1620s in England:

Other years

1600s 1600s in England Events from the 1600s in England.-Incumbents:Monarch - Queen Elizabeth I , King James I. Elizabeth was the last Tudor Monarch of England.-Events:* 1600...  | 1610s 1610s in England Events from the 1610s in England.-Events:* 1610** 9 February - Parliament assembles and debates the Great Contract proposed by Robert Cecil whereby in return for an annual grant of £200,000, the Crown should give up its feudal rights of Wardship and Purveyance, as well as New Impositions.** 23 May...  | 1620s | 1630s 1630s in England Events from the 1630s in England.-Events:* 1630** The Winthrop Fleet takes 700 immigrants from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and founds Boston.** Thomas Middleton's satirical comedy A Chaste Maid in Cheapside published posthumously....  | 1640 1640 in England Events from the year 1640 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 12 January - Thomas Wentworth becomes Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and Earl of Strafford.* 17 January - John Finch becomes Lord Keeper of the Great Seal....

Incumbents

Events

• 1620
  • 27 April - Treaty with Spain arranges marriage between the Prince of Wales
    Charles I of England
    Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
    
     and Infanta Maria Anna of Spain in return for relaxation of laws concerning Roman Catholics.
  • 3 July - The Honourable East India Company lays claim to Table Bay
    Table Bay
    Table Bay is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the flat-topped Table Mountain.Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to explore this...
    
     in Africa
    Africa
    Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
    
    .
  • 6 September (OS
    Old Style and New Style dates
    Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
    
    ) - The Mayflower
    Mayflower
    The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
    
    leaves Plymouth
    Plymouth
    Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
    
     carrying the Pilgrims to Cape Cod
    Cape Cod
    Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
    
     in North America
    North America
    North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
    
    .
  • Publication of Novum Organum
    Novum Organum
    The Novum Organum, full original title Novum Organum Scientiarum, is a philosophical work by Francis Bacon, written in Latin and published in 1620. The title translates as new instrument, i.e. new instrument of science. This is a reference to Aristotle's work Organon, which was his treatise on...
    
    by Francis Bacon
    Francis Bacon
    Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
    
    .
  • Cornelius Drebbel
    Cornelius Drebbel
    Cornelis Jacobszoon Drebbel was the Dutch builder of the first navigable submarine in 1620. Drebbel was an innovator who contributed to the development of measurement and control systems, optics and chemistry....
    
     demonstrates the first navigable submarine
    Submarine
    A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
    
     in the River Thames
    River Thames
    The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
    
    .
• 1621
  • 16 January - The Parliament of England
    Parliament of England
    The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
    
     sits for the first time since 1614.
  • 3 May - Francis Bacon imprisoned in the Tower of London
    Tower of London
    Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
    
     on charges of corruption; he is pardoned by King James I
    James I of England
    James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
    
     later in the year.
  • 4 July - 70-year-old James Ley, 1st Earl of Marlborough
    James Ley, 1st Earl of Marlborough
    James Ley, 1st Earl of Marlborough was Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench in Ireland and then in England; he was an English Member of Parliament and was Lord High Treasurer from 1624 to 1628. On 31 December 1624, James I created him Baron Ley, of Ley in the County of Devon, and on 5 February...
    
    , marries 17-year-old Jane Boteler, niece of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
    
     as his second wife.
  • 24 July - While hunting at Bramshill
    Bramshill
    Bramshill is a civil parish in the English county of Hampshire. Its name has become synonymous with the Police Staff College, Bramshill located in Bramshill House. Bramshill forms part of the district of Hart...
    
    , George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, accidentally kills a keeper with his crossbow. A royal commission of inquiry narrowly finds in his favour.
  • 18 December - The House of Commons
    British House of Commons
    The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
    
     protests against the King's right to imprison Members of Parliament
    Member of Parliament
    A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
    
     who criticise his foreign policy
    Foreign policy
    A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
    
    .
  • 27 December - Sir Edward Coke
    Edward Coke
    Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...
    
     imprisoned for his part in the Protestation.
  • 30 December - King James tears the page bearing the Protestation from the House of Commons Journal.
  • Francis Mitchell
    Francis Mitchell
    Francis Mitchell was the last British knight of the realm to be publicly degraded , after being found guilty of extorting money from licensees via his monopoly on the licensing of inns....
    
     becomes the last British
    Great Britain
    Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
    
     knight
    Knight
    A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
    
     of the realm to be publicly degraded
    Degradation Ceremony
    Cashiering is a ritual dismissal of an individual from some position of responsibility for discipline....
    
