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William Painter (or Paynter, c. 1540 – between 19 and 22 February 1595) was an English author and translator. As a clerk of the Ordnance in the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
, he was accused of fraud aimed at amassing a personal fortune at public expense.


Personal life

Painter was long believed to be a native of
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it fac ...
due to confusion with a namesake, who matriculated at
St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
in 1554. Painter married Dorothy Bonham in about 1565. They had at least five children – a son and four daughters. By 1587 their son Anthony had joined his father in his government work. Painter made an oral will dated 14 February 1594 and died between 19 and 22 February 1595 in London. He was buried in St Olave Hart Street, not far from the Tower.


Administrative career

In 1561 Painter became a clerk of the Ordnance in the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
, a post he held for the rest of his life. In 1566 the Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance, Edward Randolph, supplemented Painter's income with an annuity and a pension. Throughout his career, there were accusations of fraud and abuse of his position, in which he aimed to amass a personal fortune out of public funds. This culminated in 1586, when the Surveyor of the Ordnance, John Powell, accused Painter and two others of peculation (
embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...
). As his co-accused were deceased, only Painter could defend himself. He confessed that he owed the government a sum of just over £1000. Although he offered to repay this, the debt was not discharged until the time of Painter's grandson due to delays in his lifetime and discovery of more discrepancies after his death. The accusations notably comprise charges and counter-charges between government officials, which point to endemic corruption in the Elizabethan civil service.


Literary work

Painter began translating into English in 1558 with Nicholas à Moffan's ''Soltani Soymanni Turcorum Imperatoris horrendum facinus'', as ''Horrible and Cruell Murder of Sultan Solyman''. The work later became Novel 34 in his ''The Palace of Pleasure''. The first volume of Painter's ''The Palace of Pleasure'' appeared in 1566, dedicated to the Earl of Warwick. It included 60 tales and was followed in the next year by a second volume of 34. A second, improved edition in 1575 contained seven further stories. For these Painter borrowed from
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known for ...
,
Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was som ...
,
Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for h ...
,
Aulus Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, or ...
, Aelian,
Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...
,
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
,
Quintus Curtius Quintus Curtius Rufus () was a Roman historian, probably of the 1st century, author of his only known and only surviving work, ''Historiae Alexandri Magni'', " Histories of Alexander the Great", or more fully ''Historiarum Alexandri Magni Maced ...
, Giovanni Battista Giraldi,
Matteo Bandello Matteo Bandello ( 1480 – 1562) was an Italian writer, soldier, monk, and, later, a Bishop mostly known for his novellas. His collection of 214 novellas made him the most popular short-story writer of his day. Biography Matteo Bandello wa ...
, Ser Giovanni Fiorentino,
Giovanni Francesco Straparola Giovanni Francesco "Gianfrancesco" Straparola, also known as Zoan or Zuan Francesco Straparola da Caravaggio (ca. 1485?–1558), was an Italian writer of poetry, and collector and writer of short stories. Some time during his life, he migrated f ...
, Queen Marguerite de Navarre and others. The notable fashion for Italian settings in Elizabethan drama derived partly from the vogue for Painter's work and similar collections. The early tragedies ''
Appius and Virginia ''Appius and Virginia'' is an early 17th-century stage play, a tragedy by John Webster (and perhaps Thomas Heywood). It is the third and least famous of his tragedies, after ''The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi''. Heywood On the basis ...
'', and '' Tancred and Gismund'' were taken from ''The Palace of Pleasure''.
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's ''
Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...
'', '' Timon of Athens'', ''
Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...
'', and '' All's Well That Ends Well'' are all derived from Painter, the last from his translation of ''Giletta of Narbonne''. Other playwrights likewise made extensive use of work by Painter and similar translators. This is believed to be the case with well-known works such as
Beaumont and Fletcher Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, who collaborated in their writing during the reign of James I (1603–25). They became known as a team early in their association, so much so that their joi ...
's ''Triumph of Death'',
John Webster John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies ''The White Devil'' and ''The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and care ...
's ''
The Duchess of Malfi ''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre ...
'' (from ''Belleforest''), and
James Shirley James Shirley (or Sherley) (September 1596 – October 1666) was an English dramatist. He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Charles Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so m ...
's ''
Love's Cruelty ''Love's Cruelty'' is a Caroline-era stage play, a tragedy written by James Shirley, and first published in 1640. The play was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 14 November 1631. Like the majority of S ...
''. ''The Palace of Pleasure'' was edited by
Joseph Haslewood Joseph Haslewood (5 November 1769 – 21 September 1833) was an English writer and antiquary. He was a founder of the Roxburghe Club. Life Haslewood was born in London, the son of Richard Haslewood and his wife Mary Dewsberry.Francis Haslewood Th ...
in 1813. This edition was collated (1890) with the British Museum copy of 1575 by Joseph Jacobs, who added further prefatory matter, including some on the importance of the Italian novella in Elizabethan drama. It has been suggested that Painter was responsible for the 1580 work ''A Moorning Diti upon the Deceas of the High and Mighti Prins Henri, Earl of Arundel'', attributed to Guil. P. G.


Namesakes

Painter had at least one contemporary namesake. One attended Cambridge in 1554–1557, matriculating from St John's College. This may be the same William Painter as the schoolmaster of
Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School is a highly selective coeducational independent school in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. It is the second oldest non-denominational school in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1432, only behind Oswestry (1407). Over 1,000 day pupils ...
, Kent. He translated
William Fulke William Fulke (; 1538buried 28 August 1589) was an English Puritan divine. Life He was born in London and educated at St John's College, Cambridge graduating in 1557/58. After studying law for six years, he became a fellow at St John's Colleg ...
's ''Antiprognosticon'', published in 1560, writing the dedication "From Seuenoke xxii. of Octobre". Fulke was a contemporary at St John's College. William Painter the schoolmaster died in Sevenoaks in June 1561, leaving a widow, Alice. Church of England records include one or more individuals named William Painter or William Paynter, with ordinations in 1560 and 1561 and appointments in the dioceses of Bath and Wells, Canterbury, Rochester and Lincoln.Clergy database.
/ref> One William Painter died in London about 1597, leaving a widow, Winifred, and was interred at
St Mary Aldermanbury St Mary Aldermanbury was a parish church in the City of London first mentioned in 1181 and destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666. Rebuilt in Portland stone by Christopher Wren, it was again gutted by the Blitz in 1940, leaving only the ...
.


References


Sources

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Painter, William 1540s births 1595 deaths People from Kent Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 16th-century male writers 16th-century English novelists