View source for Robert Heath 1575-1649

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===[[personal title::Sir]] [[name::Robert]] [[name::HEATH]]  [[date of birth::1575]]-[[date of death::1649]]===

====Biographical Note====
Born in [[place of birth::Brasted, Kent]], son of [[family::Robert Heath]], a barrister from a family of lawyers.  He matriculated at [[education::St John's College, Cambridge]] in 1587 but did not graduate, going on to [[organisations::Clifford's Inn]] in 1592, and subsequently the [[organisations::Inner Temple]].  Working as a [[occupation::lawyer]] for various court patrons in the early 1600s, he entered the service of [[associates::George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham|George Villiers]], later Duke of Buckingham, in 1616 and was supported by him in 1618 in being appointed [[occupation::Recorder of London]].  Elected an [[occupation::MP]] in 1620, he became [[occupation::solicitor-general]] in 1621 and later [[occupation::attorney-general]], and was involved in many high profile legal cases and judgments in the 1620s.  He became [[occupation::chief justice of common pleas]] in 1631 but his standing at court was diminished after Buckingham's assassination in 1628.  His fortunes rose and fell with various political tides – [[crossreference::William Laud 1573-1645|Laud]] had him dismissed from common pleas in 1634 – but he was made a [[occupation::judge]] again (on King's Bench) in 1641 and he followed the [[associates::King Charles I|King]] on his various travels during the early years of the Civil War.  He was formally impeached by Parliament in 1645 and left [[location::England]] the following year, spending his last three years in [[location::France]], where he died. He married [[crossreference::Margaret Heath 1578-1647|Margaret Heath]] (1578-1647) and had two sons: [[crossreference::Edward Heath 1612-1669|Edward]] (1612-1669) and [[crossreference::Francis Heath 1622-1683|Francis Heath]] (1622-1683).

====Books==== 
Evidence of the ownership of books by various members of the Heath family survives in the Heath papers in the [[organisations::British Library]], now part of the Egerton MSS.  Of particular interest – being less common, a list of books owned by a woman – is "An inventory of bookes in the Lady Heaths closet" in MS Egerton 2983, fo.79, which appears to be a list of books left by [[family::Lady Margaret Heath|Margaret]] when she died in 1647.  This comprises 82 titles, all in [[language::English]], in a mixture of formats; many of the books are [[subject::thology|devotional/theological]] but there are also some household and [[subject::medicine|medical]] books, [[subject::botany|botanical]] ones (Gerard's [[book title::Herbal]] and Parkinson's [[book title::''Garden of all sorts of pleasant flowers'']]), and a copy of Herbert's [[subject::poetry|poems]].  The same [[format::manuscript]] volume also includes (fo.28) two lists of books [[bequest::bequeathed]] to [[beneficiary::Edward Heath]] by his father-in-law [[crossreference::Paul Ambrose Croke 1561-1631|Paul Ambrose Croke]] (d.1631, bencher of the Inner Temple), one of books from his study in the [[organisations::Inner Temple]], the other from his study in his house at [[location::Cottesmore]].  The first of these lists 94 titles in [[language::Latin]], [[language::Greek]], [[language::English]] and [[language::Hebrew]], arranged by format, covering the usual mixture of subjects including Bibles and [[subject::theology|patristics]], [[subject::theology]], [[subject::classics]], [[subject::lexicography|dictionaries]], [[subject::law]] and [[subject::geography]]; the second list is similar but shorter (ca.40 titles), and at the end has a list of 6 "[[language::English]] books taken out of his study at that time for my wife".  At fos. 157-60 there is "a catalogue of Dr [[family::Francis Heath]]s books left in his lodging when he died", containing ca.130 titles, again comprising a typical selection of material.  A "Catalogus librorum" of "Mr Heaths books" just preceding that (fos. 155-6), of mid to late 17th c in date, is inscribed "for Mr Francis Heath from [[associates::Phillip Barrow]]" and is presumably a list of books belonging to another family member which passed to Francis; it includes an entry for "Shakespears playes", in quarto.

Sir Robert [[bequest::gave]] a small group of books to [[beneficiary::St John's College, Cambridge]] in [[date of bequest::1630]], all relating to Councils of the Catholic Church; these were marked with an armorial stamp, and a printed gift label.  The extent and whereabouts of his personal library are not known; Kopperman, in his biography, speculates that he may not have had an extensive collection, and that a list of over 120 books owned by "Mr Heath of the Temple", seized by the [[organisations::Committee for Sequestrations]] in 1643, belonged to [[family::Edward Heath|Edward]]. Ian Roy thought that this might be one of Sir Robert's other sons ([[family::John Heath]]).  Francis Heath's will has no mention of books, [[bequest::bequeathing]] his property around various members of his family.

====Characteristic Markings==== 
No books belonging personally to members of the family have been identified.

====Sources==== 
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*[https://armorial.library.utoronto.ca/stamp-owners/HEA005 British Armorial Bindings].
*Empey, M. Lady Margaret Heath, in ''Private Libraries in Renaissance England'' 11 (forthcoming). 
*Kopperman, Paul E. [https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/12842 "Heath, Sir Robert (1575–1649), judge."] ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. 
*Kopperman, P. ''Sir Robert Heath'', 1989.
*Roy, I. The libraries of Edward, 2nd Viscount Conway, and others, ''Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research'' 43 (1968), 35-46.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, Robert, Sir}}

[[Category:Judges and Lawyers]]
[[Category:Members of Parliament]]
[[Category:Libraries Bequeathed to Institutions]]
[[Category:Armorial Stamps]]
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