Dorothy Bulstrode or Boulstred (1592-1650) was a

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and List of English royal consorts, Queen of Engl ...

. One of her older sisters was

Cecily Bulstrode Cecily Bulstrode (15844 August 1609) was a courtier and subject of poetry. She was the daughter of Edward Bulstrode (1550–1595) and Cecily Croke; she was a cousin of Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford, in whose household she was a member in 1605. ...

, who was the subject of poems by

Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...

and

John Donne John Donne ( ; 1571 or 1572 – 31 March 1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary born into a recusant family, who later became a clergy, cleric in the Church of England. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul's, D ...

Childhood

She was the youngest of six daughters of Edward Bulstrode (d. 1598) of

Hedgerley Hedgerley is a village and civil parish in South Bucks district in Buckinghamshire, England. The parish is centred south-east of Beaconsfield and south-west of Gerrards Cross. The parish has incorporated the formerly separate parish of Hedge ...

, Buckinghamshire, and Cecill Croke who married in London on 28 May 1571 at

St Dunstan-in-the-West The Guild Church of St Dunstan-in-the-West is in Fleet Street in the City of London. It is dedicated to Dunstan, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is of medieval origin, although the present building, with an octagonal na ...

. The names of her siblings are recorded on her father's tomb at St Laurence's Church, Upton-cum-Chalvey. Dorothy's eldest sister Elizabeth (1575-1631) married the lawyer James Whitelocke in 1602. Elizabeth was mother to Bulstrode Whitelocke,(1605-1675), prominent parliamentarian, lawyer and Ambassador to the Swedish Court of Queen Christina for the New Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. Another sister Anne Bulstrode (d. 1611) married the lawyer John Searle (1569-1622) in 1609. Her grandfather Sir

John Croke Sir John Croke (1553 – 20 January 1620) After selling Chilton, he died in prison, and the issue passed to his only son, Sir Dodsworth Croke. Dodsworth Croke lived in poverty, and died issueless, in old age, in 1728. See also * Croke baronet ...

died at Chilton in February 1609, leaving in his will £100 "to my daughter Bulstrode towards the preferment of her daughters unmarried".

Life at court

Dorothy and her older sister

(1584-1609) were both gentlewomen in the bedchamber of

, and associated with the influential courtier

Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford ( Harington; 1581–1627) was a major aristocratic patron of the arts and literature in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, the primary non-royal performer in contemporary court masques, a letter-writer, and a ...

. They had a family connection to Lady Bedford's Harington family through their aunt Cecily Bulstrode who married her grandfather

Robert Keilway Robert Keilway (''alias'' Kellway, Keylway, Kaylway, Kelloway, etc.) (in or before 1515–1581) of Minster Lovell Hall in Oxfordshire, was an English people, English politician and court official. He was the son of Robert Keilway (by 1483 – ...

. Bulstrode was involved in the queen's

masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A mas ...

s, and on one occasion took delivery of a

sceptre A sceptre (or scepter in American English) is a Staff of office, staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of regalia, royal or imperial insignia, signifying Sovereignty, sovereign authority. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and M ...

with a dove from the Royal Jewelhouse as a prop. A wing was lost.

Marriage

She married in 1609 or 1610, Sir John Eyre (1580-1639), or "Ayres" of

Great Chalfield Manor Great Chalfield Manor is an English country house at Great Chalfield, about northeast of the town of Bradford on Avon in the west of the county of Wiltshire. History Nikolaus Pevsner describes Great Chalfield as "one of the most perfect exa ...

, Wiltshire.EYRE, Sir John (1580-1639), of Great Chalfield, Wilts.; later of St. Giles-in-the-Fields, Mdx.
''

The History of Parliament The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in w ...

''. Retrieved 1 December 2017. After her marriage, Dorothy was known as "Lady Eyre" or "Lady Ayres". James Whitelocke, recalling the events of 1611, recorded that Eyre and Bulstrode were married without the consent of either family, and wrote, "the man is one of the most dissolute, unjust, and vicious reprobates that lives upon the face of the earth". Anna of Denmark gave presents of clothing to her gentlewomen, and gave Dorothy, "Lady Eayres", a gown of ash-colour taffeta on 4 July 1610 and a black satin gown on 14 October 1610.

Portraits and jealousy

In 1611 Eyre attempted to murder Sir Edward Herbert, whom he suspected of having an affair with his wife Dorothy Bulstrode. Herbert, two years earlier, had written an epitaph for Dorothy's sister Cecily. In his autobiography he describes his encounter with "Sir John Ayres" in detail. According to Herbert,

obtained his portrait by William Larkin and Dorothy had it copied in miniature by

Isaac Oliver Isaac Oliver ( – bur. 2 October 1617) or Olivier was an English portrait miniature painter. Life and work Born in Rouen around 1565, he moved to London in 1568 with his Huguenot parents Peter and Epiphany Oliver to escape the Wars of Reli ...

