Biography of Anthony Mildmay 1549-1617

Paternal Family Tree: Mildmay

Maternal Family Tree: Mary Troutbeck 1488-1507

On 8th September 1549 Anthony Mildmay was born to Walter Mildmay [aged 28] and Mary Walsingham [aged 21]. It appears from his widow's provision for a memorial sermon to him, on the Nativity of Our Lady, 8th Sept, but in the year is unclear. To judge from the date of his entry to Peterhouse, it may have been 1549.

On 9th August 1564 Anthony Mildmay [aged 14], whilst being educated at Peterhouse College, Cambridge University [Map], delivered an oration to Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland [aged 30] with much success during her visit to the college.

In 1567 Anthony Mildmay [aged 17] and Grace Sharington [aged 15] were married. They lived at Apethorpe Hall, Northamptonshire.

Before 1571 [his father] Walter Mildmay [aged 49] and [his mother] Mary Walsingham [aged 42] were married.

In 1571 Anthony Mildmay [aged 21] was elected MP Newton.

On 16th March 1576 [his mother] Mary Walsingham [aged 48] died.

In 1579 Anthony Mildmay [aged 29] entered Gray's Inn.

In 1580 Anthony Mildmay [aged 30] was appointed High Sheriff of Northamptonshire.

In 1581 [his father-in-law] Henry Sharington of Lacock in Wiltshire [aged 49] died. His two surviving daughters for many disputed his will. According to [his wife] Grace Sharington [aged 29] her sister [his sister-in-law] Olive Sharington [aged 28] had persuaded their father to change his will. Grace Sharington eventually gained an equal share.

Around 1582 [his daughter] Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland was born to Anthony Mildmay [aged 32] and [his wife] Grace Sharington [aged 30]. She married 15th February 1598 Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland, son of Thomas Fane and Mary Neville 7th and 5th Baroness Abergavenny 3rd Baroness Despencer, and had issue.

Memoires of Jacques du Clercq

This is a translation of the 'Memoires of Jacques du Clercq', published in 1823 in two volumes, edited by Frederic, Baron de Reissenberg. In his introduction Reissenberg writes: 'Jacques du Clercq tells us that he was born in 1424, and that he was a licentiate in law and a counsellor to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the castellany of Douai, Lille, and Orchies. It appears that he established his residence at Arras. In 1446, he married the daughter of Baldwin de la Lacherie, a gentleman who lived in Lille. We read in the fifth book of his Memoirs that his father, also named Jacques du Clercq, had married a lady of the Le Camelin family, from Compiègne. His ancestors, always attached to the counts of Flanders, had constantly served them, whether in their councils or in their armies.' The Memoires cover a period of nineteen years beginning in in 1448, ending in in 1467. It appears that the author had intended to extend the Memoirs beyond that date; no doubt illness or death prevented him from carrying out this plan. As Reissenberg writes the 'merit of this work lies in the simplicity of its narrative, in its tone of good faith, and in a certain air of frankness which naturally wins the reader’s confidence.' Du Clercq ranges from events of national and international importance, including events of the Wars of the Roses in England, to simple, everyday local events such as marriages, robberies, murders, trials and deaths, including that of his own father in Book 5; one of his last entries.

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In 1584 Anthony Mildmay [aged 34] was elected MP Wiltshire which seat he held until 1588.

Around 1585. Nicholas Hilliard [aged 38]. Miniature Portrait of Anthony Mildmay [aged 35]. Hilliard represents Mildmay standing in a luxurious tent filled with beautiful furniture preparing for a tournament surrounded by objects that allow the artist to feature a variety of rich textures including red velvet, blue ostrich feathers, and gleaming metal.

On 31st May 1589 [his father] Walter Mildmay [aged 68] died at Hackney. He is buried at St Bartholomew the Less with his wife [his mother] Mary Walsingham.

In 1592 Anthony Mildmay [aged 42] was appointed High Sheriff of Northamptonshire.

