Ambassadors

Analytical Index to the Series of Records Known as the Remembrancia 1579-1664. Originally published by EJ Francis, London, 1878.

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'Ambassadors', in Analytical Index to the Series of Records Known as the Remembrancia 1579-1664, (London, 1878) pp. 10-15. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/index-remembrancia/1579-1664/pp10-15 [accessed 4 May 2024]

Ambassadors.

I. 33. Letter from the Lord Mayor to Sir Francis Walsingham, (fn. 1) stating that upon receiving the Queen's pleasure touching the providing of a residence for the Spanish Ambassador, (fn. 2) he had secured for him the house of Mr. Dymoke, in Fenchurch Street, which, however, the Ambassador did not like, but desired Arundel House without Temple Bar, which was both a nobleman's house and without the liberties of London; also stating in reply to his late letter touching the election of Waterbailiff, that the election had been stayed, but as the office was one of considerable importance, both for the management of the river and the service of the markets, and as two reversions had been already granted to honest men in the service of the Corporation, they could not without prejudice to those persons choose any other, and beseeching Her Majesty to allow them to proceed with the election.
Sans date.

I. 34. Letter from Sir Francis Walsingham to the Lord Mayor, signifying the Queen's approval of the house provided by him for the Spanish Ambassador and his train, and also her consent that the office of Waterbailiff should be given to one of the persons who had a reversionary grant thereof, notwithstanding her request made on behalf of her servant.
8th June, 1580.

I. 546. Letter from Sir Francis Walsingham to the Lord Mayor, informing him of the arrival of the Swedish Ambassador, and the command of the Queen that he should be provided with a fair and convenient house in the City, with three several lodgings, well furnished, for himself and two other personages, and requesting the City officers to assist Her Majesty's harbinger in finding lodgings for the rest of the train, with stable room for twenty horses, and that any one refusing might be reported immediately.
Dated "From my house at Sething Lane," 17th October, 1583.

III. 112. Letter from the Earl of Suffolk (fn. 3) to the Lord Mayor, informing him of the arrival at Gravesend of an Ambassador from the Emperor of Muscovy, whom the King desired should be as well entertained as his predecessor, the particulars of which he would learn from Sir Thomas Smyth (fn. 4) and Mr. Mirick. (fn. 5) He was assured the Lord Mayor would see his part of the business well performed; that Sir Thomas Smyth, as Governor of the Muscovy Company, would be careful as to what pertained to him, whilst what pertained to himself as His Majesty's officer he would look to.
21st October, 1613.

III. 28. Letter from the Lords of the Council to the Lord Mayor, informing him of the expected arrival of an Ambassador (fn. 6) from the Duke of Savoy, and that the King, intending to receive and entertain him with such honour and courtesy as appertained to the servant of such a Prince, had directed Sir Lewis Lewkenor, (fn. 7) Master of the Ceremonies, to provide him such a convenient house in the City, for the lodging of himself and his company, as might be fit for his person and quality, and praying the Lord Mayor to assist the Master of the Ceremonies with his authority in the matter.
25th October, 1611.

IV. 48. Letter from the Lords of the Council to the Lord Mayor, informing him that the arrival of an Ambassador Extraordinary from the French King was shortly expected, and that the King desired he should be treated with extraordinary honour and courtesy. The Council, therefore, required the Lord Mayor to provide and make ready against his coming a fair and convenient house within the City, and have it furnished with hangings, bedding, and other necessary furniture; and if one house could not be found sufficient for the lodging of all his company, which it was thought might require eighteen or twenty beds, to take up sufficient lodgings in good houses adjoining.
9th January, 1616.

VI. 91. Letter from the Lord Chamberlain to the Lord Mayor, intimating that the King expected two Ambassadors Extraordinary from the State of Venice, whom he desired the Lord Mayor to take into his care, to be accommodated in one house within the City. As the Lord Chamberlain desired to give the Lord Mayor as little trouble as possible, he would name,—first, the house in Fenchurch Street, formerly Sir Arthur Ingram's; (fn. 8) second, one somewhat beyond it, where the States' Ambassadors' had formerly lodged; and, third, a house some time Alderman Jones's. His Majesty would see them furnished out of his own store; and that being considered, and the shortness of their stay (not intended above ten or twelve days), it would be no great prejudice to whichever of the houses he should fix upon.
Whitehall, 6th July, 1626.

VI. 185. Letter from the Lord Mayor to Lady Weld, (fn. 9) intimating that he had been required by the Lord Chamberlain to provide a house in London for the Spanish Ambassadors, shortly expected, and her house, in which Sheriff Backhouse (fn. 10) had lived last year, had been fixed upon. She need not trouble herself to leave any stuff, as the King's officers would wholly furnish it; a competent rent would be paid, and the house would be left in due repair. He therefore required her forthwith, without delay or excuse, to deliver it up to the persons appointed by the Lord Chamberlain to furnish it.
8th October, 1628.

