Edward la Zouche 1556-1625

Edward la ZOUCHE, 11th Baron Zouche 1556-1625

Biographical Note

Born at Harringworth, Northamptonshire, son of George la Zouche, 10th Baron Zouche, from whom he inherited the title and estates in 1569. MA Trinity College, Cambridge 1571. He travelled abroad in the 1580s; in 1593 he was sent as an ambassador to James VI of Scotland, and similarly ro Denmark in 1598, and became deputy governor of Guernsey in 1600. In 1602 he moved to Ludlow as President of the Council of the Marches, and held various other political and administrative posts before becoming Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1615. He bought Bramshill House in Hampshire in 1605 and spent large sums on redeveloping both house and gardens.

Books

Zouche was well connected with literary and cultural circles, and was friendly with Ben Jonson and Sir Henry Wotton, who is known to have obtained books, manuscripts and paintings for him. His will has no specific mention of books; most of his property was inherited by his relative Sir Edward Zouche, whose probate inventory in 1634 includes mention of a newly completed library room at Bramshill, containing ca.250 books.

Characteristic Markings

None of Zouche's books have been identified.

Sources

• Will of Edward Lord Zouche, The National Archives PROB 11/146/488.
• Cliffe, J. T., The world of the country house in seventeenth-century England, 1999, p.163
• Knafla, Louis A. '"Zouche, Edward la, eleventh Baron Zouche (1556–1625), landowner."' Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• Purcell, M., The English country house library, New Haven and London, 2017, p.63.