Murderous duel of Cavendish servants

About the year 1570, Henry Cavendish (1550-1616), the eldest son of Bess of Hardwick (1527-1608), wrote to his mother and stepfather George Talbot (1528-90) concerning an incident which had occurred between two members of his household. 
Henry Cavendish had married in 1568 to Grace Talbot (b.1560), the daughter of his stepfather George Talbot, and as the heir to his father William Cavendish who died when Henry was only seven years old, at this time Henry had his own household and was residing at Tutbury Castle.

The incident that took place, was a duel between two of Henry Cavendish's servants which resulted in the death of one at the hand of the other. It appears that the two servants involved had been with the family for a long time, as Henry had a strong affection for them as well as Bess herself knowing their characters well. The two servants were named Swenerton and Langeford; it was Swenerton who won the duel and killed Langeford. There was a family called Swynnerton from the town of the same name in Staffordshire, and a Langford family in Derbyshire. Therefore it would seem that they were locals to the area surrounding Tutbury Castle who went to work there.

Henry Cavendish wrote a letter to his mother Bess of Hardwick the day after the duel had happened between his servants. Bess then forwarded the letter to her husband George Talbot, with the instruction that it be returned to her. The fact that Henry waited an entire day before writing to his mother about the matter, which could have caused a scandal against the family, is surprising. As Swenerton, despite being pursued, was not yet caught and had indeed been permitted to flee in the first place, along with the blatant affection that Henry Cavendish felt for him, it is entirely possible that Henry Cavendish was perhaps trying to help Swenerton to escape the law, or at least delay it.

To my Lady.
To my lorde of some affecte
to my Lady
Maye yt please your Honor, I thought yt good to let your Ladyship vnderstande of a mysfortune that happened in my howse. On thursday at nyght last at supper ij of my men fell owt abowte some tryflynge woordes and to all theyr felloes iudgementes that harde theyr iangelynge, wear made good ffrendes agayne, and went and Laye togeether that nyghte, for they had byn bedfelloes of longe before, and loved one thother very well as every boddye tooke yt in the howse. On ffryday mornynge very early, by breake of daye they wente forthe, by name Swenerton, and Langeford with ij swordes a peece, as the sequele after showed, and in the fyeldes foughte together, and in fyghte, Swenerton shlewe Langeford, to my great greyfe booth for the sodeyne deathe of the one, and for the vtter dystructyon of the tother whom I loved very well. Good Madam let yt not trowble you in any thynge, we are mortall, and borne to many and strange adventures, and thearfore must temper owr myndes to bear shuche burthens as shall be by God layd on owr shoulders. My greattest greyffe, and so I iudge yt wyll be some trowble to your Ladyship that yt shoulde happen in my howse alas madam what coulde I dooe with yt, altogether not once suspectynge any thynge betwyxte them. I haue byn ryghte sorofull full for yt, and yt hath trowbled and vexed me, more then in reason yt should haue donne a wyese man. I would to God I could forget that theyr never had byn any shuch matter. Vpon the facte donne I sent for Master Adderley, and vsed hys counsell in all thynges. Swenerton ffledde presently, and ys pursued but not yet harde of. Thus humbly cravynge your Ladyship's dayly blessynge I end, more then sadde to trowble your Ladyship thus longe with thys sorrofull matter. Tutbury thys present Saturday.
Your Ladyship's most bounden humble and obedyent sonne:
Henry Cavendyshe.

retarne thys

my Iuwell thys saterday at nyght I resauyed thys later meche to my greffe for the myshape yett was euer lyke that swenertone shulde comete some great fayte he was a vane lewe felow. fare well my deare harth your faythefoull wyffe

EShrouesbury

The murder of Henry Shirley

Henry Shirley (1591-1627) was a playwright whose works included "The Martyr'd Souldier", "Giraldo, the Constant Lover" and "The Dumb Bawd". In 1627 Henry Shirley was murdered by an MP for financial reasons.