VI. 188. Letter from the Lords of the Council to the Lord Mayor, intimating that an Ambassador from the Empire of Russia was expected, and the King had commanded them to give order for his reception with fitting honour. They therefore required the Lord Mayor to confer with Sir John Merick, Governor of the Muscovia Company, and provide a convenient house for the Ambassador's lodging, and to give order for such attendance on his arrival as was usual, and as the Master of the Ceremonies should direct.
Whitehall, 18th November, 1628.

VI. 189. Letter from the Lord Keeper (fn. 11) and the Lord Privy Seal (fn. 12) to the Lord Mayor, stating that the Lady Weld's house, which had been assigned for the lodging of the Spanish Ambassador, was found to be somewhat incommodious; they were therefore commanded by the King to request him to use his best endeavours for the speedy providing of some other fit house more conveniently seated. He must understand they had not relinquished Lady Weld's house, nor acquitted her of her contempt in not conforming to the King's desire, but had enjoined her obedience, and had only suspended her actual performance thereof, until trial had been made whether a more commodious house could be provided.
Whitehall, 17th November, 1629.

VI. 190. Letter from the Lord Mayor to the Lord Chamberlain, (fn. 13) acknowledging his letter of the 1st inst., in which, having understood the inconveniences of Mr. Alderman Parkhurst's (fn. 14) house as a lodging for the Spanish Ambassador, he had referred the matter to Sir Peter Yonge (fn. 15) to report thereon, and had directed that, if unfit, some other house should be provided. A house in which one of the Sheriffs lived last year was empty, and appeared both to Sir Peter Yonge and Sir John Fynett, (fn. 16) to be much the fitter, of which they would acquaint him.
Dated in margin, 8th October, 1629.

VII. 24. Letter from Sir John Cooke (fn. 17) to the Lord Mayor, stating that he understood from Lord Dorchester (fn. 18) he had sent the Lord Mayor the King's pleasure, and allowance of his invitation of the French Ambassador to his table; since which, upon further advice taken, it was His Majesty's pleasure that he should forbear the invitation, the reasons for which he should hereafter know more at large.
Dated in margin, 4th April, 1630.

VII. 183. Letter from the Lord Chamberlain (the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery) (fn. 19) to the Lord Mayor, requesting him to take steps for the provision of a house in the City for the King of Morocco's Ambassador, suddenly expected.
Hampton Court, 10th October, 1637.

VII. 205. Letter from the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, Lord Chamberlain, to the Lord Mayor, expressing the King's pleasure, at his care and readiness to accommodate the Morocco Ambassador, and further requesting that the Ambassador might be met at some reasonable distance from, and brought into, the City by such persons of quality as the Lord Mayor should think meet, and as had been formerly accustomed. Sir John Finett, Master of the Ceremonies, would advertize him of the Ambassador's coming.
Hampton Court, 15th October, 1627.

