Susan Herbert, Countess of Montgomery

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Susan Herbert
Countess of Montgomery
Baroness Herbert of Shurland
De Vere (by birth)
Herbert
(by marriage)
Spouse(s)
IssueAnna Sophia Dormer, Countess of Carnarvon
Sir Charles Herbert
Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke
Hon. James Herbert
FatherEdward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
MotherAnne Cecil

Susan Herbert (née de Vere), Countess of Montgomery (26 May 1587 – 1629), was an English court office holder. She served as lady-in-waiting to the queen consort of England and Scotland, Anne of Denmark. She was the youngest daughter of Elizabethan courtier, and poet Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.

Family and early years

Lady Susan was born on 26 May 1587, the youngest daughter of

Lady Bridget. She also had an illegitimate half-brother, Edward, born out of wedlock to Anne Vavasour
, who had an intimate relationship with the earl.

Following the death of Anne Cecil on 5 June 1588, a year after her birth, Susan and her sisters remained in the household of their maternal grandfather William Cecil, owner of Burghley House, where they received an excellent education. In 1591 Susan's father married for the second time to Elizabeth Trentham, who was the mother of Henry de Vere, later the 18th Earl of Oxford.

Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke, with his Family, painted ca. 1634-35 by Anthony van Dyck.

In 1603

Hampton Court during The Masque of Indian and China Knights on 1 January 1604. The male masquers in costume included her future husband Philip Herbert and his brother William.[2]

Marriage and masques

Shortly after the death of her father, Susan married

Whitehall Palace by courtiers. Dudley Carleton was impressed by the masquers except Thomas Germain, who "had lead in his heels and sometimes forgot what he was a-doing".[4]

According to

Philip Herbert was an English

Shakespeare
's collected works was dedicated in 1623.

At court, she played the part of "Flora" in

Whitehall Palace as the "Nymph of Severn" in the masque Tethys' Festival.[7]

Children

Lady Anne Sophia Herbert, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke. Anne was married to Robert Dormer, 1st Earl of Carnarvon.

Death

She died in 1629 from smallpox, and was interred at Westminster Abbey, London.[10]

References

  1. ^ HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 15 (London, 1930), p. 391.
  2. ^ Leeds Barroll, Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography (Philadelphia, 2001), pp. 82, 86.
  3. ^ Edmund Lodge, Illustrations of British History, vol. 3 (London, 1791), p. 254: TNA SP14/12 f.8.
  4. ^ Martin Wiggins & Catherine Teresa Richardson, British Drama, 1533-1642: 1603-1608, vol. 5 (Oxford, 2015), pp. 169-70: Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603-1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), p. 207 no. 323: TNA SP14/12 f.8.
  5. ^ John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 1 (London, 1828), p. 471.
  6. ^ Memorials of Affairs of State, vol. 2 (London, 1725), pp. 43-4.
  7. ^ John Nichols, The Progresses, Processions, and Magnificent Festivities, of King James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 348-9.
  8. ^ "Lady Anna Sophia Herbert, Countess of Carnarvon (d.1695)". National Trust Collections. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  9. ^ George Edward Cokayne, editor, The Complete Baronetage, 5 volumes (no date (c. 1900); reprint, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), volume IV, page 65.
  10. ^ Christie, E. (2021, May 13), 'Herbert (née de Vere), Susan, countess of Montgomery (1587–1629)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Retrieved 13 May 2021.