Children of Thomas Shirley (1542-1612) and Anne Kempe (1542-1623);

+ Thomas Shirley m. Frances Vavasour

                             + Henry Shirley (d.1627)

+ Anthony Shirley m. Frances Vernon

+ Robert Shirley m. Teresia Khan

+ Cecily Shirley m. Thomas West

                          + Essex West

+ Mary Shirley m. John Crofts

+ Anne Shirley m. John Tracy

+ Elizabeth Shirley m. Edward Onslow

+ Margery Shirley m. Pexsall Brocas

+ Jane Shirley m. John Shirley

+ Henry Shirley

+ Eleanor Shirley

+ Edward Shirley

In 1622 Henry's grandmother Anne left him a bequest in her Will of £40 a year;

"Item, I give and bequeath unto my true and loving friend, the said Sir Thomas Bishop, the

sum of three hundred pounds current money of England being now in his own custody,

upon the trust and confidence hereafter following, viz., that he, the said Sir Thomas

Bishop, shall retain the same forever, and in lieu thereof shall pay or cause to be paid by his heirs or assigns unto Henry Shirley, my grandchild, during his natural life only for

and towards his maintenance, the full sum of forty pounds yearly of current English

money at two usual feasts in the year, viz., the feast of Sir Michael th’ Archangel and the

Annunciation of Our Blessed Lady St. Mary the Virgin by even and equal portions, the

first payment thereof to begin at such of the feasts as shall first happen after my decease,

and I do charge my executor that he see and provide that the same yearly sum of forty

pounds be wholly used and employed according to my true intent and meaning, viz. for

the only maintenance of the said Henry Shirley during his natural life and not otherwise"- Will of Anne Shirley, 1622

The fact that Henry was left the money outright, but was to be given the money in yearly installments can be seen as an indication of his inability to spend his money wisely and perhaps previous behaviour where he has wasted his money.
The executor of Anne Shirley's Will, Thomas Bishop (1553-1626), maintained the payments to Henry until his own death in 1626. In Thomas' own Will he made the request that his son, Edward Bishop MP (1602-49), take over the management of payments to Henry Shirley, indicating which property to use the rents from to pay him.
The Friday before the 31st October 1627, Henry Shirley visited the house on Chancery Lane of Edward Bishop and demanded the money that he was owed. The unarmed Henry Shirley was then run through with a sword by Edward Bishop, who many reported was drunk at the time. Shirley died immediately.
After the coroner's inquest into the incident, Edward Bishop fled and went into hiding. He was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to be burnt on the hand, but was later pardoned on the 21st October 1628. The money, a sum of £279, which was found in the household of Edward Bishop was paid to a cousin of Henry Shirley. The pardon came as a result of Bishop promising to pay the £40 annuity that Henry was receiving, to Henry's older brother in his place. However, Edward Bishop did not pay the money due in arrears, nor did he pay the promised annuity. Due to this Shirley's creditors, to whom he owed money to before his death, petitioned the Privy Council to force Bishop to pay them.
In addition to the money not paid to Henry Shirley, another grandchild of Anne Shirley's named Essex West was to receive £100 when she reached the age of fifteen years. This money was also not paid by Edward Bishop, despite his father mentioning it in his Will.

It would appear that Edward Bishop's actions were due to his own dire financial situation which occurred after the death of his father.

"There is a foul murther committed on Friday last by Sr Edward Bishop, of Sussex, on Mr

Henry Shirley of the same shire, whom he run thro’ with his sword (having no weapon

about him), as he came to him in his lodging in Chancery Lane to demand of him an

annuity of 40l., which the said Sr Edward Bishop was to give him, whose lands (which

are reported be of 1500l, or 2000l, by the year) were presently begged or given away, but

himself not yet found out."-Mr Beaulieu to Sir Thomas Puckering, 31st October 1627

The murder was still remembered by many as it was mentioned four years later in William Prynne's 'Histriomastix' (1633);
Given as an example of "the sudden and untimely ends of all those ancient play-poets" is mentioned the case of "Sherly, slaine suddenly by Sir Edward Bishop, whiles hee was drunke, as most report".

A St Loe murderer

Bess of Hardwick

In January 1559 Bess of Hardwick married her third husband William St Loe, a widower with two grown daughters; Mary and Margaret.
William was the eldest son of his parents, Sir John St Loe and his wife Margaret, and therefore inherited the family fortune upon his father's death in 1559. When John St Loe died, he left his eldest William, as well as his youngest two sons, Clement and John, and his only daughter Elizabeth well provided for with money and properties, however to Edward he left nothing. This was probably due to him knowing of Edward's lack of responsibility when it came to money; in 1553 Margaret had encourage John to give Edward the lease of Whitchurch Manor in Somerset, however he had sold it three years later and had quickly spent all of the money. In 1559 William gave Edward the stewardship of Sutton Court with residential rights for life. After William's death, Edward claimed that on his deathbed he had given Edward a lifetime interest in Sutton Court.

