The Tudor Society
  • June 11- Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea Hall

    The Cooke Memorial, St Edward's Church, Romford

    On this day in Tudor history, 11th June 1576, seventy-year-old humanist and educator Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea Hall in Essex died.

    Cooke, who served in Henry VIII’s bodyguard and privy chamber, is more known for his role in education. He educated his daughters, who included Mildred Cecil, Anne Bacon, Catherine Killigrew and Elizabeth Hoby, to a high standard, teaching them Latin and Greek, and probably also modern languages and Hebrew. They were all noted for their scholarship.

    Although Anthony Cooke doesn’t appear in the records as a formal royal tutor, it does appear that he was involved in the young king’s education, possibly in an advisory or guiding role.

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