ON THIS DAY - 17 September 1564

On This Day 17 Sep 1564, it is believed that Dorothy Devereux was born at Chartley Manor, Staffordshire.

Detail from Dorothy and Penelope Devereux Unknown Artist c.1581 © Longleat House

Dorothy was the younger daughter of Walter Devereux, Viscount Hereford and his wife Lettice Knollys, and was named after her paternal grandmother Dorothy Hastings.

Dorothy, along with her siblings, spent her childhood at Chartley - the principal seat of the Devereux family, being a late 15thc Manor House built nearby the abandoned and ruined Chartley Castle, 9 miles north-east of Stafford. The manor was surrounded by acres of woods and parkland, where the children would learn to ride and hunt.

'Chartley Manor' William Burghers Year: 1686 © William Salt Library

Dorothy was at Chartley when news of Walter's death in Sep 1576 reached the family. Dorothy then spent a year travelling with her mother Lettice and sister Penelope, including regular visits to Kenilworth Castle in which her mother, sister and other family members participated in Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester's hunting parties.

In Feb 1578, as per Walter's will, Dorothy and Penelope were placed under the guardianship of the Earl and Countess of Huntingdon (Robert Dudley's sister Katherine), living primarily in York. It was here that they continued to receive a well-rounded humanist and 'strictly-Puritan' education.

“two ladyes in one picktwer, my La. Rich and my La. Doryt” Dorothy and Penelope Devereux Unknown Artist c.1581 © Longleat House

Penelope left for court in 1581, just after turning 18, leaving Dorothy in the care of the Huntingdons; it was around this time that the joint portrait of Dorothy and Penelope was painted, which was later hung at their stepfather's London home of Leicester House - “two ladyes in one picktwer, my La. Rich and my La. Doryt”.