, and she wore it in a gold locket concealed to view. Herbert wrote, she "wore it about her neck so low that she hid it under her breasts". Herbert thought this the cause of Sir John Eyre's jealousy, and although Dorothy was of "an excellent wit and discourse", Herbert claimed he knew her only slightly. However, he also described visiting her chamber at the palace and finding her in bed examining the miniature by candlelight. Soon, following a summons to court from a "great lady", Herbert received warnings from

Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester (19 November 1563 – 13 July 1626), was an English courtier, soldier, and landowner. He was chamberlain to Anne of Denmark. Family background Robert Sidney was the second son of Sir Henry Sidney, was ...

, the Countess of Bedford, and Elizabeth, Lady Hoby another of the queen's gentlewomen, that Sir John Eyre planned to murder him in his bed. Herbert got in touch with Eyre to ask if he would fight a duel, but the answer was unclear. Eyre and four accomplices caught up with Herbert and his two footmen at

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

as he was leaving

Whitehall Palace The Palace of Whitehall – also spelled White Hall – at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, with the notable exception of Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, ...

, and wounded his horse several times. Eyre broke Herbert's sword. Two other men helped Herbert, and after a prolonged struggle Herbert wounded Eyre, who was carried to the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

vomiting. A few days later Eyre sent a message that he would kill Herbert with "a musket out of a window". Meanwhile, because Eyre publicly claimed Dorothy had confessed to being unfaithful, she sent a letter to her aunt Lady Croke denying this, and Herbert was able to give this letter to the Privy Council. The

Duke of Lennox The title Duke of Lennox has been created several times in the peerage of Scotland, for Clan Stewart of Darnley. The dukedom, named for the district of Lennox in Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (histo ...

said that John Eyre was "the most miserable man living" because of the shame of Dorothy's letter proving him a liar, and because his father had disinherited him on hearing of the assault. Herbert mentions that during the assault there were spectators of the "Suffolk faction" sided with Eyre, and the year before Herbert had fought with

Lord Howard de Walden Baron Howard de Walden is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by writ of summons in 1597 by Queen Elizabeth I for Admiral Lord Thomas Howard, a younger son of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, by his second wife, the Honour ...

in Germany. Dorothy was pregnant and Eyre may have believed Herbert was the father of the child. Dorothy's son William Eyre was born in October 1611 at Flambards at

Cold Norton Cold Norton is a village on the Dengie Peninsula in Essex, England. It is located in rural countryside 10 miles to the east of Chelmsford, and lies just over a mile to the north of the River Crouch, which can be seen from the village's main h ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, the house of Dorothy's mother Cecill, now Lady Brown. The child presumably died young, as he was not mentioned in Eyre's will. James Whitelocke described the christening of his own son James in May 1612. One godparent was

Humphrey May Sir Humphrey May (1573 – 9 June 1630) was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons between 1605 and 1629. Career May was the fourth son of Richard May, Merchant Taylor of London. He matri ...

(1573-1630), groom of the king's privy chamber, Whitelocke wrote he "should have been for Dorothy", apparently meaning he would have preferred him as a brother-in-law rather than the "reprobate" Eyre. May had been Whitelocke's friend at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

and in chambers 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 ...

. Eyre died in comparative poverty in 1639, leaving just 5 shillings to his wife.

Later life and death

Dorothy Eyre later married John Clyffe (1597-1674). She died in 1650 and was buried at St Mary's,

Upton Grey Upton Grey is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. History Roman times The village is on the line of an ancient Roman road, the Chichester to Silchester Way. Norman times The Grey derives from the years when the village was owned ...

, Hampshire, where she has a marble or alabaster wall monument with her portrait bust and heraldry, and also a further wooden board with verses commemorating her. The monument's inscription was printed in the ''Gentleman's Magazine'' which alludes to her medicinal practices, and that other daughters were "wise" but she was "best", but the verses were not published, "not being remarkable for their goodness."'Upton Grey', ''The Gentleman's Magazine'', vol. 66 part 1 (London, 1796), pp. 15-16. In his will, John Clyffe wished to buried close to his wife "Lady Eyres", and he is commemorated by a

ledger stone A ledger stone or ledgerstone is an inscribed stone slab usually laid into the floor of a church to commemorate or mark the place of the burial of an important deceased person. The term "ledger" derives from the Middle English words ''lygger'', '' ...

in the church.

References

External links

National Trust, 'Magic and Mystery: The Secrete Conceit of a Jacobean cabinet miniature', by John Chu
mentions Dorothy Bulstrode as "Lady Ayres".
The Dorothy Eyre wall monument, at St Mary's church, Upton Grey. Geograph, Mike Searle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulstrode, Dorothy 1592 births 1650 deaths English maids of honour Ladies of the Bedchamber English courtiers 17th-century English women Court of James VI and I Household of Anne of Denmark