Elizabeth Bacon — Lady Nevell / Lady Peryam

Topic: Elizabeth Bacon — Lady Nevell / Lady Peryam

0A. Structured Quoted Source Passages

Use these entries under SOURCE QUOTATION STANDARD.

1. 1591 Baldwin Colophon Dates The Manuscript

• Source: Local text extraction from John Harley, "`My Ladye Nevell' Revealed," quoting the Baldwin colophon, Harley MyLadyeNevellRevealed 2005:95.
• Quotation:

"ffinished & ended the leventh of september"

"By me Jo: baldwine of windsore"

• What it proves: The manuscript was completed and signed by John Baldwin on 11 September 1591, during Elizabeth Bacon's marriage to Sir Henry Nevell of Billingbere.
• Limits: This is a modern article's text extraction of the colophon; for publication, visually collate against the British Library digitized manuscript.

2. Harley Records The Modern Identification Result

• Source: Same local Harley extraction, Harley MyLadyeNevellRevealed 2005:120.
• Quotation:

"This has proved to be correct."

"true identity has now been clearly demonstrated"

• What it proves: Harley reports Christopher Foley's identification of Lady Nevell as settled, not merely as a casual project hypothesis.
• Limits: Harley is a modern scholarly synthesis; the underlying proof depends on title usage, heraldry, family history, and manuscript evidence.

3. Title Usage Narrows The Candidate To Sir Henry's Wife

• Source: Same local Harley extraction, Harley MyLadyeNevellRevealed 2005:159.
• Quotation:

"wife, in 1591, was named Elizabeth"

• What it proves: In Harley's reconstruction, the viable Lady Nevell in 1591 is Elizabeth, wife of Sir Henry Nevell of Billingbere.
• Limits: This is a compressed quotation from a longer argument; do not separate it from Harley's title-usage and College of Arms reasoning.

4. The Heraldic Evidence Points To Billingbear

• Source: Same local Harley extraction, Harley MyLadyeNevellRevealed 2005:220.
• Quotation:

"points directly to Sir Henry Nevell"

"a window at Billingbere"

• What it proves: Harley ties the manuscript arms and cadency evidence to Sir Henry Nevell of Billingbere and to Billingbere itself.
• Limits: This is heraldic/contextual identification evidence; it does not make the manuscript a literary-authorship witness.

5. Harley Places Elizabeth Bacon In The Neville Household Sequence

• Source: Same local Harley extraction, Harley MyLadyeNevellRevealed 2005:231.
• Quotation:

"born Elizabeth Bacon"

"third wife of Sir Henry Nevell"

• What it proves: The Lady Nevell identification also establishes Elizabeth Bacon as Henry Neville the ambassador's stepmother, not his mother.
• Limits: This supports the Bacon/Neville family bridge and the Byrd manuscript identity; it does not prove anything about the Northumberland flyleaf's hands or transmission by itself.

1. Verified Sourced Facts

Identity

• Elizabeth Bacon was the eldest child of Sir Nicholas Bacon (Lord Keeper of the Great Seal) by his first wife Jane Ferneley (married 5 April 1540; Elizabeth probably born c. 1541).
• Francis Bacon was Nicholas Bacon's son by his second wife Ann Cooke — making Elizabeth and Francis half-siblings, not full siblings. Elizabeth was approximately twenty years older than Francis.
• Nathaniel Bacon was also a half-sibling (older, by the first wife); so was Edward Bacon.
• Source: Harley, John, "'My Ladye Nevell' Revealed," Music & Letters 86.1 (2005), pp. 1–15, citing Tittler, Robert, Nicholas Bacon: The Making of a Tudor Statesman (London, 1976), genealogies at pp. 151 and 153.

Marriages

First marriage: Sir Robert Doyley, of Chislehampton, Oxfordshire. He died July 1577 after contracting a "strange sickness" at the Oxford assizes. Elizabeth was left independently wealthy. Francis Bacon was elected to Doyley's parliamentary seat. Source: Harley 2005, pp. 3–4.

Second marriage: Sir Henry Nevell of Billingbere (c.1518–93), as his third wife. Marriage probably took place c. May 1578. Sir Henry Nevell was the father of Henry Neville the author candidate; his second wife (Henry Neville's mother) was Elizabeth Gresham, who died November 1573. Elizabeth Bacon therefore became Henry Neville's stepmother. She was "Lady Nevell" during this marriage. Sir Henry died 13 January 1592/3 and was buried at Waltham St Lawrence, Berkshire. Source: Harley 2005, pp. 4–5.

Third marriage: Sir William Peryam (also spelled "Periam" — Elizabeth's preferred spelling), born Exeter 1534, died 9 October 1604. Chief Baron of the Exchequer. Marriage took place before the end of September 1595. Elizabeth became "Lady Peryam" or "Lady Periam." Note: Peryam had known the Bacon and Doyley families long before this marriage, and had played a part in getting Francis Bacon elected to Sir Robert Doyley's parliamentary seat. Source: Harley 2005, pp. 5–6, n. 47.

