As is well known, Leonard wrote a poem in praise of Shakespeare for the 1623 First Folio. He also wrote a hand-written note in 1613 praising Shakespeare's Sonnets. The 1640 edition of Shakespeare's poems, published five years after Leonard's death, has another long poem further praising Shakespeare and criticizing Ben Jonson.
1615 - Dudley Digges Examination Proves His Close Connection To Henry Neville
Here is the document I discovered from the National Archives:
This is an examination from November 1615 concerning the 1613 murder of Thomas Overbury. In it, Dudley Digges describes a conversation he had with Henry Neville before the murder. Here is the calendar summary:
Examination of Sir Dudley Digges. On expressing Sir Henry Neville his fear that Rochester was desirous to be rid of Overbury, both he and Sir Thomas Mansell told him, from Overbury's own mouth, that he was confident Rochester would not dare to abandon him.Here is the full transcription done by John O'Donnell:
The examination of Sr Dudley DiggesThis is new and absolute and incontrovertible evidence of Henry Neville's close relationship with Dudley Digges. Of course, the following is equally strong proof:
knight taken the 6 of nov 1615
this examinate signifieng to Sr henry nevill his dystrust that my lord of Rochester was
desirous to be ridd of Sr Tho: Ouerburie, his aunswere to this examinate he pressing
him diuers tymes, was that Sr Tho: Ouerbury was confident and said often, that my
lo: of Rochester did not dare to leave him / and further saith that Sr Robert mauncell
knight hath related so much to this examinate as from Sr Thomas Ouerburies owne
mouth And this was tould to this examinate both by Sr henry nevill, and Sr Robert
mauncell as he thinketh as well in the life tyme of Sr Tho: Ouerbury as since his
decease.
Dudly Digges
1614 - Dudley Digges Defends Henry Neville in Parliament
In 1614 a controversy erupted in Parliament over the 1612 Advice Henry Neville gave directly to King James. John Hoskins and Dudley Digges, among others, stood in defense of Neville. Here is what Digges said (Proceedings in Parliament, 1614 -House of Commons):
Sir Dudley Digges said he thought that a private man might go and move the King for the good of the country, uncalled, and did instance his father who projected divers things to Queen Elizabeth and yet was a parliament man after, without being excepted against.Dudley Digges and the Virginia Company
Dudley Digges "joined the board of the Virginia Company in 1609, and became one of the three principal backers of Hudson’s last voyage in search of the North-West Passage" (History of Parliament) Dudley's son Edward later became governor of Virginia. Henry Neville, too, was on the governing board of the Virginia Company. You can see the full list here, which also includes the Earl of Southampton (dedication of Venus and Adonis and Rape of Lucrece) and William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke (dedication of First Folio and perhaps Sonnets).
Thomas Digges and Henry Neville - Connection with Henry Savile and John Chamber
Astronomer, mathematician, and military theorist Thomas Digges (father of Leonard and Dudley) died in 1595. Thomas Digges was on a commission with Henry Savile and John Chamber in 1583 to decide whether to change England over to the Gregorian calendar. Savile had just been on a four year trip with Neville to Europe. Savile and Chamber were both from Merton College, where Neville attended, and all three men remained close friends their whole lives. Chamber traveled with Neville to France in 1599; Savile and Neville were executors of Chamber's will. So Henry Neville and Thomas Digges almost certainly knew each other from this connection.
The Family Connection between Henry Neville and the Digges Family
Thomas Digges' wife, and mother of Dudley and Leonard, was Anne St. Leger. She was the daughter of Ursula Neville, wife of Warham St Leger. Ursula was Henry Neville's father's first cousin.
Anne St. Leger married Thomas Russell after the death of Thomas Digges. So Russell was the stepfather of the Digges brothers. Thomas Russell famously was the overseer, along with Francis Collins, or Shakespeare's will.
Thomas Russell was also the half-brother of Maurice and Henry Berkeley. Maurice was one of Neville's closest friends and was one of the executors of his estate. Henry Berkeley married Henry Neville's daughter Elizabeth.
So Henry Neville had close family ties both to Anne St Leger (Anne Digges) and Thomas Hall, the mother and stepfather of the Digges brothers.
Thomas Digges, Dudley Digges, and the works of Shakespeare
There is a vast literature connecting the Digges family with the works of Shakespeare. Othello. Coriolanus, Hamlet, and Troilus and Cressida have all been linked to Thomas and/or his son Dudley. Here is some detail on Coriolanus from Lee Bliss of the Cambridge edition of Coriolanus:
It has been suggested that the character Cassio in Othello might have been partly modeled on Thomas Digges, Oxford Othello 2008:
Hamlet is also thought to reflect Thomas Digges' view of an infinite universe ("O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.")
Dudley Digges and Ben Jonson and Coryate's Crudities
According to "Ben Jonson's Library and Marginalia: An Annotated Catalogue," by David McPherson, Studies in Philology, Vol. 71, No. 5, 1974, Ben Jonson had a copy of A Geometrical Practical Treatise Named Pantometria with this inscription: "I am Ben Jonson's book from the gift of my very dear Dudley Digges, son of the author." Digges also contributed a commendatory poem to Jonson's play Volpone.
Dudley Digges also wrote a poem for Coryate's Crudities. So did Ben Jonson and Hugh Holland, both of whom contributed poems to the First Folio.
Conclusion
There is a strong connection between the Digges family and Henry Neville. The evidence above demonstrates clearly that Dudley Digges, though about 20 years younger than Henry Neville, was a friend and close political ally. This connection was multi-faceted but likely was due in part to a previous relationship Neville's family had with Dudley's father and mother. This is an important area for further research as we try to trace the facts surrounding the works of Shakespeare.
