The Tudor Society
  • May 26 – Barbara Sidney, Countess of Leicester

    Barbara Sidney with six of her children, painted c. 1596 by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger

    On this day in history, 26th May 1621, Barbara Sidney, Countess of Leicester, first wife of poet Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester, was buried at Penshurst.

    Barbara was born in around 1559 and was the daughter of John Gamage of Coety Manor, Glamorgan,and his wife Gwenllian. After her father’s death in 1584, William Cecil, Lord Burghley, as master of the wards, her uncles Sir Walter Ralegh and Lord Howard of Effingham, and her guardian Sir Edward Stradling all got involved in trying to arrange a marriage match for her. She married Robert Sidney, son of Sir Henry Sidney, Lord President of the Council, and brother of the famous Elizabethan poet Sir Philip Sidney. Robert was also a gifted poet.

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  • 26 May – A wife and mother of poets

    Barbara Sidney with six of her children, painted c. 1596 by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger

    On this day in history, 26th May 1621, Barbara Sidney (née Gamage), Countess of Leicester, was buried at Penshurst.

    Find out about this Tudor lady, whose marriage was the concern of several prominent Tudor men and who ended up marrying an Elizabethan poet.

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