Sutton Court

Edward's marital life was also a source of scandal. In 1558 Edward married Bridget Scutt (nee Malte). Bridget was the second wife of John Scutt, a former tailor to King Henry VIII, and they had a twelve year old son Anthony as well as eighteen year old Margaret who was John Scutt's daughter from his first marriage. John Scutt died suddenly in 1558 and only a month later Bridget married Edward. At the time of this marriage it was found that Bridget was three months pregnant by Edward. Only two weeks after John Scutt died, Edward had purchased from Bridget the property leases that Scutt had owned; the manors of Stanton Drew and East Cranmer. If the situation was not suspicious enough already, only a few months after the wedding Bridget herself mysteriously died. Six months after Bridget's death, Edward married again. The lucky bride was Margaret Scutt, Bridget's step daughter from her first marriage. Despite everything that had happened, Edward and Margaret had a long marriage, she outlived him by thirteen years, and they had two children together; John and Ann.

William St Loe

As William's first younger brother, Edward, was his heir as William only had daughters from his first marriage and his current marriage to Bess was yet to produce any children. However, Edward feared greatly that if Bess gave birth to a son, it would be this child that inherited and not him. 
In 1560 Bess was poisoned but luckily she recovered. This occurred during a visit from Edward to the newly married St Loe's in London, so that he could meet his new sister-in-law. For this, William and his mother Margaret both thought Edward to have been behind it. 
In December 1564 Edward went to visit William and was staying with him. It was during this visit that William suddenly died. William was only forty seven years old. It can be assumed that Edward thought he would then inherit William's fortune and properties, however William may have forseen this eventuality and in his Will he left everything to Bess. William had started to move his properties into the hands of Bess after the 1560 poisoning. 
The picture that we have of Edward St Loe is not a positive one, and the number of sudden and mysterious deaths that he is connected to, and profits from, is suspicious. It is entirely possible that Edward spent his life using poison to murder those around him whom he perceived as a threat, as it was only through their deaths that he would get what he wanted. 
This following letter was sent from Margaret St Loe to her daughter-in-law Bess on the 13th June 1560, after the event of Bess being poisoned in London, stating that she had been told of Edward's involvement in it from a lady, possibly a cousin or close friend of Edward's. 

To my good lady Sayntloo be thys delyueryd

good madam with my very harty commendacyns as sche that desyrys to here how yow & my son sayntloo doth & also to sertyfy yow wat I here of dyueres & I haue ben exed wat the maters ys be twexte my son sayntloo & hys brother edward I haue made anser I was suer my sone Sayntloo wolde not mysse leke with hym with owte a gret caues/ & many hath sayde to me thay here say Edward scholde go abowte to powson hys brether & yow & I haue tolde them I know hyt not so here hys a gret talke of hyt/ & apone amonth or more ther cam alady hether to me/ & was very ernest with me to know wher euer I harde eny sych thyng & sayde sche scholde here hyt at longeys moth who browte hor leter or token from besse sayntloo & sche wolde ahade me synde to long & I wolde not// but I tolde hur I was suer yow where powsonyd when I was at London & yeffe yow had not ade a present Remedy ye had dyed wych sche made hyt straynge sche neuer harde of hyt afor/ wych I am suer sche dyd/ sche hath byn more & senyte & yet is at Edward sayntloes besdon schall tell yow more of hur talke to me now I know suer sche cam hether to here wat I wolde say & wat sche code vnderstand by me/ sche tolde me how hur coson edward had send to hur often to cometo hym but sche wolde not but I tolde hur wat I thowght of hym wych I am suer sche myslekyd me for/ but sche sayde sche was sory ther scholde beeny varyances be twen vs for sche dyd know I haue vsed hym wery well but I thynk sche sayth the contrary now to hym/ I perceue ther heddes be foll of thys mater as thay haue letell grace so god send them letell powre to do my son sayntlo or yow eny horte thys was the good wyll he bare yow when he cam vp to London to se yow as he sayde was nonother caues hys comyng/ wych I know the contrary for he lekyd no thyng your maryege/ hys good frynchyppe to yow & to me ys all on/ the lyuyng god defende vs all from sych fryndes I pray yow madam send me worde how thys deuell deuysys be gan & how hyt can to lyte thankes be to god ye know hyt I wyll troboll yow no lenger but I pray god sende yow both long lyffe & good helth

with moch worchyppe wryton the xiij of Iune by yowres most assurydly as long as I haue lyffe

margret Sayntloo