Andrew Kerwyn (died 1615) was an English administrator, stonemason, and paymaster of the royal works for James VI and I from 20 August 1604. His allowance was two shillings daily.
He may have been a son of William Kerwyne or Kerwin, a stonemason commemorated by a tomb in St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate. Andrew Kerwyn was probably the mason paid £16 in December 1593 for work on a pinnacle of London Guildhall, [1] and appointed a gun stone maker to the royal ordinance in 1601. [2] He may have been a relation of Robert Kerwin (died 1615), who worked for Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester at Penshurst Place. [3]
Kerwyn's name is conspicuous in the records of Whitehall Palace and several masque entertainments staged at the Banqueting House. He provided a stage on wheels for The Masque of Blackness , designed by Inigo Jones. [4] Stage mechanisms for The Masque of Queens in February 1609 included "sundry seats above for the Queen and ladies to sit on and be turned round about". [5]
In 1604, Kerwyn was given money for the building of a barn and stable at the Charing Cross Royal Mews for Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, and for works at the King's House at Royston. [6] Kerwyn provided Oxfordshire stone for Knole in 1608 for the Lord Treasurer, Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset. [7] He also repaired the large tennis court at Whitehall Palace, known as the "Brake" or "Baloune Court", and managed improvements in Hyde Park in 1612, diverting a stream to flow into Rosamund's pond in St James's Park. [8]
Kerwyn died in 1615 and the records for The Golden Age Restored include payments to his wife Margaret Kerwyn (died 1619), who acted as his administratrix. They owned leases of tenement houses in St Martin's parish which they let to the carpenters William Portington and Matthew Banks. Their household furnishings included tapestry cushions embroidered with the masons' arms. The mason's company arms of a compass were used on William Kerwin's 1594 monument. [9]
Knole is a country house and former archbishop's palace owned by the National Trust. It is situated within Knole Park, a 1,000-acre (400-hectare) park located immediately to the south-east of Sevenoaks in west Kent. The house ranks in the top five of England's largest houses, under any measure used, occupying a total of four acres.
Duke of Dorset was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1720 for the politician Lionel Sackville, 7th Earl of Dorset.
Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset was an English statesman, poet, and dramatist. He was the son of Richard Sackville, a cousin to Anne Boleyn. He was a Member of Parliament and Lord High Treasurer.
The Masque of Queens, Celebrated From the House of Fame is one of the earlier works in the series of masques that Ben Jonson composed for the House of Stuart in the early 17th century. Performed at Whitehall Palace on 2 February 1609, it marks a notable development in the masque form, in that Jonson defines and elaborates the anti-masque for the first time in its pages.
John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton in Rutland, was an English courtier and politician.
Hymenaei, or The Masque of Hymen, was a masque written by Ben Jonson for the marriage of Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and Lady Frances Howard, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, and performed on their wedding day, 5 January 1606. The costumes, sets, and scenic effects were designed by Inigo Jones, and the music composed by Alfonso Ferrabosco.
Love Freed from Ignorance and Folly was a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones, with music by Alfonso Ferrabosco. It was performed on 3 February 1611 at Whitehall Palace, and published in 1616.
John Ramsay, 1st Earl of Holderness, known as Sir John Ramsay between 1600 and 1606, and as the Viscount of Haddington between 1606 and 1621, was an important Scottish aristocrat of the Jacobean era, best known in history as the first favourite of James I when he became king of England as well as Scotland in 1603.
The Entertainment at Althorp, or The Althorp Entertainment, performed on 25 June 1603 is an early Jacobean era literary work, written by Ben Jonson. It is also known as A Particular Entertainment of the Queen and Prince, or The Satyr. The work marked a major development in Jonson's career, as the first of many entertainments and masques that he would write for the Stuart Court.
Jean Ker, Countess of Roxburghe, néeDrummond (c.1585–1643) was a Scottish courtier, serving Anne of Denmark in Scotland and England.
Robert Sackville, 2nd Earl of Dorset (1561–1609) was an English aristocrat and politician, with humanist and commercial interests.
Elizabeth Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, formerly Lady Elizabeth Stanley, was an English noblewoman and writer who was third in line of succession to the English throne. She was the wife of Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon. She was also styled Lady Hastings of Hungerford and Lady Botreaux as her husband held both of these titles in addition to the Earl of Huntingdon.
Susan Herbert, Countess of Montgomery, was an English court office holder. She served as lady-in-waiting to the queen consort of England and Scotland, Anne of Denmark. She was the youngest daughter of Elizabethan courtier, and poet Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.
Sir Robert Jacob or Jacobe (1573–1618) was an English-born lawyer, who was Solicitor General for Ireland between 1606 and 1618. He was a close friend and political associate of Sir John Davies, the Attorney General for Ireland; both were key figures in the Irish administration during this period.
Catherine Cecil, Countess of Salisbury, formerly Lady Catherine Howard, granddaughter of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, member of the House of Howard and was the wife of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury of Hatfield House.
Mary Middlemore was a Courtier and Maid of Honour to Anne of Denmark, subject of poems, and treasure hunter.
The Masque of Indian and China Knights was performed at Hampton Court in Richmond, England on 1 January 1604. The masque was not published, and no text survives. It was described in a letter written by Dudley Carleton. The historian Leeds Barroll prefers the title, Masque of the Orient Knights.
Thomas Cardell or Cardall was a musician and dancing master specialising in playing the lute who served Elizabeth I and Anne of Denmark.
Zachary Bethell was an English courtier, an usher, and administrator in the wardrobes of Anne of Denmark and Henrietta Maria.
Benjamin Henshawe (1585–1631) was a London merchant tailor and silkman who supplied fabrics and passementerie for costume and furnishings for the royal court. His widow, Anna Henshawe, continued in business with William Geere.