Aston Cockayne
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Sir Aston Cockayne, 1st Baronet (1608–1684) Also spelt Aston Cockain was, in his day, a well-known
Cavalier The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...
and a minor literary figure, now best remembered as a friend of
Philip Massinger Philip Massinger (1583 – 17 March 1640) was an English dramatist. His plays, including '' A New Way to Pay Old Debts'', '' The City Madam'', and '' The Roman Actor'', are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and soci ...
, John Fletcher,
Michael Drayton Michael Drayton ( – ) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era, continuing to write through the reign of James I and into the reign of Charles I. Many of his works consisted of historical poetry. He was also the fir ...
,
Richard Brome Richard Brome ; (c. 1590? – 24 September 1652) was an English dramatist of the Caroline era. Life Virtually nothing is known about Brome's private life. Repeated allusions in contemporary works, like Ben Jonson's '' Bartholomew Fair'', in ...
, Thomas Randolph, and other writers of his generation.


Biography

Aston Cockayne was the son of Thomas Cockayne and Ann, the daughter of
Sir John Stanhope Sir John Stanhope (1559 – 1611) was an English knight and landowner, and father of Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield. Career John Stanhope was the son of Sir Thomas Stanhope (d. 1596) of Shelford Manor, Nottinghamshire, and Margaret ...
; Cockayne was born at Ashbourne Hall in Derbyshire, and baptised on 20 December 1608. He was educated at
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
, the University of Oxford, and at the
Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...
. Like many other aristocrats of his time, he travelled through Europe in his youth, spending much of 1632 in France and Italy; like a few, he became fluent in their languages, and translated works of literature into English. Cockayne was a Roman Catholic, and like other Catholics in his country in his era, was active in resistance against the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
and the social order that supported it. On 10 January 1641
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
elevated him to
baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
. During the
English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
he took the Royalist side. He joined the future Charles II in exile for a time. For much of the
English Interregnum The Interregnum was the period between the execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649 and the arrival of his son Charles II of England, Charles II in London on 29 May 1660, which marked the start of the Stuart Restoration, Restoration. During the ...
he lived on his estate of
Pooley Hall Pooley Hall is a manor house built in 1509 on the outskirts of Polesworth, Warwickshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and a private residence. The Cockayne family The present hall was built in 1509 by Sir Thomas Cockayne "The M ...
, at
Polesworth Polesworth is a large village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. It is situated close to the northern tip of the county, adjacent to the border with Staffordshire. It is eas ...
in Warwickshire. Cockayne was a cousin of the poet
Charles Cotton Charles Cotton (28 April 1630 – 16 February 1687) was an English poet and writer, best known for translating the work of Michel de Montaigne from French, for his contributions to ''The Compleat Angler'', and for the influential ''The Complea ...
(1630–87), and had connections with Cotton's circle, which included
Izaak Walton Izaak Walton (baptised 21 September 1593 – 15 December 1683) was an English writer. Best known as the author of ''The Compleat Angler'' (1653), he also wrote a number of short biographies including one of his friend John Donne. They have been ...
(1598–1683). Cockayne held the lands and Lordships of the Manors of Pooley in Warwickshire, and of Ashbourne. But in his later years he suffered financially, due to gambling. He sold Ashbourne Hall to Sir William Boothby (see
Boothby baronets There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Boothby, both in the Baronetage of England. One creation is extant as of 2022. The Boothby Baronetcy, of Broadlow Ash in the County of Derby, was created in the Baronetage of ...
), in 1671 to pay creditors, and the family subsequently lost his manor at Pooley Hall in Warwickshire. He died in poverty.


Works

Cockayne is the author of ''A Masque at Bretbie,'' which was performed on
Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...
of the Christmas season in 1639, and of ''Small Poems of Divers Sorts'', published in 1658. He also wrote plays: ''The Obstinate Lady,'' a comedy (first printed 1657), and ''Trappolin Suppos'd a Prince,'' a
tragicomedy Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragedy, tragic and comedy, comic forms. Most often seen in drama, dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the ov ...
(printed 1658); and ''The Tragedy of Ovid'' (or ''Ovid's Tragedy'') (printed 1662). All three were published in one volume by
Francis Kirkman Francis Kirkman (1632 – c. 1680) appears in many roles in the English literary world of the second half of the seventeenth century, as a publisher, bookseller, librarian, author and bibliographer. In each he is an enthusiast for popular liter ...
in 1669. His works and his surviving letters constitute still-useful sources of information on the social and cultural affairs of mid-17th-century England. Cockayne's ''Small Poems'' collection of 1658 included verses to
Humphrey Moseley Humphrey Moseley (died 31 January 1661) was a prominent London publisher and bookseller in the middle seventeenth century. Life Possibly a son of publisher Samuel Moseley, Humphrey Moseley became a "freeman" (a full member) of the Stationers C ...
, publisher of the 1647
Beaumont and Fletcher Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather t ...
folio. In that poem, Cockayne, a friend to both Massinger and Fletcher, noted that Massinger was part-author of many plays in the 1647
Beaumont and Fletcher folio The Beaumont and Fletcher folios are two large folio collections of the stage plays of John Fletcher and his collaborators. The first was issued in 1647, and the second in 1679. The two collections were important in preserving many works of En ...
—which eventually inspired a sweeping examination of the authorship problem in the canon of John Fletcher and his various collaborators.McGee, C.E., Magnusson, A. Lynne, eds., ''The Elizabethan Theatre XV: PART I: Collective Invention and Collaboration'', (Meany, Toronto, 2002); various articles. He dedicated his tragedy on
Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...
, to his cousin Charles Cotton.


Family

He married Mary Kniveton, daughter of Sir Gilbert Kniveton Baronet, High Sheriff of Derbyshire. Aston and Mary had 3 children: A son, who died in his father's lifetime, leaving no issue; and two daughters, Mary and Isabella, who were co-heiresses. Aston's titles and Lordships passed to main Cockayne family line; to Caleb Cockayne the male representative of the family proceeding from the sons of Sir Edward Cockayne, Sir Aston's grandfather.


Ancestry


Notes


References

* ;Attribution *


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cockayne, Aston 1608 births 1684 deaths English dramatists and playwrights Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Oxford Cavaliers People from Ashbourne, Derbyshire English male dramatists and playwrights English male poets