(Redirected from Sir George Carey)'George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon'
KG (
1547 –
9 September,
1603) was the eldest son of
Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon and Anne Morgan. His father was first cousin to
Elizabeth I of England.
In
1560, at the age of 13, George
matriculated at
Trinity College, Cambridge. In
1566 he accompanied the
Earl of Bedford on an official mission to Scotland, to attend the baptism of the future
King James VI.
During the
Northern Rebellion of
1569, George was knighted in the field by the
Earl of Sussex for bravery. George had challenged
Lord Fleming, the commander of
Dunbar Castle, to single combat.
George served as a member of Parliament in the Commons for several terms (for
Hertfordshire in
1571, for
Hampshire in
1584,
1586,
1588–
1589,
1592).
George was sent to
Carisbrooke Castle on the
Isle of Wight and later assumed command of the Isle's defenses during the
Spanish Armada threat.
In July
1596, when his father died, George became the second Baron Hunsdon, some time later he also took over the office of
Lord Chamberlain. He was invested as a
Knight of the Garter in
1597, and the first performance of
William Shakespeare's ''
Merry Wives of Windsor'' was held to commemorate the occasion.
Both Henry and George Carey were patrons of the professional theatre company in London known as "the
Lord Chamberlain's Men". Talents such as
William Shakespeare and
Richard Burbage were among the writers and performers of the company.
George married Elizabeth Spencer (related to poet/author
Edmund Spenser), and they had one daughter, Elizabeth.
He died on 9 September 1603 (from
venereal disease and
mercury poisoning), and his brother John (the next eldest) became the third Lord Hunsdon.
Reference
★
Sir George Carey's biography Baldacci, Tony