Heraldic Masterpieces from the College of Arms

TNA PROB 11/12/315

Last will and testament, dated 23 February 1501, of Peter Peckham, whose granddaughter, Jane Drayton, was the great-grandmother of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/14/4

Last will and testament, dated 6 August 1503, of Robert Drayton, whose daughter, Jane Drayton, was the great-grandmother of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/14/125

Last will and testament, dated 25 March 1504, of John Writhe, great-great-grandfather of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/14/513

Last will and testament, dated 24 January 1505, of George Peckham, whose niece, Jane Drayton, was the great-grandmother of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

BL Add. Charter 16194

Notes dating to mid-1509 written in her own hand by Jane Drayton, mother of Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, recording her own birthdate, that of her brother, Peter Drayton, and the birthdates of four of her children, including the 1st Earl of Southampton

TNA PROB 11/18/121

Last will and testament, dated 18 January 1515, of Sir Henry Vernon, ancestor of Elizabeth Vernon, wife of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/19/193

Last will and testament, dated 18 December 1517, of Sir John Dawtrey of Southampton, whose second wife, Isabel Shirley, was connected to the family of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/19/121

Last will and testament, dated 1518, of Peter Drayton, whose sister, Jane Drayton, was the great-grandmother of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/21/561

Last will and testament, dated 24 October 1524, of William Pounde, whose son married Ellen (nee Beverley) Pounde, great-aunt (of the half-blood) of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/37/222

Last will and testament, dated 21 December 1554, of George Vernon, grandfather of Elizabeth Vernon, wife of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/27/241

Last will and testament, dated 11 November 1537, of John Onley, ancestor of Elizabeth Vernon, wife of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/34/154

Last will and testament, dated 21 July 1550, of Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, grandfather of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/34/405

Last will and testament, dated 10 July 1551, of Sir Michael Lyster, whose son, Richard Lyster, married Mary Wriothesley, aunt of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis, and whose grandson, Michael Lyster, married Elizabeth Southwell, sister of the Jesuit priest and poet, Robert Southwell

TNA PROB 11/36/390

Last will and testament, dated 10 October 1552, of Sir Richard Lyster, whose grandson, Richard Lyster, married Mary Wriothesley, aunt of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis, and whose great-grandson, Michael Lyster, married Elizabeth Southwell, sister of the Jesuit priest and poet, Robert Southwell

TNA PROB 11/36/12

Last will and testament, dated 8 November 1552, of Sir Thomas Windsor, whose brother, Edward Windsor, 3rd Baron Windsor, married Oxford's half-sister, Katherine de Vere, and whose sister-in-law, Magdalen Dacre, was the second wife of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, grandfather of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, dedicatee of Shakespeare’s  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/36/73

Nuncupative last will and testament, made 9 December 1552, of Robert Cheyne, whose niece, Jane Cheyne, was the grandmother of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/42A/91

Last will and testament, dated 10 August 1558, of William Windsor, 2nd Baron Windsor, whose son Edward Windsor, 3rd Baron Windsor, married Oxford's half-sister, Katherine de Vere, and whose son, Sir Thomas Windsor, was the brother-in-law of Magdalen Dacre, wife of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, grandfather of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, dedicatee of Shakespeare’s  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/47/281

Last will and testament, dated 23 March 1560, of Sir Richard Blount, whose nephew, Richard Lyster, married Mary Wriothesley, aunt of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/45/52

Last will and testament, dated 4 June 1561, of Dorothy Dacre Windsor, whose brother-in-law, Edward Windsor, 3rd Baron Windsor, married Oxford's half-sister, Katherine de Vere, and whose sister, Magdalen Dacre, was the second wife of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, grandfather of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, dedicatee of Shakespeare’s  Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/47/325

Last will and testament, dated 12 May 1563, of Sir Edmund Peckham, whose niece, Jane Drayton, was the mother of Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, grandfather of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA C 3/127/45, mm. 1-2

Bill of complaint filed after 1564 by Anne Wriothesley, sister of the 1st Earl of Southampton, against the 1st Earl's widow, Jane, Countess of Southampton, grandmother of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece

TNA C 54/830

Indenture dated 2 January 1570 between Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, and his father-in-law, Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montague, mentioning Jane Wriothesley, eldest sister of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/55/169

Last will and testament, dated 30 March 1573, of Henry Long, a first cousin of Sir Robert Long, whose second son, Henry Long, was slain on 4 October 1594 by the Danvers brothers, whose escape to the continent was assisted by Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton

TNA PROB 11/56/535

Last will and testament, dated 26 June 1574, of Jane Cheyne Wriothesley, Countess of Southampton, grandmother of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece

HMC Rutland, v. 1, p. 111

Letter dated 16 February 1577 from Thomas Screven to Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland, stating that 'most think' that Oxford's sister, Mary de Vere, will marry Edward Fitzgerald, a first cousin of Mary Browne, mother of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton

TNA PROB 11/65/88

Last will and testament, dated 29 June 1581, of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, father of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/64/289

Last will and testament, dated 14 February 1582, of Elizabeth Lyster Blount, whose nephew, Richard Lyster, married Mary Wriothesley, aunt of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis andThe Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/74/301

Last will and testament, dated 25 September 1589, of Ellen Beverley Pounde, great-aunt of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/75/245

Last will and testament, dated 25 September 1589, of William Hervey, stepfather of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/79/169

Last will and testament, dated 8 February 1592, of William Arundell, whose uncle, Charles Arundel, was Oxford's close friend and later bitter enemy, and whose brother married Mary Wriothesley, the sister of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/93/86

Last will and testament, dated 14 December 1598, of Sir Matthew Arundell, whose younger brother, Charles Arundel, was Oxford's close friend and later bitter enemy, and whose daughter-in-law was the sister of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/93/301

Last will and testament, dated 6 March 1599, of Dorothy Vernon, aunt of Elizabeth Vernon, wife of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

CP 71/104

Letter dated July 1599 written by Sir Charles Danvers to Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, mentioning the death of Henry Mackwilliam, who is named in Charles Arundel's 1581 libels against Oxford

TNA PROB 11/116/231

Last will and testament, dated 17 July 1602, of Anne Beverley Knight Lawrence, great-aunt of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/104/161

Last will and testament, dated 27 May 1604, of George Vernon, uncle of Elizabeth Vernon, wife of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/110/388

Last will and testament, dated 22 April 1607, of Mary, Countess of Southampton, to whose son, Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/28/313

Last will and testament, dated 15 April 1616, of Edward Vernon, uncle of Elizabeth Vernon, wife of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated  Venus and Adonis and  The Rape of Lucrece

TNA PROB 11/150/418

Last will and testament, dated 17 and 31 May 1623, of Katherine Wriothesley Cornwallis, aunt of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, dedicatee of Shakespeare's  Venus and Adonis