Lady Nevell / Lady Peryam — name usage

• Elizabeth is referenced in documents and scholarship under three surnames: Bacon (birth), Nevell (second marriage), and Peryam/Periam (third marriage).
• RBA D/EN/F44 supplies a primary relationship witness. On 3 November 1604 Elizabeth wrote from Greenlands to Sir Henry Neville, opening Good sonne, addressing him as my good sonne, and signing herself yo[u]r lovinge mother in lawe Elizabeth periam. Her identity no longer depends on a social-media identification note.
• After Sir Henry's death in January 1593, the correct title was "Lady Nevell" as a widow until her remarriage to Peryam before September 1595.

• RBA D/EN/F6/1/6, fully image-collated on 15 July 2026, supplies an earlier estate relationship witness. On 20 July 1601 Henry Neville placed £86 yearly in Wargrave and Warfield income under “reversion after y^e death of my mother in law the Lady Peryam.” Here “mother in law” again means stepmother. It cannot refer to Anne Killigrew Neville's mother Katherine Cooke Killigrew. The schedule shows that Elizabeth Bacon Peryam's life interest materially postponed Neville's enjoyment of part of the Berkshire estate.

The November 1604 Greenlands letter

The Lady Periam item in RBA D/EN/F44 was directly inspected at original resolution on 15 July 2026. It is dated 3 November 1604, twenty-five days after Sir William Peryam's death. Elizabeth tells Neville that she is not yet resolved who to make my steward, discusses taking surrenders and keeping a court, says I knowe y[e] Tennantes have bene badlye used, and wants a steward who will deal both honestly w[i]th them & my selfe.

This changes the documentary picture in four ways. First, it gives direct evidence that Elizabeth and Neville maintained a cooperative stepmother–stepson relationship. Second, it shows her acting as an independent manorial decision-maker at the beginning of her final widowhood. Third, the dateline anchors Greenlands as an active administrative base rather than merely a genealogical property label. Fourth, it explains the archive catalogue's mother-in-law terminology: that is Elizabeth's own early modern expression for what modern genealogy calls a stepmother.

The letter does not name the manor or the steward candidate, and several faded words remain unresolved. Its full context is developed in the dedicated packet Elizabeth Bacon Periam at Greenlands: Stewardship, Tenants, and Her 3 November 1604 Letter to Henry Neville.

2. My Ladye Nevells Booke

• Full title: My Ladye Nevells Booke (also "MLNB" in scholarship).
• A manuscript of keyboard music entirely by William Byrd, copied by scribe John Baldwin of Windsor.
• Completed 11 September 1591, during Elizabeth's marriage to Sir Henry Nevell. The colophon reads: "ffinished & ended the leventh of september: in the yeare of our lorde God ·1591· & in the ·33· yeare of the raigne of our sofferaine ladie Elizabeth ... By me Jo: baldwine of windsore."
• The book remained continuously in the Nevill family from c. 1830, kept at Eridge Park near Tunbridge Wells; in 2000 inherited by the 6th Marquess of Abergavenny.
• The manuscript's arms (painted on a separate leaf bound into the book) have been confirmed at the College of Arms as those of a male descendant of Edward Nevill, 3rd (bis) Lord Bergavenny — consistent with Sir Henry Nevell of Billingbere's entitlement. Arms formerly appeared in a window at Billingbere.
• Christopher Foley's research (reported in Harley 2005) demonstrated conclusively that Lady Nevell = Elizabeth Bacon, third wife of Sir Henry Nevell of Billingbere. Alan Brown had previously suggested she was "the one most likely to have been the original owner."
• The manuscript is described as "the most beautifully written of all virginal manuscripts" (Alan Brown) and likely copied from Byrd's own autographs.
• Date significance for Neville authorship argument: the book was completed in 1591 at Billingbere, when Henry Neville was approximately 28 years old and part of the household. The same 1780 Billingbear book catalogue referenced in the authorship argument is mentioned in the Harley article.
• Source: Harley 2005 throughout.

3. Relevance to the Northumberland Manuscript

• The Northumberland Manuscript (generally dated 1594–97) bears the name "Francis Bacon" several times and the name "Nevill" twice on the top left.
• Elizabeth Bacon is the documented link between the Bacon family and the Nevell family of Billingbere — Francis Bacon's half-sister was Henry Neville's stepmother.
• Elizabeth Bacon's marriage and the Cooke/Killigrew/Bacon route show overlapping kinship networks, making Bacon/Neville co-presence less surprising. They do not by themselves explain the Northumberland flyleaf, its hands, or manuscript movement.
• See topic: northumberland manuscript

4. Relevance to Francis Bacon / "Concealed Poets"

The Two Bacon–Neville Connections

Elizabeth's existence as Francis Bacon's half-sister is only one of two documented connections between Bacon and Neville. The second runs through Francis Bacon's mother, Ann Cooke, and the wider Cooke sisters family:

• Francis Bacon's mother was Ann Cooke; Henry Neville's wife Anne Killigrew's mother was Katherine Cooke. Both were connected to Sir Anthony Cooke of Gidea Hall's family, making Bacon and Anne Killigrew Neville cousins. The Allen editorial note records: "Henry Neville was married to Anne Killigrew, daughter of Katherine Cooke Killigrew... cousin to Anthony and Francis Bacon" (Allen, Letters of Lady Anne Bacon, 2014).
• The Cooke family also included Mildred Cooke, who married William Cecil, Lord Burghley, connecting Robert Cecil to the same family network. Source: Prior, Mary. "Cecil [née Cooke], Mildred, Lady Burghley (1525/6–1589)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4988.

Elizabeth Bacon sits at the intersection of both documented connections: she is the half-sister of Francis Bacon (whose mother Ann Cooke was a Cooke sister), and she is the stepmother of Henry Neville (via her marriage to Sir Henry Nevell of Billingbere). Together, these two connections make the co-presence of the Bacon and Neville names on the Northumberland Manuscript less surprising, but they do not settle the flyleaf's hands, function, or transmission history.

• Bacon's March 1603 "concealed poets" letter to "Mr. Davies" was written four days after Elizabeth I's death and thirteen days before Neville's release from the Tower. The "Mr. Davies" of that letter is Sir John Davies (1569–1626) — the lawyer and poet who served as Attorney General for Ireland under James I — not John Davies of Hereford (c.1565–1618), who was a separate person. John Davies of Hereford is the poet who dedicated a sonnet to Neville in Microcosmos (1603); he is a distinct individual and should not be conflated with the letter's recipient.
• Elizabeth's third husband Sir William Peryam had played a role in getting Francis Bacon elected to Sir Robert Doyley's (Elizabeth's first husband's) parliamentary seat — showing the family networks were active across generations.
• See topic: francis bacon

5. Quoted Source Text

Harley 2005 — identification

"Lady Nevell's true identity has now been clearly demonstrated by Christopher Foley... It should be added that this article owes much to the stimulus of discussion with him."

"the older Sir Henry Nevell's second wife, Elizabeth Bacon ... may perhaps be regarded as the one most likely to have been the original owner of My Lady Nevell's Book. This has proved to be correct." [quoting Brown, then confirming]

Harley 2005 — Elizabeth's birth and family

"Elizabeth Nevell was born Elizabeth Bacon, the eldest child of Nicholas Bacon, who became Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and was knighted in 1558. He married Jane Ferneley in 1540, and Elizabeth was probably born the next year."

Harley 2005 — second marriage to Sir Henry Nevell

"Elizabeth quickly became the third wife of Sir Henry Nevell. Sir Henry was getting on for sixty years of age... His second wife... Elizabeth Gresham... they had two daughters and four sons, the eldest and most eminent of whom was Henry."

Harley 2005 — third marriage to Peryam

"At some time before the end of September 1595, Lady Elizabeth married Sir William Peryam (or Periam, as she chose to spell the name)... it was a third marriage for each of them, and Peryam had known the Bacons and the Doyleys long before the question of marriage to Elizabeth arose."

Harley 2005 — manuscript colophon

"ffinished & ended the leventh of september: in the yeare of our lorde God ·1591· & in the ·33· yeare of the raigne of our sofferaine ladie Elizabeth by the grace ^ of God queene of Englande: &c / By me Jo: baldwine of windsore"

6. Citations

• Harley, John. "'My Ladye Nevell' Revealed." Music & Letters 86.1 (2005): 1–15. doi:10.1093/ml/gci001. document witnesses: [local source path removed]
• Harley, John. “‘My Ladye Nevell’ Revealed.” Music & Letters, vol. 86, no. 1, 2005, pp. 1-15. Oxford Academic, https://academic.oup.com/ml/article/86/1/1/1092011.
• My Ladye Nevells Booke. British Library digitized manuscript, IIIF viewer, https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc_100054718159.0x000001.
• Allen, Gemma, ed. The Letters of Lady Anne Bacon. Cambridge University Press for the Royal Historical Society, 2014. Camden Fifth Series, vol. 44. [For the Anne Killigrew / Bacon cousin connection.]
• Tittler, Robert. Nicholas Bacon: The Making of a Tudor Statesman. London, 1976. [Genealogies cited in Harley 2005.]
• Royal Berkshire Archives, `D/EN/F44`, Lady Periam to Sir Henry Neville, 3 November 1604.
• Folger Shakespeare Library, Papers of Nathaniel Bacon, family and surname controls for Elizabeth's successive marriages.

7. Notes on Access

• The Harley 2005 article is the primary scholarly source for all claims in this packet. It is fully text-searchable as a document witnesses.
• The identification of Elizabeth Bacon as Lady Nevell is now settled scholarship, not hypothesis.
• The Oxford Academic abstract gives the key control statement: in 1591 the title Lady Nevell correctly applied to Elizabeth, wife of Sir Henry Nevell of Billingbere, and fresh examination of the arms confirmed Sir Henry's arms. The British Library digitized manuscript is the preferred visual witness for the manuscript itself.
• The "Ralph Neville" error that appeared in earlier project drafts (bacon concealed poets letter, NOTES chapter plan) has been corrected. Elizabeth married Sir Henry Nevell of Billingbere (Henry Neville's father), not anyone called "Ralph Neville."