In October 1562, less than three years after her accession to the throne, Elizabeth I contracted the highly-infectious smallpox virus, which led to her becoming critically ill, and subsequently raised questions in relation to the succession of the English monarchy.

The marriage between Lettice and Leicester was formally celebrated on Sunday 21 September 1578, at Leicester's Essex home of Wanstead Hall, almost two years to the date of death of her first husband. Leicester had consulted with his chaplain at Wanstead, Humphrey Tyndall, informing of his intent to marry Lettice in secret, as he felt that public knowledge of their marriage may cause "great damage to his estate", having not previously obtained the consent of the queen (Tallis,

Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, had been a popular and active courtier during the reign of Elizabeth I, following in the footsteps of his father, John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, a high-ranking councillor during the reigns of the three previous monarchs: Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I.

On 08 September 1560, Amy sent away her household for the day, encouraging them to enjoy the first day of the local Abingdon Fair. It was on the servants' return to the hall that evening that they found Amy, at the foot of a ground-floor staircase, dead, with her neck obviously broken.

On 13 June 1548, after months of preparation, Katherine and Seymour moved their households to Sudeley Castle in the Gloucestershire countryside, leaving behind the controversy and a disease-filled London.

On 02 September in 1666, an accidental fire started in a bakery on Pudding Lane, within the City of London. The blaze was not properly extinguished, and so within hours the fire grew into a blazing inferno, which devastated the city and became known as 'The Great Fire of London'.

Henry Carey was the second child of Mary Boleyn, the eldest daughter of Thomas Boleyn, born in March 1526.

In mid-June 1519, a baby boy was born to a young unmarried woman who, for the past few months, had been residing at the Prior's House of St Lawrence's Priory in Blackmore, Essex. This baby, whilst illegitimate, would take the name of his acknowledged father, the king of England: Henry Fitzroy.

On 19 July 1584, Robert Dudley, Lord Denbigh, son of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, long time 'favourite' of Elizabeth I, and his wife Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester, died suddenly whilst residing at Wanstead Hall, Essex.

On This Day (10 July) in 1553, Jane Grey, eldest daughter of Frances Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, the niece of Henry VIII, and her husband Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, was publicly proclaimed Queen of England.

At around eight o'clock in the evening, on 06 July 1553, after over a year of ill-health, the fifteen-year-old Edward VI took his final breaths, dying at Greenwich Palace, a favoured residence and birthplace of his father, Henry VIII.

Exact details of their marriage are unconfirmed, but it is believed the couple were married around July 1589.

On 25 May 1553, numerous guests including members of the Privy Council and foreign ambassadors, gathered at Durham Place, the Westminster residence of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland to witness a triple wedding celebration: the three young brides were Northumberland's youngest daughter Katherine Dudley, and sisters Jane and Katherine Grey, eldest daughters of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk.

George first showed signs of mental illness in 1499, which was referred to in contemporary documents as "the land evil".

On the evening of Thursday 03 April 1606, Blount took his final breath, with his loving Penelope by his side, the one woman to whom he had been "faithful and constant" all those years.

On 30 April 1544, Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, Lord High Chancellor of England, and father of Margaret Audley, died at his City of London home, 'Christchurch Place', Aldgate, after a year of deteriorating health.

On This Day (18 April) in 1587, clergyman, historian, theologian and martyrologist John Foxe died at his London home on Grub Street, in the parish of St Giles-without-Cripplegate.

On the second page of The First Folio, a dedication is made to its patrons, "the Most Noble and Incomparable Paire of Brethren"...

On 23 March 1596, Sir Henry Unton, the eldest surviving son of the late Anne Seymour, Countess of Warwick, died.

On 13 March 1555, John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, Lord Privy Seal, died at his Westminster home, 'Russell House'.