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Knollys, Lettice (1543 - 1634)

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Other Last Name

Devereux, Dudley, Blount

Born / Died

Birth Date: 1543-11-08
Death Date: 1634-12-25

Parents

Marriages/Other Unions

  1. Devereux, Walter (1539 - 1576)
    Type: marriage
    Union began: exactly 1560
    Union ended: exactly
    Note: Married between this year and 1565, when rumours of Lettice's affair with Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester began
  2. Dudley, Robert (1532 - 1588)
    Type: marriage
    Union began: exactly 1578-9-21
    Union ended: exactly
    Note: Private wedding ceremony possibly occurred as early as 1576
  3. Blount, Christopher (1555 - 1600/1)
    Type: marriage
    Union began: exactly 1589-7
    Union ended: exactly
    Note: Marriage occurred less than one year after Lettice's second husband's death, causing some to gossip that Lettice had poisoned him

Siblings

Offspring

Primary Title

  • Countess of Essex

Titles

  • Countess of Essex
    Assumed: 1560 (date of 1st marriage)
    Vacated: 1634-12-25
  • Countess of Leicester
    Assumed: 1578-09-21 (date of 2nd marriage)
    Vacated: 1634-12-25

Details of Offices

Details of Properties

Residence

  • Chartley, Staffordshire
    Acquired: 1560
    Divested: 1576
    Residence of 1st husband
  • Wanstead, Essex
    Acquired: 1578
    Residence of 2nd husband
  • Leicester House, London (city-county)
    Acquired: 1578
    Divested: 1593
    Residence of 2nd husband; sold to son, who renamed it Essex House
  • Drayton Bassett, Staffordshire
    Acquired: 1595
    Divested: 1634

Event Naming Patron

Event Type Date Location Troupe
Performance - Oxford (Unknown), Oxford, Oxfordshire Countess of Essex's Musicians
Performance - St Mary's Guildhall, Coventry, Coventry (city-county) in Warwickshire Countess of Essex's Musicians
Performance - Guildhall, Oxford, Oxfordshire Countess of Essex's Players
Performance - St Mary's Guildhall, Coventry, Coventry (city-county) in Warwickshire Countess of Essex's Players
Performance - Boothall, Gloucester, Gloucestershire Countess of Essex's Players
Performance - Guildhall, Oxford, Oxfordshire Countess of Essex's Players
Performance - St Mary's Guildhall, Coventry, Coventry (city-county) in Warwickshire Countess of Essex's Players
Performance - Guildhall, Oxford, Oxfordshire Countess of Essex's Players

Patronized Troupes

Troupe Name Patron Troupe Type # of events
Countess of Essex's Players Knollys, Lettice (1543 - 1634) Players 1
Countess of Essex's Players Knollys, Lettice (1543 - 1634) Players 1
Countess of Essex's Players Knollys, Lettice (1543 - 1634) Players 1
Countess of Essex's Players Knollys, Lettice (1543 - 1634) Players 1
Countess of Essex's Players Knollys, Lettice (1543 - 1634) Players 1
Countess of Essex's Players Knollys, Lettice (1543 - 1634) Players 1
Countess of Essex's Musicians Knollys, Lettice (1543 - 1634) Musicians 1
Countess of Essex's Musicians Knollys, Lettice (1543 - 1634) Musicians 1

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

  • The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. 1887–98 (8 vols); 1910–59 (13 vols). 6 vols. Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1982
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.