Elizabeth Harcourt (fl. c. 1590–1610), Courtier to

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

. She was a daughter of Sir Walter Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt and Ellenhall, and Dorothy Robinson, who was Harcourt's step-sister and daughter of William Robinson of

Drayton Bassett Drayton Bassett is a village and civil parish since 1974 in Lichfield District in Staffordshire, England. The village is on the Heart of England Way, a footpath. Much of the housing is clustered together but more than half is 20th century in t ...

. Elizabeth Harcourt was appointed a Maid of Honour to the queen in 1607, her companions appointed in 1604 were Anne Carey,

Mary Gargrave Mary Gargrave (1576 – c. 1640) was a courtier to Anne of Denmark. Mary Gargrave was a daughter of Sir Cotton Gargrave (1540–1588) and his second wife Anne Waterton. They had houses at Kinsley, Hemsworth, and Nostell Priory, near Wakefield. ...

(b. 1576),

Mary Middlemore Mary Middlemore (died 1618) was a Courtier and Maid of Honour to Anne of Denmark, subject of poems, and treasure hunter. Family background Mary Middlemore was the eldest daughter of Henry Middlemore of Enfield, a groom of the privy chamber to Qu ...

, Elizabeth Roper, and

Mary Woodhouse Mary Woodhouse (d. 1656), musician and correspondent of Constantijn Huygens, was the daughter of Henry Woodhouse (MP) of Hickling and Waxham, and Anne Bacon, daughter of Sir Nicholas Bacon. (Some sources say she was a daughter of the Woodhouse fa ...

. These positions were established by a household ordinance of 20 July 1603, with places for six maids of honour and four chamberers.

Rowland Whyte Rowland Whyte (died after 1626) was an Elizabethan official and businessman, whose letters provide important evidence about the latter stages of the life of Queen Elizabeth I and the transition to the rule of James I. The letters were first publish ...

the maids of honour and others dancing at

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chief ...

in the presence chamber of Anne of Denmark in October 1607, with a French visitor, the

Count of Vaudémont The title Count of Vaudémont was granted to Gérard 1st of Vaudémont in 1070, after he supported the succession of his brother, Theodoric II, Duke of Lorraine to the Duchy of Lorraine. Counts of Vaudémont served as vassals of the Dukes of Lorr ...

. On 20 August 1613 Anne of Denmark was received at

Wells, Somerset Wells () is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, located on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, south-east of Weston-super-Mare, south-west of Bath and south of Bristol. Although the population recorde ...

. The mayor William Bull hosted a dinner for members of her household including the four maids of honour. She was the sister of Sir Robert Harcourt of Staunton Harcourt (1574 - 20 May 1631) author of ''A Relation of Voyage to Guiana'' (1613), and of Vere Harcourt DD

Archdeacon of Nottingham The Archdeacon of Nottingham is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, who exercises supervision of clergy and responsibility for church buildings within the Archdeaconry of Nottingham. Histor ...

. Her nephew Sir Simon Harcourt was a soldier with

Horace Vere Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury (1565 – 2 May 1635) (also ''Horatio Vere'' or ''Horatio de Vere'') was an English military leader during the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War, a brother of Francis Vere. He was sent to the Pa ...

, fought in Scotland, and was shot in Ireland on 26 March 1642, while besieging the castle of Carrickmaine or Kilgobbin near Dublin and was taken to House of Mirian where he died. Those remaining in the castle were massacred.Edward William Harcourt, ''The Harcourt papers'', vol. 1 (Oxford, 1880), pp. 104, 107-118. A sister Grace died young. Another sister, also called Elizabeth, is said to have married Sir

William Essex Sir William Essex (1477–1548) of Lambourn, Berkshire was an English soldier and courtier who served as High Sheriff and Member of Parliament. Origins He was the son of Thomas Essex of Lambourn in Berkshire by his wife, Elizabeth Babthorpe, ...

of Lambourn, but his wife was Elizabeth Rogers of Beckett Hall. Elizabeth Harcourt died unmarried. The family portraits were at

Nuneham Courtenay Nuneham Courtenay is a village and civil parish about southeast of Oxford. It occupies a pronounced section of the left bank of the River Thames. Geography The parish is bounded to the west by the River Thames and on other sides by field bound ...

and the family papers are held by the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harcourt, Elizabeth 17th-century English women Court of James VI and I British maids of honour Ladies of the Bedchamber English courtiers Household of Anne of Denmark