Margaret Hoby

Margaret, Lady Hoby née Dakins (1571 – 4 September 1633) was an English diarist of the Elizabethan period. Hers is the earliest known diary written by a woman in English. She had a Puritan upbringing. Her diary covering the period 1599–1605 reflects much religious observance, but gives little insight into the writer's private feelings. Life Margaret Dakins was born before 10 February 1571 (the date of her baptism), the only child of a landed gentleman, Arthur Dakins (c. 1517–1592) of Linton, East Riding of Yorkshire, and his wife, Thomasine Gye (died 1613). She was baptised at Wintringham Church. Margaret was educated in the household of Katherine Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, a devout Protestant with Puritan leanings, who ran a school for young gentlewomen. Penelope and Dorothy Devereux, the daughters of Margaret's future father-in-law, Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, also attended the school. She was well-liked by Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, who provided a portion of her dower. As an heiress, Margaret was a valuable commodity on the Elizabethan marriage market. Her first husband was Walter Devereux, the younger son of Essex and a court favourite of Queen Elizabeth I, who she married between 1588 and May 1589. The manor and parsonage of Hackness near Scarborough in the North Riding were purchased for the couple, and remained Margaret's property after the death of Devereux at the siege of Rouen on 8 September 1591.