Copyright Information All material is made available free of charge for individual, non-commercial use only. The copyright and other intellectual property rights in the transcribed letter text, metadata about the letters and the design of the letter display are owned by the University of Glasgow. You are permitted to access, print and download letters from this site on the following conditions: - use of all material on this site is for information and for non-commercial or your own personal use only; any copies of these pages saved to disk or to any other storage medium may only be used for subsequent viewing purposes or to print extracts for non-commercial or your own personal use. - the content must not be modified in any way. - any use of the material for a permitted purpose must be accompanied by a full source citation. No part of this site may be reproduced or stored in any other web site or included in any public or private electronic retrieval system or service without the University of Glasgow's prior written permission. Commercial exploitation of the transcribed letters, including use by radio or television programme makers and examination boards, is prohibited without licence from the University of Glasgow. Further information on copyright and citation can be found at:- (URL: http://www.bessofhardwick.org/background.jsp?id=171) To my very frend Syr Frances Walsyingham Knyght prence-pall secretory to her Majes^ty Counte^sse Shrewsbu^ry La.dy arabella about 1582 May Lady Arabella was born in 1575 (or 1577) & was now near 7 years old. Domestic Elizabeth Domestic 86 90 Countesse of Shrewsbury's Land 988 85 85 40 Good Maste^r Secretarie with my ryght harty comendatyons I pray you take in good parte my lyke desyar that yt will please you to prefare my humble sute unto the quenes Majes^ty in the behaulfe of a pore ynfant my Iuyll arbella: who ys to depend wholly vpon her Majes^tys bounty and goodness being in her tender age depryved of her parrents. whos late mother in her extreeme sycknes, and even at the appro-ching of her end (which I cannot without great grefe remem-bar) dyd most earnestly sundrye tymes recommend to her Ma.jes^tys gracyous goodnes and favor that poore infant her only care with hartye desyar, and confedence, that her Majes^ty myght inioy a Long and prosperous raigne and be a gracyous Patrone, and

soufarigne

souveraine to that her innocent chyld, as her Majes^ty had hetherto. ben to them both. and for as much as the foure hondryth poundes yerely graunted to my Lady's daughtar ys by her death at the quenes Ma.jes^ty's dysposytyon, my humble sute ys that her hyghnes whos manyfould gracious favours and bountye have so much bound me as no subiecte can be more to a most worthy soufarigne wyll vouchesaffe to graunt the same foure hundryth poundes yearly with the other tow hondryth pounds to Arbella for her maintenance duaring her mynorytye, which is but for a few yeares, whereof I dout not but her ma.jes^ty wyll favorable accepte as he-therto she hath don of all my sutes, and conseder, that her brenging up every way as appartayneth, and so as she may be able the sonar in service to attend upon her Ma.jes^ty (which I chefly desyar) will hardly be parformed with syxe hondryth pounds yearly in mony and more commodetye ys not to be made of thos Lands being as they are in lesse, I do not lyke she should be now here as she was with her Mother in her lyfe tyme, nether can I be contented she be in any place wher I may not som tymes se her and dayly here of her well doing, and therfore at great chargs to kepe her in house with such as are fytt to attend upon her and be in her compeny, and being neare well towards vij yeares ould she ys of very greate towardnes to learne any theng, and I very carefull of her good educatyon, as yf she were my owne and only chyld, and a great deale more for the consanguynitye she is of to her Ma.jes^ty whose happye raigne 7 years old 89 (40.) over us I dayly with most zealous mynd pray the Almeghty Gouernor of all thenges long to contenew and now craveing most hartelye your frendshep in moveing thys sute to her Ma.jesty I refare the same to your Wysdom being better able to conseder therof then I am at this present, who cannot so soone enter into any thought of thes causes but that I am overcharged with gryefes, and so make an end of this my unconsederat Letters trusting her hyghnes wyll accepte of my loyall dutye and service, which I de-syar you wyll commend unto her royall Mayestye. Sheffeld this vj^th of May. your very loving frend E Shrouesbury. Initial version