Pt. 6: Drurys of Hawstead, cont'd.

~Please be patient while graphics load!~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drury arms on the alabaster tomb of Elizabeth Drury in All Saint's Church, Hawstead. The Drury arms are in the top left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sir William Drury, who entertained Queen Elizabeth at Hawstead, was succeeded by his son, Sir Robert Drury (1574/75 - 1615) who married Anne Bacon, daughter of Sir Nicholas Bacon, bart. of Redgrave, Suffolk. Sir Robert was sent by Queen Elizabeth in 1591 with Essex to help Henry IV against Philip and the League. At age sixteen, Robert was knighted by the Earl of Essex at the Siege of Rouen on October 8, 1592. From the Drury Family Papers manuscript of Richard Montray Drury: "According to Johnson and Stevens notes, ...he was dubbed not with an unhacked rapier, and on carpet consideration, but in the field of battle; an honor of which military people were not a little proud; and who contemptuously called those carpet knights, who received that dignity at home in the soft silken days of peace."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Right: Tomb of Sir Robert Drury, his wife Anne Bacon, and daughter Dorothy, next to the altar in All Saint's Church at Hawstead. Details are enlarged below.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Below, top row: Sir Robert Drury; his casket latch. Middle row: Arms of Ann Bacon (similar to Drury arms but without the piercing of the stars) quartered with Quaplode, a Bacon ancestor; marble details of the monument; bottom: inscriptions on the tomb. The poem is to his daughter Dorothy, who died in infancy: "She little, proms'd much; Too soone untide; She onely dreamt she liv'd, And then she dy'ed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the death of his infant daughter Dorothy, Sir Robert cherished his remaining daughter Elizabeth all the more. Sir Robert was a friend and benefactor of Dr. John Donne, the famous poet, who lived rent-free in an apartment in the Drury town house on Drury Lane in London. When Sir Robert Drury lost his daughter Elizabeth in 1610, he was grief stricken and Donne penned two poems for her, one of which is engraved on her tomb. It includes the refrain, "Her pure and eloquent blood; Spoke in her cheekes, and so distinctly wrought; That one might almost say her body thought." Sir Robert is said to have been so distressed by the loss of his heir that he moved from Hawstead Place and moved to Hardwick Hall shortly after. Elizabeth was said to have been destined to marry Prince Henry, eldest son of King James I.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Left: Alabaster tomb of Elizabeth Drury, second daughter of Sir Robert Drury and Anne Bacon. The 13 coats of arms, quartered by Drury, beneath Elizabeth is at the top of this page.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Above: The arms of Sir Robert Drury, displayed on a wall painting, on a stone shield overlooking the casket of Sir Robert, and on the tomb of his daughter, Elizabeth. Starting from the top left of the wall painting, the arms are: 1. Drury, 2. Saxham, 3. Fressel, 4. Geddyng, 5. Sotehill, 6. Plompton, 7. A fess between six lions rampant, 8. Murdac, 9. Boyville, 10. A fess between three horseshoes, 11. Three fusils in fess barry wavy, 12. Foljambe, and 13. Pynings. Joan de Saxham was the wife of Nicholas Drury of Thurston; her mother was Agnes Fressel, whose mother was Catherine Geddying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Click here to continue the Drury journey Lawshall

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~