Footnotes

  • 1. Educated at King's College, Cambridge. Sat in the House of Commons for Banbury, 1559; Lyme Regis, 1563; Ambassador to France, 1570–3; made Secretary of State, 20th December, 1573; Knighted, 1st December, 1577; Ambassador to the Netherlands, 1578; to Scotland, 1583; one of the Commissioners for the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots, in October, 1586; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1587. He entertained Queen Elizabeth at his residence, Barn Elms, in May, 1589. He was twice married: his first wife was Anne, Daughter of Sir George Barnes; his second, Ursula, Daughter of Henry Saint Barbe, Esq., of Somersetshire. He died at his house in Seething Lane, April 6th, 1590, and was buried in, Saint Paul's. See Cooper's 'Athenæ Cantabrigienses,' vol. ii., p. 86, et seq.
  • 2. Bernardine Mendoza.
  • 3. Thomas Howard, youngest Son of Thomas, tenth Earl of Norfolk; created Earl of Suffolk, July 21st, 1603; K.G., 1611; Lord High Treasurer, 1614; Earl Marshal, August 29th, 1621; died, 1626.
  • 4. Appointed Latin Secretary, June 9th, 1604; subsequently became a Merchant of considerable note; one of the Directors of the East India Company, in 1616. He assembled the Merchant Trading Companies together at the wish of the King, to see what could be done to fit out a fleet against the Turkish pirates, March 12th, 1617; one of the Commissioners of the Navy from 1618 to 1625; appointed by the King Governor of the East India Company, July 15th, 1619, removed 1621; Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, 1626; his son Thomas married to Isabel, Lady Rich, 1618.
  • 5. Knighted June 13th, 1614; Ambassador to the Russian Court, 1619–22; subsequently was Governor of the Muscovy Company.
  • 6. The Marquis de Villa Nova.
  • 7. King James I., in 1603, created the office of Master of the Ceremonies, to receive and entertain Ambassadors and Princes during their abode in England, and by patent under the great Seal ordained Sir Lewis Lewkenor, Knight, to be Master of the Ceremonies, with an allowance of £200 a year (Nicholl's 'Progresses of King James I.,' vol. i. page 158); a new Patent was granted to him, November 16th, 1605, which allowed him his travelling expenses in addition to his former fee. (Rymer's 'Foedera,' vol. xvi. page 637.)
  • 8. Sir Arthur Ingram, Tallow-chandler; chosen Sheriff, June 27th, 1614, but refused to serve. He was Knighted at Theobalds, July 9th, 1612; sworn Cofferer of the King's Household, February 25th, 1614–15. A Free Gift of 666l. was presented to him in 1615. He held the Manor of Temple Newsome, Yorkshire. He was Sheriff of the County of York in 1619. From him was descended Henry Ingram, created Viscount Irvine and Baron Ingram, May 23rd, 1661, an ancestor of the Marquis of Hertford.
  • 9. Frances, the sister of Sir George Whitmore, Lord Mayor in 1631; married to Sir John Weld, son of Sir Humphrey Weld, Citizen and Grocer, Lord Mayor in 1608. A pedigree of this family is given in Clutterbuck's 'Hertfordshire,' vol. ii. page 358. By the marriage of their grandaughter, Margaret, with Sir William Bowyer, of Denham Court, Bucks, Knight and Baronet, they were the ancestors of Sir George Bowyer, Bart., M.P. for the County of Wexford. The Weld family had a town house in Wild Street (or Weld Street), Lincoln's Inn Fields. The mansion was built in the early part of the reign of Charles I., by Sir Edward Stradling, on ground then called Oldwick Close. It came into the possession of the Weld family in 1651. It had a centre and two wings; the street front was 150 feet, and the garden 300 feet deep from the street. One of the wings furnished a sufficient residence for the Countess of Exeter, and the other for the Portuguese and Spanish Ambassadors successively. (Heath's 'Grocers' Company.' See Pedigree, Robinson's 'History of Hackney,' vol. i. p.159.)
  • 10. Mercer, chosen Treasurer of the Irish Society, May 5th, 1615; elected Alderman of Queenhithe, May 31st, 1627; Sheriff, 1628; removed to Bishopsgate, May 31st, 1632; to Bassishaw, July 31st, 1634; discharged, at his own request, February 5th, 1639.
  • 11. Coventry.
  • 12. Earl of Manchester.
  • 13. Philip, Earl of Pembroke.
  • 14. Sir Robert Parkhurst, Clothworker, elected and sworn Alderman of Portsoken, September 23rd, 1624; Sheriff, 1624; Lord Mayor, 1634; removed to Bread Street, August 28th, 1634. William Abell, Vintner, elected Alderman in his room, circa November, 1636. He was the fourth son of Henry Parkhurst, of Guildford, Surrey. The Alderman held the Manor of Pirford, in the same county, where he resided. He died in 1636, and was buried in the Church of Holy Trinity, Guildford, where a monument was erected to his memory. His daughter, Elizabeth, married Sir Edmund Sawyer, Knight, one of the Auditors of the Exchequer. (See Manning and Bray's 'Surrey,' vol. i. p. 157; Brayley's 'Surrey,' vol. i. p. 344; and Le Neve's 'Knights.')
  • 15. Gentleman Usher to King Charles I.; Master of St. Cross Hospital, Winchester, in 1616. In 1627 he was sent, with Lord Spencer and Sir Henry St. George, Garter King at Arms, as Ambassadors to invest Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, with the order of the Garter. He was Knighted by that Monarch, and had permission to use the Royal Arms of Sweden as an augmentation.
  • 16. Son of Robert Fynett, Esq., of Soultion, near Dover; educated at Oxford; Knighted in 1614. He married Jane, Daughter of Henry, Lord Wentworth, of Nettlested, Suffolk; made Master of the Ceremonics, March 12th, 1626; died, July 12th, 1641; buried at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields.
  • 17. Coke, Sir John, appointed Secretary of State, 1629; with the King in the North, as Secretary, 1639.
  • 18. Sir Dudley Carleton, born 10th March, 1573; Ambassador to Venice, Savoy, and the Low Countries between 1611 and 1625; created Baron Carleton, May 22nd, 1626; Secretary of State, March, 1629; created Viscount Dorchester, July 25th, 1628; died 15th February, 1631–2.
  • 19. Philip, fourth Earl of Pembroke; created Earl of Montgomery, May 4th, 1605; K.G., 1608; Lord Chamberlain of the Household to King Charles I., 1625. He succeeded to the Earldom of Pembroke on the death of his brother William, third Earl, 10th April. 1630; Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and Constable of Windsor Castle, 1648; died, 1655.
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