this unlucky woman amongst severall others besides yours J. A., undid Doctor Jolliff’s eldest brother, who lived in the howse with her 3 yeares as I did one and 2 months: and he contracted to her and then she left him in the lurch.
SUTTON, WILLIAM (1562–1632), Student of Christ Church, was later Aubrey’s schoolmaster at Blandford St. Mary’s, Dorset, where he was rector from 1592 until his death.
SYDNEY, DOROTHY (1617–84), daughter of Robert Sydney, 2nd Earl of Leicester, married Henry Spencer, 3rd Baron Spencer of Wormleighton, created Earl of Sunderland in 1643 and killed at Newbury in the same year.
TANNER, THOMAS (1674–1735), Fellow of All Souls, Canon of Christ Church and Bishop of St. Asaph, published Notitia Monastica and Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernia, an account of all authors flourishing within the three kingdoms at the beginning of the seventeenth century. He also supplied the addition to the history of Wiltshire in Gibson’s edition of Camden’s Britannia and was the literary executor of Anthony Wood, the continuation of whose Athenae Oxoniensis he published in 1721.
TEMPLE, SIR RICHARD (1634–97), Member of Parliament and author of works on taxation and the coinage, was zealous against those accused in the Popish Plot and for the Exclusion Bill. He was dismissed from his offices on James II’s accession, and later supported William III in the Commons.
TERENCE (c. 190–15 9 B.C.), Roman comic poet and a native of Africa, was the author of six plays, four of which are adapted from Menander.
THANET, NICHOLAS TUFTON, 3RD EARL OF (1631–79), Aubrey’s patron, was styled Lord Tufton until he succeeded to the earldom in 1664. He lived in France during part of the Civil War, and was twice imprisoned in the Tower during the Commonwealth.
THOU, JACQUES AUGUSTE DE (b. 1553), statesman, historian and Royal Librarian of France, assisted in preparing the articles of the Edict of Nantes, and wrote a history of his own times.
THUCYDIDES (c. 460–395 B.C.), the great Athenian historian, whose history of Athens and Sparta is noteworthy for being the first work of the kind in which events are traced to their cause and their political lessons brought out.
TONGE, EZREEL (1621–80), Aubrey’s great friend, left Oxford to avoid bearing arms for Charles I, but returned to become Fellow of University College in 1648. In 1676 he made the acquaintance of Titus Oates and became his willing dupe, working up Oates inventions into the narrative of the Popish Plot. On this subject, he had interviews with Charles II and prevailed on Sir Edmund Bury Godfrey to take down Oates’ depositions, thus inaugurating the reign of terror. He later withdrew from association with Oates, but published numerous diatribes against the Jesuits.
TOUNSON, ROBERT (1575–1621), Royal Chaplain, Dean of Westminster and Bishop of Salisbury, attended Raleigh on the scaffold.
TOWNSEND, AURELIAN (fl. 1601–43), Poet, enjoyed a high literary reputation at the Court of Charles I, where he composed many masques. In 1643 he was granted freedom from arrest for debt.
TURENNE, HENRI DE LA TOUR D’AUVERGNE, VISCOMTE DE (1611–75), the great soldier of Louis XIV, fought against the Austrians, Condé, and the Imperialists, and was killed at the battle of Salzbach.
TYNDALE, DOROTHY (fl. 1660), widow of Thomas Tyndale and a close friend of Aubrey, lived at the Priory near Easton Pierse. Her son was Stafford Tyndale.
USHER, JAMES (1581–1656), Archbishop of Armagh and Lord Primate of Ireland, was learned in ancient
Irish history, and his chronology, which fixed the creation of the world in 4004 B.C., is still the standard adopted in editions of the English Bible. Although a supporter of Strafford, at whose command he accepted the English Thirty Nine Articles, he was voted a pension by Parliament in and was later also offered one by Cardinal Richelieu.
VALCK, GERARD DE (1626–1720), a Dutch engraver, taught Aubrey to paint.
VAN DYCK, SIR ANTHONY (1599–1641), a Flemish painter, was the greatest of the pupils of Rubens, and his portraits sum up the elegance of the Court of Charles I.
VANE, SIR HENRY (1589–1655), Secretary of State, was spokesman for Charles I in the Short Parliament and accompanied the King to Scotland in 1641, but was dismissed from all his offices in the same year. Thereupon he joined the Parliamentary leaders and served on the Committee of both Kingdoms from 1644.
VANE, SIR HENRY (1613–62), resolving to go to New England for freedom of conscience, lived at Boston from 1635 to 1637, during which time he was Governor of Massachusetts, but returned to England after having become entangled in the doctrinal controversies of the colonists, and became a leader of the war party in Parliament. He took a leading part in all the affairs of the Commonwealth and was a close friend of Cromwell, until they quarrelled in 1653, when he retired from public life. He was imprisoned in 1656 for writing a pamphlet attacking Cromwell’s arbitrary government, and on his death re-entered public life and was largely responsible for the abolition of the Protectorate. By this time, however, he was distrusted by all parties, and he was executed after the Restoration.
VARRO (116–28 B.C.), known as the most learned of the Romans, wrote seventy-four different works, containing altogether six hundred and twenty books.
VAUGHAN, SIR JOHN (1603–74), a Member of the Long Parliament until his expulsion in 1645, became a leader of the Country Party after the Restoration and was active in the impeachment of Clarendon. He became Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in 1668.