Biography of Nathaniel Bacon 1585-1627

Around 1564 [his father] Nicholas Bacon 1st Baronet (age 24) and [his mother] Anne Butts (age 16) were married.

In 1585 Nathaniel Bacon was born to Nicholas Bacon 1st Baronet (age 45) and Anne Butts (age 37).

In 1609 William Cornwallis (age 60) and [his future wife] Jane Meautys (age 28) were married. The difference in their ages was 32 years.

On 1st May 1614 Nathaniel Bacon (age 29) and Jane Meautys (age 33) were married.

On 19th September 1616 [his mother] Anne Butts (age 68) died.

In DEc 1623 Robert Radclyffe 5th Earl of Sussex (age 50) and [his sister-in-law] Frances Meautys Countess of Sussex (age 38) were married. She by marriage Countess of Sussex. He the son of Henry Radclyffe 4th Earl of Sussex and Honora Pound Viscountess Fitzwalter.

On 22nd November 1624 [his father] Nicholas Bacon 1st Baronet (age 84) died in Culford, Suffolk [Map]. He was buried at St Mary's Church, Redgrave. At the east end of the north aisle is a chest tomb in black and white marble with the effigies of Sir Nicholas Bacon his wife [his mother] Anne Butts made in 1616 by Nicholas Stone (age 37). His son [his brother] Edmund (age 54) succeeded 2nd Baronet Bacon of Redgrave in Suffolk.

Around 1625. Nathaniel Bacon (age 40). Cookmaid with Still Life of Vegetables and Fruit.

Around 1625. Nathaniel Bacon (age 40). Self-portrait.

In 1627 Nathaniel Bacon (age 42) died.

On 8th May 1659 [his former wife] Jane Meautys (age 78) died.

St Mary's Church, Culford [Map]. The most remarkable and memorable feature of the interior is the memorial in the chancel. It is to Lady Jane Bacon, the wife of the artist Nathaniel Bacon, whose own striking memorial is under the tower now. She sits in a central position with an infant seated on her lap, in what surely must be a conscious echo of the Blessed Virgin and Christchild. This is remarkable, because it dates from the later years of the Puritan Commonwealth, in 1656. She is flanked by her grandchildren who look unnervingly like a set of chess pieces. Sir Nicholas Bacon, their father, her son, died two years after her and lies uncomfortably at her feet. Pevsner thought it sincere, not at all aristocratic.

It is not the largest memorial here. That accolade is reserved for the large, elegant memorial to the Countess of Cadogan, who died in 1907. The north aisle was constructed to accommodate it. Railed in, beneath a dramatic arch with figures of Faith, Hope and Charity, it has echoes of the memorial at Holkham to the Countess of Leicester. The sculptor was Countess Feodora Gleichen.