29 May [1575]: Lady Anne Talbot writes the Countess of Shrewsbury

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Lady Pembroke and her daughter, also named Anne (Lady Talbot). Wilton Church.

Lady Anne Herbert was the daughter of Sir William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke & his first wife, Anne Parr. As such, she was the niece of Queen Kateryn Parr. In 1563, at Baynard’s Castle, Lady Anne married Sir Francis, Lord Talbot (d.1582) in a double marriage between the two children of the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and the two children of the 1st Earl of Pembroke. Lady Talbot’s brother, Henry, the future 2nd Earl of Pembroke, married Lady Catherine Talbot. Lord Talbot and Lady Catherine were child of Sir George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury and his first wife, Lady Gertrude Manners, daughter of Sir Thomas Manner, 1st Earl of Rutland and his second wife, Eleanor Paston. In addition to the double marriage, Lord Talbot’s great-aunt, Lady Anne Talbot, had married secondly to Lady Anne Herbert’s father, the 1st Earl of Pembroke (d.1570) after the death of his first wife, Anne Parr, in 1552. This may have been the reason for the double marriage.

In her letter, Lady Talbot talks about how her sister, Lady Catherine, Countess of Pembroke, was frequently visited by Queen Elizabeth I at Baynard’s Castle. The Queen was fond of her. By 1575, Lady Catherine had become gravely ill and developed a fatal illness. The Queen even gave the Pembroke’s a ship to even travel to the continent in search of a cure. She returned to England without success by September 1575 and died on 24 April 1576. They had no issue.

Lady Anne Talbot writes to her husband’s stepmother, Bess of Hardwick, the Countess of Shrewsbury.

To the ryght honorable and my assured good lady, and mouther the Countes of Shrowsbery:

Good madam, acordynge to my dewty, I would haue wrytene oftener, yf I could haue learned, any newes worthey the wryrtynge, but my comeynge to the court, Is so selldome, as I knowe your Ladyshype, doth here from thensse, by othersse, a great dell more, then I can hereof, yet I truste your Ladyship wyll geue me leue, to remember my dewtye, In wrytynge, after my olde acoustemed manner. whych I wyll not slake god wyllynge, though my matter be never so small, yet my dewtyfull good wyll I hope your Ladyship wyll exepte, In as good part, as I meane yt, yf I could haue sent, any good newes of my syster of Penbrokes good delyuery, your Ladyship should haue hard of yt or nowe, but I fear yt wyll not fall out so well as I could wyshe yt had and for thys tyme, I humbly take my leue, besycheing, god to send your Ladyship your hartes desyre, From Eareth the xxjxth of Maye:

your Ladyship’s assured louyng daughter to comande:

Anne Talbott

Letter signed by Lady Talbott from letter dated 29 May [1575]. Courtesy of Bess of Hardwick Letters: The Complete Correspondence 1550-1608

Sources

From: Anne Talbot (Earith, Huntingtonshire);
To: Bess of Hardwick;
Date: 29 May [1575]
Summary: Anne Talbot (née Herbert) writes to Bess (countess of Shrewsbury) that she has
little news to report due to her infrequent visits to court. She promises to write ‘after my old
accustomed manner’ and expresses fears that ‘my sister of Pembroke’s good delivery [. . .] will
not fall out so well as I could wish’.
Archive: Folger Shakespeare Library, Cavendish-Talbot MSS, X.d.428 (122)
Delivery status: to Bess, sent
Letter features: Seal intact – no. Ribbon/floss – no. Letter packet – accordion
Hands: Anne Talbot | archivist |
Version: 1.0
Further information on copyright and citation can be found at:- (URL: http://
http://www.bessofhardwick.org/background.jsp?id=171) https://www.bessofhardwick.org/letter.jsp?letter=93

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