Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche
Encyclopedia
Early Life
Zouche was the son of George la Zouche, 10th Baron Zouche and his wife Margaret, née Welby.He was a royal ward from 1570, under the care of William Cecil
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...
. In a letter to Cecil written in 1596, Zouche confessed that he spent his patrimony as a youth, having indulged in "little searching for knowledge".
Marriage
In or around 1578 Zouche married his cousin Eleanor Zouche, daughter of Sir John Zouche and Eleanor, née Whalley. They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, but, shortly after Mary's birth in 1582, Zouche abandoned his wife and they lived apart until her death in 1611. Eleanor's father wrote to Lord Burghley complaining of her treatment:'My Lord Souche (sic} put away this his lady twenty-nine years ago and refusing her all allowance was by law sentenced there-unto, which he not performing was excomunicate; from which he went beyond sea and returning was ordered to pay her 50s the week, from which poor allowance with a small addition from her friends hath this Baron's wife...ever since lived. She was oft dangerously sick that physic was chargeable. He never disbursed a penny, and now dead she might have rotted in her chamber ere he would have buried her'.
Within a year of his first wife's death, Zouche married again, to Sarah, daughter of Sir James Harington. Sarah Harrington had been twice widowed, having been the former wife of Francis Hastings, styled Lord Hastings, and of Sir George Kingsmill. There were no children of this marriage.
Career
Zouche matriculated from Trinity College, CambridgeTrinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
in Easter 1570, M.A. 1571; and was admitted to Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
, 1575, though he was not admitted to the bar.
Zouche lived and travelled abroad from 1583 to 1587, possibly in the service of Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...
, William Cecil's spymaster. On his return in 1586, he was appointed a Commissioner for the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, at Fotheringhay
Fotheringhay
Fotheringhay is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, six kilometres north east of Oundle and around west of Peterborough. It is most noted for being the site of Fotheringhay Castle which was razed in 1627...
. Here he demontrated courage and independence, in that he was the only Commissioner to offer any dissent against the judgement and subsequent sentence of death.
In later years he served as Ambassador to Scotland, Lord President of the Council of Wales and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He was a Privy Counsellor from 1603.
Zouche showed a strong interest in the New World, and was a Commissioner of the Virginia Company from 1608. He was also interested in horticulture; his house in Hackney included a physic garden and he employed Matthias L’Obel as his gardener.
The house in Hackney lay on the north side of Homerton High Street, probably on the site of the present Dean Close. The herbalist, John Gerard, visited Hackney and was given foreign seeds from Zouche’s garden. Zouche ceased to be a Hackney resident before his death in 1625 and it is likely his house was sold in 1620, to Sir Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (judge)
Sir Julius Caesar was an English judge and politician. He was born near Tottenham in Middlesex. His father was Giulio Cesare Adelmare, an Italian physician to Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, descended by the female line from the dukes of Cesarini.Caesar was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford,...
, Master of the Rolls
Master of the Rolls
The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the second most senior judge in England and Wales, after the Lord Chief Justice. The Master of the Rolls is the presiding officer of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal...
.
In 1605 Zouche purchased the manor of 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...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
and almost immediately began to build the mansion that currently stands on the site. James I
James I
James I may refer to:* King James I of Aragon * King James I of Sicily , also King James II of Aragon* James I, Count of La Marche , Count of Ponthieu...
stayed at Bramshill in 1620 and the next year George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, went down to Bramshill to consecrate a chapel for Lord Zouche.Bramshill is currently used as the UK Police Staff College.
Death
Zouche died in 1625, after sufferring illness for some time. His resting place is unknown. He was not buried in the parish church at Hackney, despite the verses penned by Ben JonsonBen Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
.
Wherever I die, oh, here may I lie
Along by my good Lord Zouche,
That when I am dry, to the tap I may hie,
And so back again to my couch.
On Zouche's death, the Barony of Zouche fell into abeyance
Abeyance
Abeyance is a state of expectancy in respect of property, titles or office, when the right to them is not vested in any one person, but awaits the appearance or determination of the true owner. In law, the term abeyance can only be applied to such future estates as have not yet vested or possibly...
between his daughter Mary and the heirs of his daughter Elizabeth, the abeyance being terminated in 1815 in favor of Sir Cecil Bisshopp, 12th Baron Zouche.
Zouche in literature
Zouche is a character in the fiction based on fact novel 'A Spurious Brood', which is based on the true story of Katherine MoreKatherine More
Katherine More was the centre of a seventeenth century controversy in England.Katherine was the youngest daughter of an ancient Shropshire family...
, whose four children were taken from her to be transported to America on board the Pilgrim Fathers’ ship 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...
. Zouche employed Katherine's husband, Samuel More
Samuel More
Samuel More was at the centre of two separate controversies in seventeenth century England.- The Mayflower controversy :Samuel More married his cousin Katherine More at Shipton in Corvedale on February 4, 1610 . Katherine’s father, Jasper More, was master of Larden, a 1000-acre estate between Much...
, as a clerk and may have had an influence in the choice of America as a destination for the banished children.
Offices
- Ambassador to ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, January–April 1594 - Ambassador to DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, June–July 1598 - Deputy Governor of GuernseyGuernseyGuernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
1600-01 - Lord President of the Council of WalesWalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, 14 June 1602–1607 - Privy Counsellor 11 May 1603
- Commissioner of Claims for the Coronation of James IJames I of EnglandJames 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...
, 7 July 1603 - Commissioner for compounding for knighthoods, 17 July 1603
- Commissioner to banish Jesuits, 5 September 1604
- Commissioner to inquire into injuries done by pirates, 16 July 1609
- Councillor for the Virginia CompanyVirginia CompanyThe Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I on 10 April1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America...
, 23 May 1609 - Councillor for New EnglandNew EnglandNew England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, 3 Nov 1602 - Commissioner to treat with FranceFranceThe 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...
4 July 1610 - Commissioner for the Treasury 16 June 1612–1614
- Lord Warden of the Cinque PortsCinque PortsThe Confederation of Cinque Ports is a historic series of coastal towns in Kent and Sussex. It was originally formed for military and trade purposes, but is now entirely ceremonial. It lies at the eastern end of the English Channel, where the crossing to the continent is narrowest...
and Constable of Dover CastleDover CastleDover Castle is a medieval castle in the town of the same name in the English county of Kent. It was founded in the 12th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history...
for life, 13 July 1615, - Commissioner for the rendition of Flushing and Brill, 21 May 1616
- Privy Councillor (Scotland) 29 June 1617
- Commissioner to inquire into abuses in the Treasury, 10 July 1618
- Commissioner of Ecclesiastical Causes, 29 April 1620 and 21 January 1624/5
- Commissioner for defective titles of lands, 4 July 1622 and 26 July 1623.