Mary Dudley, Lady Sidney

Lady Mary Sidney (née Dudley; c. 1530–1535 – 9 August 1586) was a lady-in-waiting at the court of Elizabeth I, wife of Sir Henry Sidney and the mother of Sir Philip Sidney and Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke. She was daughter of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and sister of Elizabeth's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. Although she was marginally implicated in her father's attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the English throne and affected by his attainder, Mary Dudley was one of Queen Elizabeth's most intimate confidantes during the early years of her reign. Her duties included nursing the Queen through smallpox in 1563 and acting as her mouthpiece towards diplomats. She was the mother of seven children and accompanied her husband, Sir Henry Sidney, to Ireland and the Welsh Marches. From the 1570s the couple complained repeatedly about their, as they saw it, poor treatment at the Queen's hands. Still one of Elizabeth's favourite ladies, Mary Dudley retired from court life in 1579, suffering from ill health during her last years. Family and early years of marriage Mary Dudley was the eldest daughter among the thirteen children of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland and his wife Jane Guildford. Mary Dudley was well-educated. Fluent in Italian, French, and Latin, she was interested in alchemy, romances, and writing poetry. Her copy of Edward Hall's Chronicles bears her annotations in French. She also became a friend, correspondent and frequent visitor of the scientist and magus John Dee. On 29 March 1551 Mary Dudley married Henry Sidney at Esher, Surrey. Possibly a love match, the ceremony was repeated in public on 17 May 1551 at her parents' house Ely Place, London. Four months later Henry Sidney became Chief Gentleman of Edward VI's Privy Chamber; he was knighted by the young King on the day his father-in-law, who headed the government, was raised to the dukedom of Northumberland.