Biography of Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford 1556-1588

In 1541 [her father] William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 20] and Mary Cheke were married.

On 21st December 1546 [her father] William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 26] and [her mother] Mildred Cooke Baroness Burghley [aged 20] were married.

On 5th December 1556 Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford was born to [her father] William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 36] and [her mother] Mildred Cooke Baroness Burghley [aged 30].

On 3rd August 1562 John de Vere 16th Earl of Oxford [aged 46] died. His son [her future husband] Edward [aged 12] succeeded 17th Earl of Oxford.

On 17th September 1563 Henry Manners 2nd Earl of Rutland [aged 36] died. He was buried at St Mary the Virgin Church, Bottesford, Leicestershire [Map]. His son Edward [aged 14] succeeded 3rd Earl of Rutland, 14th Baron Ros Helmsley. Edward Manners 3rd Earl of Rutland became a ward of Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland [aged 30] and was specially under the charge of [her father] William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 43].

In or before 1566 [her half-brother] Thomas Cecil 1st Earl Exeter [aged 23] and [her sister-in-law] Dorothy Neville Countess Exeter [aged 17] were married.

After 1571 [her future husband] Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 20] and Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford [aged 14] separated.

On 25th February 1571 [her father] William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 50] was created 1st Baron Burghley. [her mother] Mildred Cooke Baroness Burghley [aged 45] by marriage Baroness Burghley.

On 2nd July 1575 [her daughter] Elizabeth Vere Countess Derby was born to [her husband] Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 25] and Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford [aged 18] at Theobalds House, Hertfordshire. She married 26th January 1595 her fifth cousin William Stanley 6th Earl of Derby, son of Henry Stanley 4th Earl of Derby and Margaret Clifford Countess Derby, and had issue.

On 4th October 1581 Henry Wriothesley 2nd Earl of Southampton [aged 36] died. His son Henry [aged 7] succeeded 3rd Earl of Southampton. His wardship was sold by the Queen to her kinsman, Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham [aged 45], for £1000. Howard then transferred his wardship to [her father] William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 61].

Around 1582 [her husband] Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 31] and Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford [aged 25] were reconciled.

Around 1583 [her daughter] Frances de Vere died.

Around 1583 [her daughter] Frances de Vere was born to [her husband] Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 32] and Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford [aged 26]. She died aged less than one years old.

On 6th April 1584 [her daughter] Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote was born to [her husband] Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 33] and Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford [aged 27] at Theobalds House, Hertfordshire. She married (1) 28th April 1599 her fifth cousin once removed Francis Norreys 1st Earl Berkshire, son of William Norreys and Elizabeth Morrison Countess Lincoln, and had issue (2) before 1631 her second cousin twice removed Hugh Pollard 2nd Baronet, son of Lewis Pollard 1st Baronet and Margaret Berkeley, and had issue.

On 26th May 1587 [her daughter] Susan Vere Countess Montgomery was born to [her husband] Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 37] and Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford [aged 30]. She married 27th December 1605 Philip Herbert 4th Earl Pembroke 1st Earl Montgomery, son of Henry Herbert 2nd Earl Pembroke and Mary Sidney Countess Pembroke, and had issue.

On 5th June 1588 Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford [aged 31] died. She was buried at the Chapel of St Nicholas, Westminster Abbey [Map]. She shares a monument with her mother Mildred Cooke Baroness Burghley [aged 62]. The monument rises to twenty-four feet, and is constructed of various coloured marbles, after a design of the Corinthian order. The Latin inscriptions, which are very long, were written by Lord Burleigh [aged 67] himself, and set forth the varied accomplishments and the virtues of the two ladies who are represented in effigy in the lower part of the monument. The figure of Lord Burleigh, in his robes, and in a kneeling attitude, appears in the upper part of the monument.

In 1591 [her former husband] Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 40] sold Hedingham Castle [Map] to his father-in-law William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley [aged 70] in trust for his three daughters Elizabeth Vere Countess Derby [aged 15], Bridget Vere Baroness Norreys Rycote [aged 6] and Susan Vere Countess Montgomery [aged 3] by his first wife Anne Cecil Countess of Oxford.

Before 27th December 1591 Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 41] and Elizabeth Trentham Maid of Honour Countess of Oxford were married. She by marriage Countess of Oxford. She brought her husband a dowry of £1000 bequeathed to her in her father's will, payable at the rate of 500 marks a year for three years. He the son of John de Vere 16th Earl of Oxford and Margery Golding Countess of Oxford.

On 24th June 1604 [her former husband] Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford [aged 54] died at his home in King Street Covent Garden. His son Henry [aged 11] succeeded 18th Earl of Oxford.