In 1597 Anthony Mildmay [aged 47] was elected MP Westminster.

In 1597 Anthony Mildmay [aged 47] was appointed Ambassador to France.

On 15th February 1598 [his son-in-law] Francis Fane 1st Earl of Westmoreland [aged 18] and [his daughter] Mary Mildmay Countess of Westmoreland [aged 16] were married.

Before 11th September 1617. Unknown Painter. Portrait of Anthony Mildmay [aged 68] at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University which father Walter Mildmay founded.

On 11th September 1617 Anthony Mildmay [aged 68] died. He was buried at the Church of St Leonard, Apethorpe [Map]. His inscription reads ... Here sleepeth in the Lord with certaine hope of resurection Sr Antony Mildmay Knt eldet sonne to Sr Walter Mildmay Knt Chaunclor of the Exchequor. to Queene Elizabeth. He was Embassador from Queen Eliza: to the most Christian King of Fraunce Henry the 4th Ano. 1596; He was to Prince and Country faithful, and serviceable, in peace and warre, to freinds constant to enemies reconciliable. Bountiful and loved hospitality. He died September 11 1617.

On 27th July 1620 Grace Sharington [aged 68] died. She was buried at the Church of St Leonard, Apethorpe [Map]. The inscription of her monument reads ... Here also lyeth Grace Ladie Mildmay the only wife of the saied Sr Antho: Mildmay one of the heyres of Sr Henry Sharington Knt: of Lacock in the County of Wiltes who lived 50 years maried to him and three years a widow after him. she was most devout, unspotedly chast mayd, wife, and widow, compassionate in heart, and charitably helpful with phisick, cloathes, nourishment, or counsels to any in misery, She was most careful and wise in managing worldly estate. So as her life was a blessing to hirs, and hir death she blessed them which hapned July 27 1620.

From RCHME Inventory. It is of grey veined and black marble and is partly gilded and painted. Two effigies lie on a black and white marble tomb chest beneath a baldachino consisting of a shallow dome with a cupola having round-headed openings in its drum, which give light to the interior. The baldachino is supported at each end by a rectangular pier onto which curtains, hanging from the architrave of the dome, are looped. Against the piers are standing figures representing the four Virtues, and the frieze is inscribed 'Devoute', 'Wise', 'Charitable' and 'Just'; the frieze is also inscribed 'Chaste' and 'Valiant'. The head of the figure representing Justice is modern. Seated on the cornice are smaller figures, on the E. of Faith and on the W. of Hope; on the cupola dome is a seated figure of Charity. Crowning the cornice are freestanding cartouches of arms of Mildmay (N.E. and S.E.) and Sherington (N.W. and S.W.). Against the cupola drum are shields of arms of Mildmay impaling Sherington, both quartered with alliances, and Mildmay quarterly. The W. pier of the baldachino is inscribed with a record of the setting up of the monument by Sir Francis Fane [aged 37] in 1621. The tomb chest is enriched with emblems of mortality and eulogistically-phrased inscriptions record the lives of Sir Anthony on the S., and of Lady Grace on the N. The effigies lie on rush mats, he in Greenwich armour, she in full mantle, ruff and head-dress. The authorship of the monument is not known but the figures of the four Virtues are in the manner of Maximillian Colt [aged 42] (cf. Cecil monument, Hatfield, Hertfordshire); the baldachino may be compared with that over the tomb of the Countess of Derby at Harefield, Middlesex, probably also by Colt.

Grace Sharington: Around 1552 she was born to Henry Sharington of Lacock in Wiltshire and Anne Paggett of Lacock Abbey. In 1567 Anthony Mildmay and she were married. They lived at Apethorpe Hall, Northamptonshire. In 1581 Henry Sharington of Lacock in Wiltshire died. His two surviving daughters for many disputed his will. According to Grace Sharington her sister Olive Sharington had persuaded their father to change his will. Grace Sharington eventually gained an equal share.

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