     (stripped of his knighthood) after being found guilty of extorting
    Extortion
    Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
    
     money from licensee
    Licensee
    A licensee is someone who has been granted a licence.- Tort law :The term is used in the USA law of torts to describe a person who is on the property of another, despite the fact that the property is not open to the general public, because the owner of the property has allowed the licensee to enter...
    
    s of his monopoly
    Monopoly
    A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
    
     on the licensing of inns.
  • Dutch
    Netherlands
    The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
    
     engineer Cornelius Vermuyden
    Cornelius Vermuyden
    Sir Cornelius Wasterdyk Vermuyden was a Dutch engineer who introduced Dutch reclamation methods to Britain, and made the first important attempts to drain The Fens of East Anglia.-Life:...
    
     appointed by the King to drain parkland around Windsor Castle
    Windsor Castle
    Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
    
     and begins reclamation of Canvey Island
    Canvey Island
    Canvey Island is a civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary in England. It is separated from the mainland of south Essex by a network of creeks...
    
    .
  • The University of Oxford Botanic Garden
    University of Oxford Botanic Garden
    The University of Oxford Botanic Garden is an historic botanic garden in Oxford, England. It is the oldest botanic garden in Great Britain and one of the oldest scientific gardens in the world. The garden was founded in 1621 as a physic garden growing plants for medicinal research. Today it...
    
    , the oldest botanical garden
    Botanical garden
    A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
    
     in the British Isles
    British Isles
    The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
    
    , is founded as a physic garden by Henry Danvers, 1st Earl of Danby
    Henry Danvers, 1st Earl of Danby
    Henry Danvers, 1st Earl of Danby, KG was an English soldier. Outlawed after a killing, he regained favour and became a Knight of the Garter.-Life:...
    
    .
  • Robert Burton
    Robert Burton (scholar)
    Robert Burton was an English scholar at Oxford University, best known for the classic The Anatomy of Melancholy. He was also the incumbent of St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford, and of Segrave in Leicestershire.-Life:...
    
     publishes his treatise The Anatomy of Melancholy
    The Anatomy of Melancholy
    The Anatomy of Melancholy The Anatomy of Melancholy The Anatomy of Melancholy (Full title: The Anatomy of Melancholy, What it is: With all the Kinds, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Several Cures of it. In Three Maine Partitions with their several Sections, Members, and Subsections...
    
    .
• 1622
  • 7 January - John Pym
    John Pym
    John Pym was an English parliamentarian, leader of the Long Parliament and a prominent critic of James I and then Charles I.- Early life and education :...
    
     arrested for criticizing the King in Parliament.
  • 8 February - King James I disbands Parliament.
  • 22 February - A patent
    Patent
    A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
    
     is granted for Dud Dudley's process for smelting
    Smelting
    Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
    
     iron ore with coke
    Coke (fuel)
    Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...
    
    .
  • 22 March - In the Jamestown massacre, Algonquian
    Algonquian peoples
    The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups, with tribes originally numbering in the hundreds. Today hundreds of thousands of individuals identify with various Algonquian peoples...
    
     Indians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia
    Jamestown, Virginia
    Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
    
     (33% of the colony's population) and destroy the Henricus
    Henricus
    The "Citie of Henricus" — also known as Henricopolis or Henrico Town or Henrico — was a settlement founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1611 as an alternative to the swampy and dangerous area around the original English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia...
    
     settlement.
  • 25 May - The East India Company
    East India Company
    The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
    
     ship Tryall
    Tryall
    The Tryall was a British East India Company owned East Indiaman of approximately 500 tons. She was under the command of John Brooke when she was wrecked on the Tryal Rocks off the north-west coast of Western Australia in 1622...
    
    sinks when it hits the Tryal Rocks
    Tryal Rocks
    Tryal Rocks, sometimes spelled Trial Rocks or Tryall Rocks, formerly known as Ritchie's Reef or the Greyhound's Shoal, is a reef of rock located in the Indian Ocean off the northwest coast of Australia, about 16 kilometres northwest of the outer edge of the Montebello Islands group...
    
     reef. 94 out of the 143 crew die.
  • William Oughtred
    William Oughtred
    William Oughtred was an English mathematician.After John Napier invented logarithms, and Edmund Gunter created the logarithmic scales upon which slide rules are based, it was Oughtred who first used two such scales sliding by one another to perform direct multiplication and division; and he is...
    
     invents the slide rule
    Slide rule
    The slide rule, also known colloquially as a slipstick, is a mechanical analog computer. The slide rule is used primarily for multiplication and division, and also for functions such as roots, logarithms and trigonometry, but is not normally used for addition or subtraction.Slide rules come in a...
    
    .
  • Nathaniel Butter
    Nathaniel Butter
    Nathaniel Butter was a London publisher of the early 17th century. The publisher of the first edition of Shakespeare's King Lear in 1608, he has also been regarded as one of the first publishers of a newspaper in English....
    
     begins publication of Newes from Most Parts of Christendom, one of the first regular English language
    English language
    English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
    
     newspapers.
  • Second part of Michael Drayton
    Michael Drayton
    Michael Drayton was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era.-Early life:He was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothing is known about his early life, beyond the fact that in 1580 he was in the service of Thomas Goodere of Collingham,...
    
