Cooke, Mildred

1524 - 1589  (64 years)

• Name	Cooke, Mildred
  Birth	24 Aug 1524	Romford, London Borough of Havering, Greater London, England
  Gender	Female
  Biography	Aft 5 Apr 1589
  From Find a Grave; Mildred was born in Gidea Hall, near Romford, Essex. She died at Burghley House in Strand, Middlesex and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Why such an honor? Because she overcame the limitations the law imposed on her sex, and gained a reputation as a scholar that surpassed that of her prominent father, Sir Anthony Cooke, an Oxford Don-- a man who ought to stand as a major figure in the history of feminism because he schooled his daughters as rigorously as his sons, and taught them to assert their authority in societal as well as scholarly matters. Mildred was an accomplished and well-published author on Greek language, literature, history and philosophy, and she presided over a salon at Oxford where ambitious students vied with each other for her favor. By all accounts she possessed a formidable mind and an intimidating personality-- but was known for her generosity and patience with scholars. Their high opinion over the years created a renown that evidently justified her interment at Westminster Abbey. Because of a coming sea-change in public morality, and William Cecil's elevation to a station once reserved for the Baronial class, her betrothal to William Cecil had to be "cleaned up" by the posthumous legitimization of her grandmother's concubinage with William Fitzwilliam, Lord of Milton Hall-- another example of the tendency of Mildred's life to defy convention. She and Burghley were married on 21 Dec 1545 at Gidea Hall, and she lived not at court but at Burghley House in Strand, Middlesex, then on the northern outskirts of London.
  Reference Number	10494
  Death	4 Aug 1589	Strand, City of Westminster, Greater London, England
  Burial	Westminster Abbey, London, England
  Person ID	I343064	1FamilyTree
  Last Modified	2 Sep 2018

  
  

  Family	Cecil, William 1st Baron Burghleigh,   b. 13 Sep 1520, Bourne, , Lincolnshire, England d. 4 Aug 1598 (Age 77 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1545
  Children	1. Cecil, Robert Earl of Salisbury,   b. 1 Jun 1563, Westminster, London, England d. 24 May 1612, Marlborough, , Wiltshire, England (Age 48 years)
  Family ID	F215014	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Jan 2018