On This Day (27 Oct) 1561, Lady Mary Sidney later Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, was born at Tickenhall Manor, Bewdley; the daughter of Sir Henry Sidney and his wife Mary Dudley.
At the time of her birth, father Henry had been appointed as Lord President of the Council in Wales, whilst mother Mary was a member of Elizabeth I's court, being a Gentlewoman of the Privy Council, and subsequent close confidant of the queen.
Mary was the younger sister of Sir Philip Sidney, the Elizabethan soldier and poet, who famously composed 'Astrophel and Stella', said to be inspired by Lady Penelope Devereux, the stepdaughter of their uncle, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Along with her brother, she received a classical humanist education, including learning Latin, Greek, French and Italian, prior to attending court; their mother having contracted smallpox in 1562, leaving her permanently scarred and disfigured, subsequently restricting her own attendance at court.
By 1577, Mary had married Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, in a union arranged by her uncle Robert Dudley; this marriage, the third for the older Earl, produced 4 children, including sons William and Philip. William Shakespeare's 'First Folio, published in 1623, was dedicated to these "incomparable pair of brethren".
Mary herself was one of the most prolific female writers, translators and literary patrons in late 16th and early 17th England. She provided a base at her home Wilton House, near Salisbury, for the gathering of influential writers and poets of the day, including Edmund Spenser (author of 'The Faerie Queen' c.1590) and Samuel Daniel, later tutor to Lady Anne Clifford. Along with her husband, Mary also provided patronage to 'Pembroke's Men', one of the first companies to perform Shakespeare's and Christopher Marlow's work in the 1590s.
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