    's Poly-Olbion
    Poly-Olbion
    The Poly-Olbion is a topographical poem describing England and Wales. Written by Michael Drayton and published in 1612, it was reprinted with a second part in 1622. Drayton had been working on the project since at least 1598.-Content:...
    
    published.
• 1623
  • February - Amboyna massacre
    Amboyna massacre
    The Amboyna massacre was the 1623 torture and execution on Ambon Island , of twenty men, ten of whom were in the service of the British East India Company, by agents of the Dutch East India Company, on accusations of treason...
    
    : English East India Company traders killed by agents of the Dutch East India Company
    Dutch East India Company
    The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
    
    .
  • May - The King's favourite
    Favourite
    A favourite , or favorite , was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, among other times and places, the term is used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler...
    
     George Villiers
    George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
    
     made Duke of Buckingham.
  • 30 August - Negotiations of the planned Spanish Match
    Spanish Match
    The Spanish Match was a proposed marriage between Prince Charles, the son of King James I of England, and Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, the daughter of Philip III of Spain...
    
    , marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales
    Charles I of England
    Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
    
     to Maria Anna of Spain, break down.
  • c. December - Publication of the "First Folio
    First Folio
    Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare's plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio....
    
    " (Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies), a collection of 36 of the plays of Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
    
    , half of which have not previously been printed.
  • Building of the Inigo Jones
    Inigo Jones
    Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
    
    -designed Queen's Chapel
    Queen's Chapel
    The Queen's Chapel is a Christian chapel in central London, England that was designed by Inigo Jones and built between 1623 and 1625 as an adjunct to St. James's Palace...
    
     in Westminster
    Westminster
    Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
    
     begins.
• 1624
  • 12 February - Parliament assembles for the last time under James I's reign.
  • 2 March - Parliament passes a resolution that its elected members are not permitted simply to resign their seats of their own will.
  • 10 March - England declares war on Spain
    Spain
    Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
    
    .
  • May - Parliament impeaches the Lord Treasurer, Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex
    Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex
    Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex was a successful merchant in London, England.-Life:He was the second son of Thomas Cranfield, a mercer at London, and his wife Martha Randill, the daughter and heiress of Vincent Randill of Sutton-at-Hone, Kent. He was apprenticed in to Richard Sheppard, a...
    
     on suspicion of taking bribes.
  • 25 May - Parliament passes the Statute of Monopolies
    Statute of Monopolies 1623
    The Statute of Monopolies was an Act of the Parliament of England notable as the first statutory expression of English patent law. Patents evolved from letters patent, issued by the monarch to grant monopolies over particular industries to skilled individuals with new techniques...
    
    .
  • 24 June - Virginia
    Virginia
    The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
    
     becomes an English Crown Colony
    Crown colony
    A Crown colony, also known in the 17th century as royal colony, was a type of colonial administration of the English and later British Empire....
    
    .
  • 12 December - Treaty with France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
    
     arranges the marriage of the Prince of Wales to Princess Henrietta Maria of France
    Henrietta Maria of France
    Henrietta Maria of France ; was the Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I...
    
    .
  • The Latymer School
    The Latymer School
    The Latymer School is a selective, mixed grammar school in Edmonton, north London, England.- Examination procedures :Approximately 180 pupils are admitted to Year 7 annually. Places are awarded on the basis of competitive examination, though 20 are reserved for students with exceptional musical...
    
     and Latymer Upper School
    Latymer Upper School
    Latymer Upper School, founded by Edward Latymer in 1624, is a selective independent school in Hammersmith, West London, England, lying between King Street and the Thames. It is a day school for 1,130 pupils – boys and girls aged 11–18; there is also the Latymer Preparatory School for boys and girls...
    
     in London are founded by the bequest of Edward Latymer
    Edward Latymer
    Edward Latymer was a wealthy merchant and official in London. His will established both Latymer Upper School and The Latymer School and is associated with Godolphin and Latymer School.-Life:...
    
    .
• 1625
  • 27 March - Prince Charles Stuart becomes King Charles I of England
    Charles I of England
    Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
    
     upon the death of James I.
  • 13 June - Marriage of King Charles I and Henrietta Maria, Princess of France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
    
     and Navarra.
  • 18 June - the "Useless Parliament
    Useless Parliament
    The Useless Parliament was the first Parliament of England of the reign of King Charles I, sitting only from June until August 1625. It gained its name because it transacted no significant business, making it 'useless' from the king's point of view...
    
    " refuses to vote Charles I the right to collect customs duties for his entire reign, seeking to restrict him to one year instead.
  • August - Over 40,000 killed by bubonic plague
    Bubonic plague
    Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
    
     in London
    London
    London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
    
    ; court and Parliament temporarily moved to Oxford
    Oxford
    The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
    
    .
  • 8 September - Treaty of Southampton makes an alliance between England and the Dutch Republic
    Dutch Republic
    The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
    
     against Spain
    Spain
    Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
    
    .
  • 8 October - Admiral George Villiers
    George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
    
    ' fleet sails from Plymouth
    Plymouth
    Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
    
     to Cadiz
    Cádiz
    Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
    
    .
  • November - Cadiz expedition abandoned.
  • 9 December - The Netherlands
    Netherlands
    The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
    
     and England sign the Treaty of Den Haag.
  • An English colony is established in Barbados
    Barbados
    Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
    
