Appointment As Governess
After Edward VI's birth, Elizabeth lost her nurse, Lady Bryan, who was transferred to the young Prince's household. She was placed in the care of Blanche Herbert, Lady Troy who remained Elizabeth's Lady Mistress until she retired in late 1545 or early 1546; Elizabeth's household accounts from Hatfield show she sent Lady Troy a pension. Katherine Champernowne was appointed as a waiting gentlewoman to the then Lady Elizabeth in July 1536. In 1537, when Elizabeth was four, Katherine became her governess, and was known to her as 'Kat'.
Evidently, Champernowne had been well educated for she taught Elizabeth astronomy, geography, history, mathematics, French, Flemish, Italian and Spanish. In addition, she taught Elizabeth pursuits such as needlework, embroidery, dancing, riding, and deportment. By the age of six, Elizabeth was able to sew a beautiful cambric shirt as a gift for Edward VI. Sources state that Kat accustomed Elizabeth to the "elaborate code of politeness and subservience to her elders". Elizabeth herself praised Kat’s early devotion to her studies by stating that Kat took "great labour and pain in bringing of me up in learning and honesty".
Read more about this topic: Kat Ashley
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“Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)