Cornelius Cure

William Cecil, Lord Burghley recommended his appointment to replace Edward Young as royal master mason to the courtier William Killigrew, praising his skill, honesty, and knowledge of work in foreign places.

[2] Cure was appointed Master Mason of the Tower of London and the Queen's other residences on 28 June 1596.

[3] He held the office of Master Mason to both Queen Elizabeth I and King James I, originally jointly with his father.

He was a popular sculptor of church monuments, such as those to Sirs Philip and Thomas Hoby, Thomas' widow, Elizabeth, Lady Russell, at Bisham in Berkshire, and Sir William Cordell at Long Melford in Suffolk.

[citation needed] In 1606, he was commissioned to produce the great monument to Mary, Queen of Scots, in Westminster Abbey.

Tomb slab of Mary, Queen of Scots , copy of the effigy in Westminster Abbey , sculpted by Cornelius Cure and his son William, National Museum of Scotland , 1612