    .
• 1626
  • 2 February - Coronation of King Charles I.
  • 6 February - Parliament meets, and refuses to grant funds to King Charles without redress of various grievances.
  • 15 June - King Charles dissolves Parliament after it refuses to grant him Tonnage and Poundage
    Tonnage and Poundage
    Tonnage and Poundage were certain duties and taxes first levied in Edward II's reign on every tun of imported wine, which came mostly from Spain and Portugal, and on every pound weight of merchandise exported or imported. Traditionally tonnage and poundage was granted by Parliament to the king...
    
     rights; imposes forced loans.
  • 26 June - King Charles expels Queen Henrietta Maria's French attendants from court.
  • Cornelius Vermuyden
    Cornelius Vermuyden
    Sir Cornelius Wasterdyk Vermuyden was a Dutch engineer who introduced Dutch reclamation methods to Britain, and made the first important attempts to drain The Fens of East Anglia.-Life:...
    
     appointed by the King to drain Hatfield Chase
    Hatfield Chase
    Hatfield Chase was a low-lying area in South Yorkshire, England which often flooded and is chiefly known from the Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633. It was a royal hunting ground until Charles I appointed the Dutch engineer Cornelius Vermuyden to drain it in 1626...
    
    .
• 1627
  • January - French ships seized in the English Channel
    English Channel
    The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
    
    , resulting in an undeclared war with France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
    
    .
  • 2 June - George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
    
    , leads an expedition to assist the Huguenots at the Siege of La Rochelle
    Siege of La Rochelle
    The Siege of La Rochelle was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627-1628...
    
    .
  • 8 November - Duke of Buckingham leaves La Rochelle, having lost half of his expeditionary force.
  • 28 November - Sir Thomas Darnell
    Thomas Darnell
    Sir Thomas Darnell, 1st Baronet was an English landowner, at the centre of a celebrated state legal case in the reign of Charles I of England, often known as the 'Five Knights' Case' but to the lawyers of the period Darnell's Case.-Life:...
    
     launches an unsuccessful appeal against his imprisonment without trial for refusing to pay forced loans; a major impetus for the Petition of Right
    Petition of right
    In English law, a petition of right was a remedy available to subjects to recover property from the Crown.Before the Crown Proceedings Act 1947, the British Crown could not be sued in contract...
    
     the following year.
  • Francis Bacon
    Francis Bacon
    Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
    
    's New Atlantis
    New Atlantis
    New Atlantis and similar can mean:*New Atlantis, a novel by Sir Francis Bacon*The New Atlantis, founded in 2003, a journal about the social and political dimensions of science and technology...
    
    published posthumously.
• 1628
  • February - Writs are issued by Charles I of England
    Charles I of England
    Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
    
     compelling every county in England (not just seaport towns) to pay ship tax by 1 March (1628).
  • 17 March - Charles I reconvenes Parliament. Oliver Cromwell
    Oliver Cromwell
    Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
    
     becomes an MP for the first time.
  • 7 June - Charles I forced to accept the Petition of Right
    Petition of right
    In English law, a petition of right was a remedy available to subjects to recover property from the Crown.Before the Crown Proceedings Act 1947, the British Crown could not be sued in contract...
    
    , as a concession to gain his subsidies.
  • 23 August - John Felton
    John Felton
    John Felton was a lieutenant in the English army who stabbed George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham to death in Portsmouth on 23 August 1628.-Background:...
    
     assassinates George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham.
  • December - Thomas Wentworth
    Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
    Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1632 to 1639 he instituted a harsh rule as Lord Deputy of Ireland...
    
     appointed President of the Council of the North
    Council of the North
    The Council of the North was an administrative body originally set up in 1484 by king Richard III of England, the third and last Yorkist monarch to hold the Crown of England; its intention was to improve government control and economic prosperity, to benefit the entire area of Northern England...
    
    .
  • William Harvey
    William Harvey
    William Harvey was an English physician who was the first person to describe completely and in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the body by the heart...
    
     publishes his findings about blood circulation in Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus
    Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus
    Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus, is the best-known work of the physician William Harvey. The book was first published in 1628 and established the circulation of the blood. It is a landmark in the history of physiology. Just as important as its substance was its...
    
    .
• 1629
  • 20 January - Parliament criticises the King for levying Tonnage and Poundage without its authority.
  • 2 March - Parliament criticises Archbishop William Laud
    William Laud
    William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
    
    's religious reforms.
  • 10 March - The King dissolves Parliament and begins an 11-year Personal Rule
    Personal Rule
    The Personal Rule was the period from 1629 to 1640, when King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland ruled without recourse to Parliament...
    
    .

Births

• 1620
  • 31 October - John Evelyn
    John Evelyn
    John Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February...
    
    , diarist and writer (died 1706
    1706 in England
    Events from the year 1706 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* February - Regency Act requires the senior officers of state to proclaim the next Protestant heir as successor to the English throne on the death of Queen Anne.* 8 April - George Farquhar's play The Recruiting Officer first performed...
    
