Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote 1584-1631

On 6th April 1584 Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote was born to Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 33] and Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford [aged 27] at Theobalds House, Hertfordshire.

On 5th June 1588 Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford [aged 31] died. She was buried at the Chapel of St Nicholas, Westminster Abbey [Map]. She shares a monument with her mother Mildred Cooke Baroness Burghley [aged 62]. The monument rises to twenty-four feet, and is constructed of various coloured marbles, after a design of the Corinthian order. The Latin inscriptions, which are very long, were written by Lord Burleigh [aged 67] himself, and set forth the varied accomplishments and the virtues of the two ladies who are represented in effigy in the lower part of the monument. The figure of Lord Burleigh, in his robes, and in a kneeling attitude, appears in the upper part of the monument.

In 1591 Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 40] sold Hedingham Castle [Map] to his father-in-law William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 70] in trust for his three daughters Elizabeth Vere Countess Derby [aged 15], Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote [aged 6] and Susan Vere Countess Montgomery [aged 3] by his first wife Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford.

Before 27th December 1591 Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 41] and Elizabeth TrenthamCountess of Oxford were married. She by marriage Countess of Oxford. She brought her husband a dowry of £1000 bequeathed to her in her father's will, payable at the rate of 500 marks a year for three years. He the son of John de Vere 16th Earl of Oxford and Margery Golding Countess of Oxford.

On 26th January 1595 [her brother-in-law] William Stanley 6th Earl of Derby [aged 34] and [her sister] Elizabeth Vere Countess Derby [aged 19] were married. She by marriage Countess Derby. She the daughter of [her father] Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 44] and [her mother] Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford. He the son of Henry Stanley 4th Earl of Derby and Margaret Clifford Countess Derby [aged 55]. They were fifth cousins. He a great x 2 grandson of King Henry VII of England and Ireland.

On 28th April 1599 Francis Norreys 1st Earl Berkshire [aged 19] and Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote [aged 15] were married. She the daughter of Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 49] and Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford. He the son of William Norreys and Elizabeth Morrison Countess Lincoln. They were fifth cousin once removed.

On 13th January 1601 Bridget Hussey Countess Bedford [aged 75] died. She was originally interred at St Marys Church, Watford. The monument was probably moved when the Bedford Chapel, St Michael's Church, Chenies was extended in 1906. [her husband] Francis Norreys 1st Earl Berkshire [aged 21] inherited £3000.

Marble altar tomb chest with flat vertical pilaster strips; on sides and ends are shields with arms. Recumbent effigy of alabaster, coloured in robes of a peeress with ruff and close fitting cap. At the left and right of the tomb chest, on little stands, are two kneeling male figures in armour, carved in full relief, both facing West, thought to represent her grandsons Francis Norreys 1st Earl Berkshire and - Francis, Lord Norreys and Sir Charles Morrison Bt.

On 27th June 1601 Henry Norreys [aged 76] died at Rycote, Oxfordshire [Map]. His grandson [her husband] Francis [aged 21] succeeded 2nd Baron Norreys of Rycote. Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote [aged 17] by marriage Baroness Norreys of Rycote. Francis Norreys 1st Earl Berkshire inherited the Rycote and Wytham estates. His title to his estates was challenged by his uncle, Sir Edward Norreys, but the latter died in 1603, whose estates also passed to Lord Norreys.

Around 1603 [her daughter] Elizabeth Norreys 3rd Baroness Norreys Rycote was born to [her husband] Francis Norreys 1st Earl Berkshire [aged 23] and Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote [aged 18]. She married 27th March 1622 Edward Wray, son of William Wray 1st Baronet and Lucy Montagu, and had issue.

On 24th June 1604 [her father] Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 54] died at his home in King Street Covent Garden. His son [her half-brother] Henry [aged 11] succeeded 18th Earl of Oxford.

On 28th January 1621 [her husband] Francis Norreys 1st Earl Berkshire [aged 41] was created 1st Earl Berkshire, 1st Viscount Thame. Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote [aged 36] by marriage Countess Berkshire.

On 29th January 1622 [her husband] Francis Norreys 1st Earl Berkshire [aged 42] shot himself with a crossbow at Rycote, Oxfordshire [Map]; probably deliberately in view of his having a year before been imprisoned for attaching Emmanuel Scrope [aged 37] at the House of Lords in front of the future King Charles. He died two days later.. He was buried at Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire [Map]. His daughter Elizabeth [aged 19] succeeded 3rd Baroness Norreys of Rycote. Earl Berkshire and Viscount Thame extinct. Francis Rose [aged 13] inherited the manors of Weston-on-the-Green and Yattendon. Elizabeth Norreys 3rd Baroness Norreys Rycote inherited the Rycote and Wytham estates.

On 27th March 1622 [her son-in-law] Edward Wray and Elizabeth Norreys 3rd Baroness Norreys Rycote [aged 19] were married at Church of St Mary Aldermary. Christopher Villiers [aged 29], brother of George, Duke of Buckingham [aged 29], had, with Royal encouragement, sought her hand. To avoid being forced into a marriage with him she eloped with Edward Wray. She the daughter of Francis Norreys 1st Earl Berkshire and Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote [aged 37].

On 1st January 1624 [her half-brother] Henry de Vere 18th Earl of Oxford [aged 30] and [her sister-in-law] Diana Cecil Countess of Oxford and Elgin [aged 28] were married. She by marriage Countess of Oxford. She the daughter of William Cecil 2nd Earl Exeter [aged 58] and Elizabeth Drury Countess Exeter [aged 45]. He the son of [her father] Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford and [her step-mother] Elizabeth TrenthamCountess of Oxford. They were fifth cousin once removed.

In June 1625 [her half-brother] Henry de Vere 18th Earl of Oxford [aged 32] died. His second cousin Robert [aged 49] succeeded 19th Earl of Oxford.

On 10th March 1627 [her sister] Elizabeth Vere Countess Derby [aged 51] died at Richmond, Surrey [Map]. She was buried at Westminster Abbey [Map].

In 1628 [her sister] Susan Vere Countess Montgomery [aged 40] died.

Before 1631 Hugh Pollard 2nd Baronet [aged 27] and Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote [aged 46] were married. She the daughter of Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford and Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford. They were second cousin twice removed.

Around January 1631 Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote [aged 46] died. She was buried at Westminster Abbey [Map].

After 1647 [her former husband] Hugh Pollard 2nd Baronet [aged 44] and Mary Stevens [aged 28] were married.

On 27th November 1666 [her former husband] Hugh Pollard 2nd Baronet [aged 63] died at Whitehall Palace [Map]. His brother [her former brother-in-law] Amyas [aged 50] succeeded 3rd Baronet Pollard of King's Knympton in Devon.

[her daughter] Bridget Pollard was born to Hugh Pollard 2nd Baronet and Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote.