Henry Neville Birthdate

Topic: Henry Neville Birthdate

Source-Control Summary

• Baptism anchor: Henry Neville, son to Sir Henry Neville, knt. May 20 controls the St Ann Blackfriars witness.
• Colthorpe anchor: Queen was godmother to Sir Henry Neville's child links the royal-godmother note to the same day.
• Age-witness anchor: the Gresham IPM gives 16 years 11 moneths and 10 days; Whitelocke gives 52 years of age when he died.
• Guardrail: baptism on 20 May 1564 is not the same as birth date; ODNB/secondary birth dates should be treated as conflicting external references until age witnesses are reconciled.

Research Verdict and Evidence Hierarchy

The exact birth date is not settled. The safest current conclusion is that Henry Neville was baptized at St Ann Blackfriars on 20 May 1564, while a cluster of age statements points instead to a birth in approximately 1563. The frequently repeated 11 April 1563 is the literal result of counting backward from the Thomas Gresham IPM age; it is not a date written in a birth or baptism record.

Two explanations remain possible but unproved: the baptism register year or later transcription may be wrong, or Neville may have been baptized substantially after birth. Neither explanation should be stated as fact until the original register and the manuscript behind the godmother notice are inspected.

1. Verified Sourced Facts

• Source-tier warning, 2026-04-28: this packet mixes parish-register/court-chronology evidence with blog interpretation and unresolved date conflicts. Any “same post states” material should be treated as a preserved research claim unless the bullet separately identifies the register, chronology, funeral certificate, university record, portrait, or other direct witness.

• A image witnesses witness of the St. Anne, Blackfriars register page includes the line:

“1564. Henry Neville, son to Sir Henry Neville, knt. May 20.”

• Marion E. Colthorpe's Folger-hosted The Elizabethan Court Day by Day: 1564 gives a matching 20 May 1564 entry for the christening:

“Queen was godmother to ‘Sir Henry Neville’s child’.”

• The same Colthorpe entry identifies the parents as Sir Henry Neville of Berkshire and his first wife Elizabeth Gresham, and immediately adds the St Ann Blackfriars register extract:

“May 20: baptised: ‘Henry Neville, son to Sir Henry Neville’.”

• This pairing is the strongest currently located published evidence that Queen Elizabeth I was godmother to Henry Neville. It is stronger than a floating genealogical tradition because it synchronizes the royal-godmother note with the parish-register baptism on the same date.

• A 2026-04-28 web recheck of the official Folgerpedia project page confirms that Colthorpe's The Elizabethan Court Day by Day is a Folger-hosted scholarly chronology compiled from a broad primary-source base including unpublished diaries, letters, and royal-household account books. The same official page explicitly cautions that, because of the work's scale, it is not exhaustive and may contain errors. This supports using Colthorpe as a strong published-extract witness while still requiring manuscript verification for the godmother note.

• The Folger contents/survey PDF also shows that the project includes a Godchildren index under the Court section. This reinforces that royal godparentage is an intended data category in the Colthorpe project, but it does not by itself identify the manuscript source behind the Neville entry.

• The parish-register side has an independent access trail: FamilySearch catalog record 256057 identifies Parish registers for St. Ann Blackfriars Church, London, 1560-1849, describes the material as Microfilm of original at the Guildhall Library, and lists Baptisms, 1560-1812 as British Film 374416, DGS 8046653.

• The London Archives / AIM25 collection record for GB 0074 P69/ANN confirms that the St Ann Blackfriars parish archive survives, dates from 1560-1961, and includes registers of baptisms, marriages, banns, and burials. It also states that the records were deposited with Guildhall Library and that Guildhall Library Manuscripts merged with London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.

• A image witnesses witness of a Foster entry includes the wording:

“Nevil, (Sir) Henry, of Berks, eq. fil. MERTON COLL., matric. entry under date 20 Dec., 1577, aged 15”

• A image witnesses witness from James Whitelocke’s Liber Famelicus includes the wording:

“He was 52 years of age when he died.”

• A image witnesses witness of Thomas Gresham’s inquisition post mortem includes the wording:

“The said Henry Nevell Junior was the nearest and next heir”

• The same image includes:

“of the age of 16 years 11 moneths and 10 days”

• The reference date of the Thomas Gresham Inquisition Post Mortem is March 21, 1580. Working back literally from the IPM age of “16 years 11 months and 10 days” yields approximately 11 April 1563. That is a calculated date, not a directly recorded birth date; the additional claim that it was Easter Sunday should not carry evidentiary weight here.

• A image witnesses witness of Elizabeth Neville’s funeral certificate includes the wording:

“Henry Nevell her son & heyre of the age of 10 years & halff”

• John Harley independently notes that the younger Sir Henry's birthdate is usually given as 1564?, but according to his mother's funeral certificate he was 10½ years old when she died on 7 Nov. 1573. This supports a birth in approximately 1563, and independently strengthens the local funeral-certificate line already preserved in this packet.

• Mark Greengrass's ODNB entry gives Neville's dates as 1561/2–1615, which conflicts with the project's current age-witness cluster. This should be treated as an external reference conflict rather than silently absorbed into the packet's conclusion.

• Woolfson's web-indexed biographical-register entry for Neville gives the dates 1562-1615. Like Greengrass's 1561/2-1615, this is an external reference conflict and should not override the packet's age-witness cluster without direct explanation.

• The same post states:

“A 1599 portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger ... states he was 36 years old.”

2. Ken Feinstein Twitter and Blog Information

• The 2020 blog post states:

“Henry Neville's birthdate can now be confidently established as approximately April 11, 1563 (Easter Sunday)”

Source-control correction: the word confidently is stronger than the surviving evidence permits. Book prose should say that the IPM calculation points to about 11 April 1563 and that several other age witnesses broadly support c.1563, while the secure baptism is dated 20 May 1564 and other references point to 1561-62.

Quoted Source Passages

Follow SOURCE QUOTATION STANDARD. This packet is a good example of why exact quotation matters: the baptism record, godmother chronology, age witnesses, and ODNB date are not the same kind of evidence.

St Ann Blackfriars baptism

• Source: St Ann Blackfriars register image preserved in local birthdate image packet; archival route through The London Archives / GB 0074 P69/ANN.
• Quotation:

"Henry Neville, son to Sir Henry Neville, knt. May 20."

• What it proves: A Henry Neville, son of Sir Henry Neville, was baptized at St Ann Blackfriars on 20 May 1564.
• Limits: Baptism date is not automatically birth date. It conflicts with age-witness clusters suggesting an earlier birth year.

Colthorpe/Folger godmother entry

• Source: Marion E. Colthorpe, The Elizabethan Court Day by Day: 1564, Folger-hosted chronology.
• Quotation:

"Queen was godmother to 'Sir Henry Neville's child'"

"baptised: 'Henry Neville, son to Sir Henry Neville'"

• What it proves: Colthorpe links Queen Elizabeth's godparentage note with the same St Ann Blackfriars baptism date and child.
• Limits: Colthorpe is a strong published chronology route, but the underlying manuscript source for the godmother note still needs direct verification.

Oxford age witness

• Source: Oxford matriculation entry image preserved in the local birthdate packet.
• Quotation:

"MERTON COLL., matric. entry under date 20 Dec., 1577, aged 15"

• What it proves: A later educational record gives Neville's age as 15 in December 1577.
• Limits: Age-at-matriculation entries can be approximate; this witness points toward c.1562 but does not settle the exact birth date alone.

Whitelocke age witness

• Source: Whitelocke image preserved in the local birthdate packet.
• Quotation:

"He was 52 years of age when he died."

• What it proves: A death-age witness places Neville at age 52 in 1615, pointing toward c.1563.
• Limits: This conflicts with a literal 1564 birth inference from baptism; final prose should preserve the tension rather than silently normalizing.

Thomas Gresham IPM Age Witness

• Source: Thomas Gresham inquisition post mortem image preserved in the local birthdate packet.
• Quotation:

"The said Henry Nevell Junior was the nearest and next heir"

"of the age of 16 years 11 moneths and 10 days"

• What it proves: The IPM age witness, calculated from the 21 March 1580 reference date, points toward a birth around April 1563.
• Limits: The calculation depends on the reference date and on taking the stated age literally; it should be weighed with the baptism and other age witnesses, not used alone.

Elizabeth Neville Funeral Certificate Age Witness

• Source: Elizabeth Neville funeral certificate image preserved in the local birthdate packet; secondary support through John Harley, "`My Ladye Nevell' Revealed."
• Quotation:

"Henry Nevell her son & heyre of the age of 10 years & halff"

• What it proves: A family death-context witness points to Henry being about ten and a half when his mother died on 7 November 1573, again supporting c.1563.
• Limits: The original certificate still needs a direct archival or printed-edition citation beyond the preserved image/blog route.

ODNB Conflict

• Source: Mark Greengrass, ODNB entry for Sir Henry Neville; document witnesses odnb-9780198614128-e-19940.pdf.
• Quotation:

"1561/2-1615"

• What it proves: ODNB gives a materially different birth-date range from the packet's baptism and age-witness cluster.
• Limits: ODNB is useful bibliography and overview, but its date should not override the direct age witnesses without explanation.

3. Source Text Index

St. Anne, Blackfriars register image

• “1564. Henry Neville, son to Sir Henry Neville, knt. May 20.”

Colthorpe / Folger 1564 chronology

• “May 20: christening: Queen was godmother to ‘Sir Henry Neville’s child’.”
• “Parents: Sir Henry Neville, of Berkshire; 1st wife: Elizabeth (Gresham), daughter of Sir John Gresham.”
• “St Ann Blackfriars, London, register: May 20: baptised: ‘Henry Neville, son to Sir Henry Neville’.”
• Folger project page: the chronology uses “unpublished diaries, letters, and the account-books kept by senior officials of the Royal Household.”
• Folger project page: the work is “neither exhaustive nor without the potential for error.”

FamilySearch / archival access trail

• “Parish registers for St. Ann Blackfriars Church, London, 1560-1849”
• “Microfilm of original at the Guildhall Library.”
• “Baptisms, 1560-1812”
• “British Film 374416 8046653”
• “GB 0074 P69/ANN”
• “Records of the parish of Saint Ann, Blackfriars, City of London, including registers of baptisms, marriages, banns and burials”

Oxford entry image

• “Nevil, (Sir) Henry, of Berks, eq. fil. MERTON COLL., matric. entry under date 20 Dec., 1577, aged 15”

Whitelocke image

• “He was 52 years of age when he died.”

Thomas Gresham IPM image

• “The said Henry Nevell Junior was the nearest and next heir”
• “of the age of 16 years 11 moneths and 10 days”

Elizabeth Neville funeral certificate image

• “Henry Nevell her son & heyre of the age of 10 years & halff”
• “he was 10½ years old when she died on 7 Nov. 1573”

2020 birthdate post

• “Henry Neville's birthdate can now be confidently established as approximately April 11, 1563 (Easter Sunday)”
• “A 1599 portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger ... states he was 36 years old.”

4. Citations

• Chester, Joseph Lemuel, editor. The Marriage, Baptismal, and Burial Registers of the Collegiate Church or Abbey of St. Peter, Westminster; the Parish Church or Abbey of St. Margaret, Westminster; and the Church of St. Martin in the Fields, Middlesex; including also the Parish Register of St. Anne, Soho, Westminster; the Registers of the Savoy Chapel, and of St. Anne, Blackfriars, London. London, Harleian Society, 1876.
• Colthorpe, Marion E. The Elizabethan Court Day by Day: 1564. Folger Shakespeare Library / Folgerpedia, PDF, https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/mediawiki/media/images_pedia_folgerpedia_mw/2/2e/ECDbD_1564.pdf.
• Colthorpe, Marion E. The Elizabethan Court Day by Day. Folgerpedia project page and author's introduction, https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/The_Elizabethan_Court_Day_by_Day.
• Colthorpe, Marion E. The Elizabethan Court Day by Day: Contents Summary and Survey of the Reign. Folger Shakespeare Library / Folgerpedia, PDF, https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/mediawiki/media/images_pedia_folgerpedia_mw/1/19/ECDbD_1._Contents_Survey_of_Reign_1.pdf.
• Church of England. St. Ann Blackfriars Church (London). Parish registers for St. Ann Blackfriars Church, London, 1560-1849. FamilySearch Catalog 256057, https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/catalog/256057.
• "SAINT ANN, BLACKFRIARS: CITY OF LONDON." AIM25 / The London Archives, collection GB 0074 P69/ANN, https://atom.aim25.com/index.php/saint-ann-blackfriars-city-of-london.
• Foster, Joseph. Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford, 1500-1714. Oxford, Parker and Co., 1891-92.
• Harley, John. “‘My Ladye Nevell’ Revealed.” Music & Letters, vol. 86, no. 1, 2005, pp. 1-15. Staged PDF: Harley-MyLadyeNevellRevealed-2005.pdf.
• Greengrass, Mark. “Neville, Sir Henry (1561/2–1615).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Local ODNB folder copy: odnb-9780198614128-e-19940.pdf. Earlier staged PDF: Greengrass-HenryNeville-ODNB-2014.pdf.
• henry neville 1578 travel licence and woolfson register leads, for Woolfson's 1562-1615 register-date conflict and the separate travel-licence lead.
• “Henry Neville’s Birthdate Settled?” kenfeinstein.blogspot.com, 14 Dec. 2020, https://kenfeinstein.blogspot.com/2020/12/henry-nevilles-birthdate-settled.html.
• Whitelocke, James. Liber Famelicus. Camden Society, 1858.