    )
• 1621
  • 27 January - Thomas Willis
    Thomas Willis
    Thomas Willis was an English doctor who played an important part in the history of anatomy, neurology and psychiatry. He was a founding member of the Royal Society.-Life:...
    
    , physician (died 1675
    1675 in England
    Events from the year 1675 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 4 March - John Flamsteed appointed as "astronomical observator", in effect, the first Astronomer Royal.* 25 March - Loss of HMY Mary off Anglesey....
    
    )
  • 31 March - Andrew Marvell
    Andrew Marvell
    Andrew Marvell was an English metaphysical poet, Parliamentarian, and the son of a Church of England clergyman . As a metaphysical poet, he is associated with John Donne and George Herbert...
    
    , poet (died 1678
    1678 in England
    Events from the year 1678 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 31 May - The Godiva Procession, a commemoration held in honour of Lady Godiva's legendary naked ride on horseback through the streets of Coventry in protest against her husband's treatment of the citizens, begins.* 6 September - Titus...
    
    )
  • 22 July - Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, politician (died 1683
    1683 in England
    Events from the year 1683 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 9 January - Charles II gives orders establishing the dates on which he will perform the "Touching the King's Evil" ceremony....
    
    )
  • 23 December
    • Edmund Berry Godfrey
      Edmund Berry Godfrey
      Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey was an English magistrate whose mysterious death caused anti-Catholic uproar in England...
      
      , magistrate (died 1678
      1678 in England
      Events from the year 1678 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 31 May - The Godiva Procession, a commemoration held in honour of Lady Godiva's legendary naked ride on horseback through the streets of Coventry in protest against her husband's treatment of the citizens, begins.* 6 September - Titus...
      
      )
    • Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham
      Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham
      Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham, PC , Lord Chancellor of England, was descended from the old family of Finch, many of whose members had attained high legal eminence, and was the eldest son of Sir Heneage Finch, recorder of London, by his first wife Frances Bell, daughter of Sir Edmond Bell of...
      
      , Lord Chancellor
      Lord Chancellor
      The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
      
       (died 1682
      1682 in England
      Events from the year 1682 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 11 March - The Royal Hospital Chelsea for old soldiers is founded in London.* 25 August - Following the Bideford witch trial, three women become the last known to be hanged for witchcraft in England, at Exeter.* September - Halley's...
      
      )
• 1623
  • 27 May - Sir William Petty, scientist and philosopher (died 1687
    1687 in England
    Events from the year 1687 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 2 April - King James II of England issues the Declaration of Indulgence, suspending laws against Catholics and non-conformists....
    
    )
  • 30 May - John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater
    John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater
    John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater PC was an English nobleman.He was a son of John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater and his wife Lady Frances Stanley...
    
    , politician (died 1686
    1686 in England
    Events from the year 1686 in the Kingdom of England.- Events :* 10 July - Court of Ecclesiastical Commission created.* 17 July - King James appoints four Catholics to the Privy Council of England.-Undated:...
    
    )
  • Margaret Cavendish
    Margaret Cavendish
    Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne was an English aristocrat, a prolific writer, and a scientist. Born Margaret Lucas, she was the youngest sister of prominent royalists Sir John Lucas and Sir Charles Lucas...
    
    , Duchess of Newcastle (died 1673
    1673 in England
    Events from the year 1673 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 8 March - Under pressure from Parliament, King Charles II withdraws the Royal Declaration of Indulgence.* 29 March - The Test Act is passed, preventing Roman Catholics from holding public office....
    
    )
  • Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury
    Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury
    Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury, 11th Earl of Waterford was an English peer, the second son of the 10th Earl of Shrewsbury....
    
     (died 1668
    1668 in England
    Events from the year 1668 which occurred in England.-Events:* 28 January - England signs the Triple Alliance with the United Provinces and Sweden....
    
    )
• 1624
  • July - George Fox
    George Fox
    George Fox was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends.The son of a Leicestershire weaver, Fox lived in a time of great social upheaval and war...
    
    , founder of the Quakers (died 1691
    1691 in England
    Events from the year 1691 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* April - John Tillotson enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.* 9 April - a fire at the Palace of Whitehall in London destroys its Stone Gallery....
    
    )
  • 10 September - Thomas Sydenham
    Thomas Sydenham
    Thomas Sydenham was an English physician. He was born at Wynford Eagle in Dorset, where his father was a gentleman of property. His brother was Colonel William Sydenham. Thomas fought for the Parliament throughout the English Civil War, and, at its end, resumed his medical studies at Oxford...
    
    , physician (died 1689
    1689 in England
    Events from the year 1689 in the Kingdom of England.-Incumbents:*Co-monarchs - King William III and Queen Mary.-Events:...
    
    )
• 1625
  • Charles Hart
    Charles Hart (17th-century actor)
    Charles Hart was a prominent British Restoration actor.A Charles Hart was christened on 11 December 1625, in the parish of St. Giles Cripplegate, in London. It is not absolutely certain that this was the actor, though the name was not common at the time...
    
