Autographs of royal, noble, learned, and remarkable personages conspicuous in English history, from the reign of Richard the Second to that of Charles the Second; with some illustrious foreigners; containing many passages from important letters. Engraved under the direction of Charles John Smith. Accompanied by concise biographical memoirs, and interesting extracts from the original documents / by John Gough Nichols.

  • Nichols, John Gough, 1806-1873.
Date:
1829
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Autographs of royal, noble, learned, and remarkable personages conspicuous in English history, from the reign of Richard the Second to that of Charles the Second; with some illustrious foreigners; containing many passages from important letters. Engraved under the direction of Charles John Smith. Accompanied by concise biographical memoirs, and interesting extracts from the original documents / by John Gough Nichols. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    21. Henry Percy, second Earl of Northumberland, son of therenowiied Hotspur, succeeded his grand¬ father in the title in 1407-8, being then about fourteen. He was educated at St. Andrew’s, with King James the First Of Scotland, and reconciled his house to the English monarch by a marriage with a bud of the Lan¬ castrian tree,—this Was Lady Eleanor Neville, first cousin of the reigning monarch Henry the Fifth, being daughter of the Earl of Westmoreland by Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Ghent. Some romantic cir¬ cumstances Connected with this alliance are presumed to have given rise to the poem entitled the “ Hermit of Warkworthand upon this, in 1414, the generous Henry restored the Earl to his estates. In 1416 he made him general Warden of the Marches towards Scotland; and in 1436 he fought with the Earl of Douglas that battle on the Cheviot-hills, to which we owe another fine relic of ancient poetry—the ballad of Chevy-chace. In 1450 he was appointed Constable of England : and five years after he became one of the first victims to the Civil Wars. He was slain fighting on the King’s side, at the battle of St. Alban’s, May 23, 1455. This specimen, “ H. Northu'byrlande, is from Vesp. F. vu. fol. 51, affixed to an Order of Council respecting the Scottish borders. 22. William Neville, Lord Fauconberg, K. G. and for a short period before his death Earl of Kent, was the second of those potent brothers (elsewhere noticed), sons of Ralph first Earl of Westmoreland by his second wife Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Ghent. He was knighted with King Henry the Sixth at Leicester, by their uncle the Duke of Bedford, in 1426. He was afterwards Governor of Roxburgh, and was summoned to Parliament as Lord Fauconberg, in 1429, in right of his wife, the heiress of that family. He fought for his nephew Edward the Fourth at the battle of Towton, and was soon after made Lord Admiral, and created Earl of Kent; but died within a year without male issue. His Signature, “ W.ffaucomberge, occurs as a Privy-councillor, in Vesp. F. xur. fol. 39. 23. Thomas, first Lord Stanley, K. G. father of the first Earl of Derby, was for many years Lord Lieu¬ tenant of Ireland. In 1447 he occurs as Comptroller of the King’s Household; and he was frequently employed as Ambassador to Scotland. From 1446 to 1452 he occurs as Knight of the Shire for Lancashire; and in 1455-6 he was summoned to the House of Peers. He died in 1558-9, and was buried at Burscough. This Autograph, “Stanley, Chamb'leyn, is from the same place as the last. 24. John Typtot, Earl of Worcester, succeeded to the Barony of his father (before noticed) in 1443 ; and was advanced to the Earldom of Worcester in 1449, being then just of age. In 1457 he was Lord Deputy of Ireland, in 1461 appointed Justice of North Wales, soon after Constable of the Tower, in 1462 Treasurer of the Exchequer, in 1463 Chancellor of Ireland, and in 1464 Steward of the King’s Household. Having been thus loaded with offices by the house of York, he was so unfortunate as to pay the forfeit of his life during the temporary restoration of King Henry in 1470. He was beheaded on Tower-hill. The Earl of Worcester was an author and translator, and so accomplished for the age in which he lived, that an oration which he delivered before Pope Pius the Second, drew tears from the eyes of his Holiness. His Signature, “ J. Worcestre, is from the same document as that noticed at No. 19. 25. 26. Henry Viscount Bourchier, and first Earl of Essex, K. G. was son and heir of William Earl of Eu in Normandy, by Ann Plantagenet, daughter of Thomas Duke of Gloucester,—a Princess who has been before mentioned as the mother of Humphrey Duke of Buckingham, who was half-brother to the subject of the present notice. Henry succeeded to the Earldom of Eu in 1419, to the Barony of Bourchier in England in 1432, and is first styled Viscount Bourchier in 1446. In 1455 he was appointed Lord Treasurer of England ; and joining the cause of Edward (whose aunt Isabella Plantagenet he had married) he was not only re-appointed to that office in 1461, but also advanced to the title of Earl of Essex, which had been used by his grandfather the Duke of Gloucester on the ground of his marriage with a coheiress of the Bohuns. He died in 1483, and was succeeded by his grandson Henry. [Effigy at Little Easton, Essex.] His Signatures, Nos. 25 and 26, are both from the same volume of Cotton. MSS. Vesp. F. xm. “Bourgchier occurs as a Privy- councillor in fol. 32 ; the name of “ H. Essex is attached to a letter to Sir John Say, dated Bristol, Sept. 9, fol. 50. 27. Sir Lewis Robesart, Lord Bourchier, K. G. was predecessor in that title of the Peer last mentioned. He was successively an Esquire of the Body to King Henry the Fifth, Standard-bearer to his Majesty, Trea¬ surer of his Chamber, and one of his executors ; he was first summoned to Parliament as Lord Bourchier, in right of his wife, in 1425. He died in 1431, without issue, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where his monument, remarkable for its standards carved in stone, is still remaining.