Lodowick Carlell - Courtier

Courtier

His ancestry was Scottish. He was the son of Herbert Carlell of Bridekirk in Dumfriesshire, and the third of four brothers. He was not educated at University, though he did produce translations from French and Spanish during his lifetime; he probably had the informal though not always contemptible education of a courtier, which he was from about the age of 15. Carlell married a Joan Palmer on 11 July 1626; they had two children, John and Penelope (later Mrs. John Fisher, her husband a lawyer of the Middle Temple).

In his extra-literary life, Carlell was a courtier and royal functionary; he held the offices of Gentleman of the Bows to King Charles I, and Groom to the King and Queen's Privy Chamber. He was also Keeper of the Great Forest at Richmond Park. In the latter post, he assisted the King in his frequent hunts, and throughout the 1630s he lived in the lodge of the deer park at Richmond. In this same period he accomplished most of his dramatic authorship — and his plays are notable for their forest scenes.

Interestingly, he maintained his post at Richmond Park throughout the English Civil War, down to 1649. In this period he may have acted as a sort of undercover agent for the Royalist cause; he is thought to have sheltered Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle during this time. During the English Interregnum he is thought to have remained the Keeper both of Richmond Park and St. James's Park.