    , actor (died 1683
    1683 in England
    Events from the year 1683 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 9 January - Charles II gives orders establishing the dates on which he will perform the "Touching the King's Evil" ceremony....
    
    )
  • Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton
    Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton
    Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, PC , son of John Paulet, 5th Marquess of Winchester. He became the sixth Marquess of Winchester on his father's death in 1675, was Member of Parliament for Winchester and then for Hampshire from 1660 to 1675...
    
    , politician (died 1699
    1699 in England
    Events from the year 1699 which occurred in the Kingdom of England.- Events :* January 19 - Parliament limits the size of the home army to 7,000 'native born' men.* June 11 - England, France and the Netherlands agree on second Extermination treaty of Spain....
    
    )
• 1626
  • 12 March - John Aubrey
    John Aubrey
    John Aubrey FRS, was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the collection of short biographical pieces usually referred to as Brief Lives...
    
    , antiquary and writer (died 1697
    1697 in England
    Events from the year 1697 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 20 September - The Treaty of Ryswick ends the War of the Grand Alliance.* 2 December - First service held in St Paul's Cathedral since rebuilding work after the Great Fire of London began....
    
    )
  • 4 October - Richard Cromwell
    Richard Cromwell
    At the same time, the officers of the New Model Army became increasingly wary about the government's commitment to the military cause. The fact that Richard Cromwell lacked military credentials grated with men who had fought on the battlefields of the English Civil War to secure their nation's...
    
    , Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland (died 1712
    1712 in Great Britain
    Events from the year 1712 in Great Britain.-Events:* 1 January - War of the Spanish Succession: Peace congress opens at Utrecht.* 17 January - Robert Walpole imprisoned in the Tower of London following charges of corruption....
    
    )
• 1627
  • 27 March - Sir Stephen Fox
    Stephen Fox
    Sir Stephen Fox was an English politician.-Life:Stephen Fox was the son of William Fox, of Farley, in Wiltshire, a yeoman farmer...
    
    , statesman (died 1716
    1716 in Great Britain
    Events from the year 1716 in Great Britain.-Events:* January - The Duke of Argyll disperses the remainder of the Jacobite troops.* 10 February - The pretender James Francis Edward Stuart flees to France...
    
    )
  • 29 November - John Ray
    John Ray
    John Ray was an English naturalist, sometimes referred to as the father of English natural history. Until 1670, he wrote his name as John Wray. From then on, he used 'Ray', after "having ascertained that such had been the practice of his family before him".He published important works on botany,...
    
    , biologist (died 1705
    1705 in England
    Events from the year 1705 which occurred in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 16 April - Isaac Newton knighted by Queen Anne.* May - General election results in no clear majority for either political faction in Parliament....
    
    )
  • John Flavel
    John Flavel
    John Flavel was an English Presbyterian clergyman and author.-Life:Flavel was born at Bromsgrove, Worcestershire and studied at Oxford. Ordained as a Presbyterian in 1650, though later a Congregationalist, he held livings at Diptford and Dartmouth...
    
    , dissenter (died 1691
    1691 in England
    Events from the year 1691 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* April - John Tillotson enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury.* 9 April - a fire at the Palace of Whitehall in London destroys its Stone Gallery....
    
    )
• 1628
  • 10 January - George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
    George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
    George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet.- Upbringing and education :...
    
    , statesman (died 1687
    1687 in England
    Events from the year 1687 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 2 April - King James II of England issues the Declaration of Indulgence, suspending laws against Catholics and non-conformists....
    
    )
  • 20 January - Henry Cromwell
    Henry Cromwell
    Henry Cromwell was the fourth son of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bourchier, and an important figure in the Parliamentarian regime in Ireland.-Life:...
    
    , soldier, politician and lord lieutenant of Ireland (died 1674
    1674 in England
    Events from the year 1674 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 19 February - England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster ending the Third Anglo-Dutch War...
    
    )
  • 25 April - Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, statesman and essayist (died 1699
    1699 in England
    Events from the year 1699 which occurred in the Kingdom of England.- Events :* January 19 - Parliament limits the size of the home army to 7,000 'native born' men.* June 11 - England, France and the Netherlands agree on second Extermination treaty of Spain....
    
    )
  • 29 August - John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath
    John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath
    John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath PC was an English royalist statesman, whose highest position was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland....
    
    , royalist statesman (died 1701
    1701 in England
    Events from the year 1701 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* 23 May - After being convicted of murder and piracy, Captain William Kidd is hanged in London.* 24 June - The Act of Settlement 1701, by the Parliament of England, becomes law...
    
    )
  • 28 November - John Bunyan
    John Bunyan
    John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...
    
    , writer (died 1688
    1688 in England
    Events from the year 1688 in the Kingdom of England.-Events:* March - William Dampier makes first recorded landing on Christmas Island.* 4 May - Declaration of Indulgence ordered to be read aloud in all churches on two consecutive Sundays....
    
