Robert Aylett (Aylet) (1583? – 1655) was an English lawyer and religious poet.

Life

He was a son of Leonard Aylett and Ann Pater of Rivenhall, Essex born in 1582 or 3Padelford, F.M., 1936. Robert Aylett. The Huntington Library Bulletin, (10), pp.1-48. and was educated at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

, graduating B.A. in 1605, M.A. in 1608, and LL.D in 1614. He married three times but had no children: his first wife is not named but according to his 1653 poem ''A Wife not readymade but bespoke, by Dicus the Batchelor, and made up for him by his fellow shepheard Tityrus; in four pastoral eclogues'' died soon after the marriage; his second wife was Judith Gael, of Hadleigh in Sussex, and his third, a widow, Penelope Stevens, originally Penelope Wiseman. Living at

Feering Feering is a village and civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England. The parish is between Colchester and Witham. The village, which lies at the south-west edge of the parish, is conjoined to the neighbouring village of Kelvedon. ...

, he acted for the

archdeacon of Colchester The Archdeacon of Colchester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Diocese of Chelmsford – she or he has responsibilities within her archdeaconry (the Archdeaconry of Colchester) including oversight of church buildings and some supervision, d ...

and as justice of the peace. He also acted in Essex as commissary for the

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

, and judge of the Commissary Court; he played a large part in enforcing the

Laudian Laudianism was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England, promulgated by Archbishop William Laud and his supporters. It rejected the predestination upheld by the previously dominant Calvinism in favour of free will ...

reforms in the county. He became

Master of the Faculties The Master of the Faculties is a judicial officer in the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury and has some important powers in English law, in particular the appointment and regulation of public notaries. Since 1873 the position has ...

in 1642.Author Record
/ref> He acted first for the House of Commons and then for the House of Lords until his death in 1655.

Works

As a poet his work is related to

George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devot ...

's, but he borrowed quite heavily from Edmund Spenser. ''Susanna, or the Arraignment of the Two Unjust Elders' was published in 1622. ''Joseph, or Pharaoh's Favorite'', ''Peace with her Four Gardens'' (1622) and ''Thrift's Equipage'' (1622) are other earlier works. ''Divine and Moral Speculations'' (1654)''Divine and Moral Speculations in Metrical Numbers upon Various Subjects. By Doctor R. Aylet, one of the Masters of the High Court of Chancery. London . . . 1654.'' was dedicated to

Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, PC, FRSFRCP(March 16068 December 1680) was an English peer. He was the son of Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull, and his wife, the former Gertrude Talbot, daughter of George Tal ...

and his wife. ''A Wife not readymade but bespoke, by Dicus the Batchelor, and made up for him by his fellow shepheard Tityrus; in four pastoral eclogues'' (1653) is a secular piece. He died on March 15, 1655 and is buried inside the parish church of Great Braxted with an elaborate monument constructed by his younger nephew, John Aylett.

Life

Works

Notes

References

Further reading