Edward Conway ca.1564-1631

Edward CONWAY, 1st Viscount Conway ca.1564-1631

Biographical Note

Son of Sir John Conway, of Arrow, Warwickshire, a member of a well-established gentry family there. He developed a military career, and was knighted by the Earl of Essex at the siege of Cadiz in 1596; he later served as a military governor in The Netherlands. MP for Penryn 1610, and later for Evesham; he bacame a privy councillor in 1622, Secretary of State in 1623, and created Baron Conway in 1625 (raised to a Viscountcy in 1627).

Books

Conway's book ownership is demonstrated from two library lists that survive, one of ca.1610 listing 213 books moved from the Netherlands to Ragley, the other made after his death, recording ca.300 books in his London home. These inventories have little duplication between them and record over 500 books. The first list is edited as PLRE 266 and the second list is due to appear in a later PLRE volume; it is wide-ranging in subject, including much doctrinal and controversial theological material, but also history, philosophy, geography and literature.

Sources

• Kelsey, Sean. "Conway, Edward, first Viscount Conway and first Viscount Killultagh (c. 1564–1631), politician." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• Smith, D. Sir Edward Conway, Private Libraries in Renaissance England 9 (2017), 103-147 (PLRE 266).