    )
• 1629
  • 21 September - Philip Howard
    Philip Howard (Cardinal)
    Hon. Philip Howard was an English Roman Catholic cardinal. Born the third son of Henry Frederick Howard and his wife, Elizabeth Stuart , Howard was a member of the premier Catholic family in England...
    
    , Roman Catholic Cardinal (died 1694
    1694 in England
    Events from the year 1694 in the Kingdom of England.-Incumbents:*Monarch - King William III, jointly with Queen Mary II until 28 December, then as sole monarch.-Events:* May - The First Whig Junto is appointed to government....
    
    )

Deaths

• 1620
  • 1 March - Thomas Campion
    Thomas Campion
    Thomas Campion was an English composer, poet and physician. He wrote over a hundred lute songs; masques for dancing, and an authoritative technical treatise on music.-Life:...
    
    , poet and composer (born 1567)
  • 16 May - William Adams
    William Adams (sailor)
    William Adams , also known in Japanese as Anjin-sama and Miura Anjin , was an English navigator who travelled to Japan and is believed to be the first Englishman ever to reach that country...
    
    , navigator and samurai (born 1564)
• 1621
  • 2 July - Thomas Harriot
    Thomas Harriot
    Thomas Harriot was an English astronomer, mathematician, ethnographer, and translator. Some sources give his surname as Harriott or Hariot or Heriot. He is sometimes credited with the introduction of the potato to Great Britain and Ireland...
    
    , astronomer and mathematician (born c. 1560)
  • 25 September - Mary Sidney
    Mary Sidney
    Mary Herbert , Countess of Pembroke , was one of the first English women to achieve a major reputation for her literary works, poetry, poetic translations and literary patronage.-Family:...
    
    , writer, patroness and translator (born 1561)
  • 26 November - Ralph Agas
    Ralph Agas
    Ralph Agas , English land surveyor, was born at Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk, about 1540, and entered upon the practice of his profession in 1566....
    
    , surveyor (born c. 1540)
• 1622
  • 23 January - William Baffin
    William Baffin
    William Baffin was an English navigator and explorer. Nothing is known of his early life, but it is conjectured that he was born in London of humble origin, and gradually raised himself by his diligence and perseverance...
    
    , explorer (born 1584)
  • 19 February - Sir Henry Savile
    Sir Henry Savile
    Sir Henry Savile was an English scholar, Warden of Merton College, Oxford, and Provost of Eton.-Life:He was the son of Henry Savile of Bradley, near Halifax in Yorkshire, England, a member of an old county family, the Saviles of Methley, and of his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Ramsden.He was...
    
    , educator (born 1549)
  • 1 July - William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle
    William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle
    William Parker, 13th Baron Morley, 4th Baron Monteagle was an English peer, Lord of Morley, Hingham, Hockering, &c., in Norfolk, the eldest son of Edward Parker, 12th Baron Morley , and of Elizabeth Stanley, daughter and heiress of William Stanley, 3rd Baron Monteagle .When quite a youth he...
    
    , politician (born 1575)
• 1623
  • 8 February - Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter
    Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter
    Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, KG , known as Lord Burghley from 1598 to 1605, was an English politician and soldier.-Life:...
    
    , politician (born 1546)
  • 4 July - William Byrd
    William Byrd
    William Byrd was an English composer of the Renaissance. He wrote in many of the forms current in England at the time, including various types of sacred and secular polyphony, keyboard and consort music.-Provenance:Knowledge of Byrd's biography expanded in the late 20th century, thanks largely...
    
    , composer (born 1543)
  • 21 October - William Wade, statesman and diplomat (born 1546)
  • 9 November - William Camden
    William Camden
    William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...
    
    , historian (born 1551)
• 1624
  • 13 February - Stephen Gosson
    Stephen Gosson
    Stephen Gosson was an English satirist.He was baptized at St George's church, Canterbury, on 17 April 1554. He entered Corpus Christi College, Oxford, 1572, and on leaving the university in 1576 he went to London...
    
    , satirist (born 1554)
  • 10 November - Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
    Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
    Henry Wriothesley , 3rd Earl of Southampton , was the second son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, and his wife Mary Browne, Countess of Southampton, daughter of the 1st Viscount Montagu...
    
    , patron of the theatre (born 1573)
  • 14 December - Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham
    Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham
    Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham , known as Howard of Effingham, was an English statesman and Lord High Admiral under Elizabeth I and James I...
    
    , statesman (born 1536)
• 1625
  • 27 March - King James I of England
    James I of England
    James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
    
     (born 1566)
  • 5 June - Orlando Gibbons
    Orlando Gibbons
    Orlando Gibbons was an English composer, virginalist and organist of the late Tudor and early Jacobean periods...
    
