On This Day, 30 November, in 1554, poet, soldier and courtier Sir Philip Sidney was born at Penshurst Place, Kent. Detail from 'Portrait Miniature of possibly Sir Philip Sidney', ? Nicholas Hilliard, c.1600 © Victoria and Albert Museum London Philip's parents, Mary Dudley (daughter of the late John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland and his wife Jane Guildford) and Sir Henry Sidney had been married in March 1551, during the reign of Edward VI, to which the groom had been a cl

With the lease for Durham Place being taken over by Sidney, it became essential for Leicester to identify another local property that would meet his needs, and by June 1569, he had found one: Paget Place. After taking possession of the house, the property was eponymously renamed 'Leicester House', thus becoming the Earl's official residence within the capital, with Jenkins (1972, p.186) describing the house as becoming "the centre of his social and political existence".

On This Day (09 August) in 1586, Mary Dudley, Lady Sidney, sister of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester and Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, and former Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber and close confidant of Queen Elizabeth I, died.

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.

On This Day (29 March) in 1551, Lady Mary Dudley, daughter of John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, married Sir Henry Sidney.

On 01 February 1555, the funeral of Jane Guildford, Duchess of Northumberland, widow of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, was held at Chelsea Old Church. 'Brass Plate Monument of the Duchess of Northumberland and Her Daughters, Chelsea Church'. Artist: Daniel Lyons, 1796-1811 © Yale Center for British Art Jane died in January 1555; two dates have been given for her death - 15 January (as given at her PostMortem Inquisition) and 22 January (as recorded on the marble ins

On This Day (27 Oct) 1561, Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, was born at Tickenhall Manor, Bewdley.

On This Day (21 Oct) in 1554, John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick, son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, died at Penshurst Place, Kent.

On This Day (06 Jul) in 1553, Edward VI died at the ‘Palace of Placentia’, Greenwich, at around 8pm.