5. Notes on Access

• The blog post is presently the assembled source note for this topic within the project: blog birthdate settled 2020 12 14.
• The packet preserves an unresolved tension among the current witnesses:
• the St. Anne, Blackfriars image reads 1564 ... May 20
• the Oxford age, Whitelocke age-at-death, Thomas Gresham IPM age, Elizabeth Neville funeral certificate age, and the portrait-age claim in the blog post all point instead toward 1563
• The Queen Elizabeth godmother claim is now upgraded from blog-level hypothesis to a strong published-extract claim through Colthorpe/Folger. It should still be stated cautiously: Colthorpe explicitly pairs the godmother note with the St Ann Blackfriars baptism entry, but the original manuscript behind the godmother note has not yet been inspected in this packet.
• The St Ann Blackfriars baptism itself is stronger than the godmother claim because it is supported by the register extract and by a clear archival route to the original baptism register: The London Archives collection GB 0074 P69/ANN and FamilySearch film 374416 / DGS 8046653.
• The current best formulation is: Henry Neville was baptized at St Ann Blackfriars on 20 May 1564; Colthorpe's Folger-hosted court chronology records that Queen Elizabeth I was godmother to Sir Henry Neville's child on that same date, apparently the same event; the godmother claim is probable but not yet manuscript-verified.
• Colthorpe's project introduction states that the chronology uses unpublished diaries, letters, and royal-household account books, but also cautions that a work of this scale may contain errors. A 2026-04-28 Folgerpedia recheck confirmed this wording on the official project page. That makes Colthorpe a strong guide, not a substitute for checking the underlying manuscript citation.
• The absence, so far, of a matching royal-gift entry for Neville's child should be treated as a limitation, not as disproof. Colthorpe records royal gifts for some other godchildren in 1564, including Dr Master's child and Sir William Cecil's daughter, but the inspected May 20 Neville entry does not include a gift.
• Harley's article is now the best independent secondary support for the funeral-certificate line. It does not solve the St. Anne register conflict, but it strengthens the reason not to default to 1564.
• Greengrass's ODNB date 1561/2–1615 and Woolfson's register date 1562-1615 add external conflicts and should be cited as conflicts, not as replacements for the packet's age-witness analysis.
• ODNB source-control position: the local ODNB PDF in [local source path removed] is useful for bibliography and overview, but its 1561/2 date is not controlling against the age-witness cluster preserved here.
• For that reason, this packet does not treat the register year 1564 as harmonized with the other evidence; it preserves the conflicting witness wording and the blog’s c. 11 April 1563 conclusion separately.
• image witnesses witnesses used in this packet:
• image_01_a392e02486.png
• image_03_672a90c5d7.png
• image_04_98bd9f57df.png
• image_06_39aba52593.png
• image_07_b0fd72712b.png
• The local portrait image is present at image_05_43058d545a.jpg, but the age inscription is not transcribed here from the image itself.
• The local godchildren image is present at image_02_8bee5af4d6.jpg. The Colthorpe/Folger PDF now supplies the direct Henry Neville wording that this packet previously lacked.
• The earlier blog hypothesis that Neville may have been baptized late because he was a godchild of Elizabeth I is now better grounded but still not fully resolved. The godmother claim no longer rests only on the blog, but the explanation for the apparent gap between the c. April 1563 age-witness cluster and the 20 May 1564 baptism remains interpretive.

Additional Fact-Source Notes

• AIM25 verifies the archive route for St Ann Blackfriars: the parish records include registers of baptisms, marriages, banns, and burials, and the Guildhall Library material was merged into LMA custody in 2009.
• That archive-route control does not solve the date tension. The 20 May 1564 baptism remains in tension with the age-witness cluster pointing to c.1563.
• The Colthorpe/Folger godmother wording is now a strong published-extract control, but the final argument still needs manuscript-level verification of the register, godchildren list, and age witnesses.

Direct Portrait-Age Control, 13 July 2026

The age notation on the 1599 portrait has now been read directly from the full-resolution image rather than repeated from the blog. The local object control is Henry_Neville_1599_commons.jpg, 6933 × 9172 pixels. At upper right it visibly reads:

A° 1599

Æ 36

At left, the same image identifies the sitter as:

Sr Henry Neville

Ambassador to France

Anno 1599

This is now a direct visual age witness. It places Neville’s birth approximately in 1562/63, depending on the portrait’s exact date and whether the stated age is current or completed years. It does not by itself establish 11 April 1563, because the portrait provides neither a month/day of painting nor an exact birthday.

The revised comparison is:

The portrait therefore strengthens the cluster centered on 1562/63 but leaves the baptism problem intact. A baptism in May 1564 need not equal a birth in May 1564, yet a delay of roughly a year would be unusual enough that it should be demonstrated rather than assumed. The decisive next work remains direct manuscript control of the parish register, the godmother source behind Colthorpe, the Gresham IPM wording, and the funeral certificate. The portrait can now be cited confidently for “age 36 in 1599,” while the exact birth day remains unresolved.