Barnabe Googe - Early Life

Early Life

Barnabe Googe was born on 11 June 1540 (St Barnabas Day), in London or Kent, the son of Robert Googe (or Goche), recorder of Lincoln.

He studied at the strongly Reformist Christ's College, Cambridge, and was long thought to have also studied at New College, Oxford, although this appears uncertain. Afterwards, he moved to Staple Inn, where his cousin, William Lovelace, held the position of Reader. Around this time, he started to write poetry, and found himself in an exciting creative coterie with other young writers, such as Jasper Heywood and George Turberville. previous authorities claim that he became a gentleman pensioner to Queen Elizabeth, in effect, a member of her bodyguard, but this has been disproved. Nonetheless, Googe did have close associations with the court, since he was related to William Cecil. Googe exploited this important connection in the years that followed, and Cecil extended patronage towards his young protégé. It may have been due to Cecil's encouragement that Googe accompanied the Elizabethan humanist scholar Sir Thomas Challoner on a diplomatic embassy to Spain in 1562.

In his absence, Googe's juvenile poems were sent to the printer by a friend, Laurence Blundeston. On his return, Googe learned of Blundeston's actions and reluctantly gave his consent to their publication when he discovered that the printer had already paid for the paper for the print run and the composition was underway. The book appeared in 1563 as Eglogs, Epytaphes, and Sonettes. Before the appearance of his book, no writer in England had ever published his own poetry under his own name; in this, Googe was an accidental pioneer.