Mary Cheke

Mary, Lady Cheke (née Hill; – 30 November 1616) was an English courtier, poet, and epigrammatist from Hampshire. She served as lady of the privy chamber to Elizabeth I and participated in literary exchanges at court, including a notable epigrammatic reply to Sir John Harrington. Cheke was married first to Sir John Cheke, a classical scholar and statesman, and later to Henry Macwilliam, while retaining the title of Lady Cheke. Her writings and courtly presence reflect both her literary activity and her life within the political and cultural circles of Tudor England.

Biography Born Mary Hill in Hampshire around 1532, her father was Richard Hill (d. 1539), of Hartley Wintney; he had served as Sergeant of the Wine Cellar to Henry VIII. After her father's death, her mother remarried Sir John Mason.

On 11 May 1547, John Cheke died in 1557. Late in 1558,

Selected works "Erat quaedam mulier (a reply to John Harrington's poem, Erat quidem homo)", late 1590s