Lady Margaret Hoby

[3] Margaret was educated in the household of Katherine Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, a devout Protestant with Puritan leanings, who ran a school for young gentlewomen.

[3][4] The manor and parsonage of Hackness near Scarborough in the North Riding were purchased for the couple, and remained Margaret's property after the death of Devereux at the siege of Rouen on 8 September 1591.

[6] The importance to Hoby of religious observance is apparent in much of the diary: "After private prayers I did eat my breakfast and then went to church: after, I came home and prayed, then I dined and, when I had talked a while with some of my neighbours, I went again to church: and, after the sermon, I went about the house and took order for diverse things which were to be done in my absence, and, at five o'clock, I returned to private prayer and meditation.

"[7] The diary also shed light on the management of the estate in her husband's frequent absences: supervising and paying servants, sorting linen, playing music, gardening, giving medical advice and treating neighbours and tenants.

References to Sir Thomas Hoby are formal, though Margaret was strong-minded enough to resist until 1632 his request that she make over her Hackness and other properties to him and his heirs.

"[8] Margaret Hoby visited York and London several times during the years covered by her diary, but it makes little reference to public events.