    , composer and organist (born 1583)
  • August - John Fletcher
    John Fletcher (playwright)
    John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
    
    , writer (born 1579)
  • John Florio, linguist and lexicographer (born 1553)
• 1626
  • 24 January - Samuel Argall
    Samuel Argall
    Sir Samuel Argall was an English adventurer and naval officer.As a sea captain, in 1609, Argall was the first to determine a shorter northern route from England across the Atlantic Ocean to the new English colony of Virginia, based at Jamestown, and made numerous voyages to the New World...
    
    , adventurer and naval officer (born 1580)
  • 20 February - John Dowland
    John Dowland
    John Dowland was an English Renaissance composer, singer, and lutenist. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep" , "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and has...
    
    , composer and lutenist (born 1563)
  • 9 April - Francis Bacon, scientist and statesman (born 1561)
  • 4 May - Arthur Lake, Bishop of Bath and Wells
    Arthur Lake, Bishop of Bath and Wells
    Arthur Lake was Bishop of Bath and Wells and a translator of the King James Version of The Bible.Arthur Lake was born in Southampton in September 1569 the son of Almeric Lake. He attended King Edward VI School, Southampton until he was twelve and on 28 December 1581 he was elected a scholar of...
    
    , bishop and Bible translator (born 1569)
  • 13 July - Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester
    Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester
    Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester , second son of Sir Henry Sidney, was a statesman of Elizabethan and Jacobean England. He was also a patron of the arts and an interesting poet...
    
    , statesman (born 1563)
  • 25 September - Lancelot Andrewes
    Lancelot Andrewes
    Lancelot Andrewes was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chichester, Ely and Winchester and oversaw the translation of the...
    
    , scholar (born 1555)
  • 25 November - Edward Alleyn
    Edward Alleyn
    Edward Alleyn was an English actor who was a major figure of the Elizabethan theatre and founder of Dulwich College and Alleyn's School.-Early life:...
    
    , actor (born 1566)
  • 30 November - Thomas Weelkes
    Thomas Weelkes
    Thomas Weelkes was an English composer and organist. He became organist of Winchester College in 1598, moving to Chichester Cathedral. His works are chiefly vocal, and include madrigals, anthems and services.-Life:Weelkes was baptised in the little village church of Elsted in Sussex on 25...
    
    , English composer (born 1576)
  • 8 December - John Davies
    John Davies (poet)
    Sir John Davies was an English poet and lawyer, who became attorney general in Ireland and formulated many of the legal principles that underpinned the British Empire.-Early life:...
    
    , poet (born 1569)
  • 10 December - Edmund Gunter
    Edmund Gunter
    Edmund Gunter , English mathematician, of Welsh descent, was born in Hertfordshire in 1581.He was educated at Westminster School, and in 1599 was elected a student of Christ Church, Oxford. He took orders, became a preacher in 1614, and in 1615 proceeded to the degree of bachelor in divinity...
    
    , mathematician (born 1581)
• 1627
  • 19 April - Sir John Beaumont, poet (born 1583)
  • 27 June - Sir John Hayward
    John Hayward
    Sir John Hayward , English historian, was born at or near Felixstowe, Suffolk, where he was educated, and afterwards proceeded to Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he took the degrees of B.A., M.A. and LL.D....
    
    , historian (born c. 1560)
  • Thomas Middleton
    Thomas Middleton
    Thomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...
    
    , playwright (born 1580)
  • Sir John Suckling
    John Suckling (politician)
    Sir John Suckling was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1601 and 1626.Suckling was the son of Robert Suckling mayor and MP of Norwich and his wife Elizabeth Barwick, daughter of William Barwick. He entered Gray's Inn on 22 May 1590. He was elected...
    
    , politician (born 1569)
• 1628
  • 12 March - John Bull
    John Bull (composer)
    John Bull was an English composer, musician, and organ builder. He was a renowned keyboard performer of the virginalist school and most of his compositions were written for this medium.-Life:...
    
    , composer (born c. 1562)
  • 29 March - Tobias Matthew
    Tobias Matthew
    Tobias Matthew was Archbishop of York.-Life:He was the son of Sir John Matthew of Ross in Herefordshire, England, and of his wife Eleanor Crofton of Ludlow. He was born at Bristol and was educated at Wells, Somerset, and then in succession at University College and Christ Church, Oxford...
    
    , Archbishop of York (born 1546)
  • 13 July - Robert Shirley
    Robert Shirley
    Sir Robert Shirley was an English traveler and adventurer, younger brother of Sir Anthony Shirley and of the adventurer Sir Thomas.-Diplomatic Activities:Robert went with his brother Anthony to Persia in 1598...
    
    , adventurer (born c. 1581)
  • 23 August - George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
    
    , statesman (born 1592)
  • 30 September - Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke
    Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke
    Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, de jure 13th Baron Latimer and 5th Baron Willoughby de Broke , known before 1621 as Sir Fulke Greville, was an Elizabethan poet, dramatist, and statesman....
    
    , writer (born 1554)
• 1629
  • 23 March - Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland
    Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland
    Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland, KB head of the Fane family, of Mereworth in Kent, and then of Apethorpe in Northamptonshire, was first a Member of Parliament and then an English peer...
    
     (born c. 1580)